AND WITH THE 27TH PICK THE TWINS SELECT ...
The Twins have the 27th choice in the first round of the MLB draft Wednesday. Here are five players who they might be targeting:
Ed Howard, SS, Mount Carmel (Chicago) High School (ranked 15th by mlb.com): Good glove; should stay at short. His offensive potential is a plus, but teams will be nervous about taking the Oklahoma recruit who hasn't played since last summer. The Twins already have shortstop prospects, but you can never have too many.
Bobby Miller, RHP, Louisville (26th): Miller was drafted by the Twins out of high school in 2017 but decided to go to Louisville, where he was 15-2 with a 3.28 ERA in his career. At 6-5 and 220, he has a mid-90s fastball and good slider. College arms seem a safer pick then preps in this particular draft.
Slade Cecconi, RHP, Miami (31st): Needs polish, but teams like the 6-4 Cecconi because of the potential of his fastball and slider. He dominated for spurts with the Hurricanes, and there's a belief he will develop a third pitch and become a quality starter.
Clayton Beeter, RHP, Texas Tech (51st): Pitched better once he moved into the rotation. Excellent curveball to go with a mid-90s fastball. It's the combination of pitches he throws that makes him a desired prospect. The 6-2, 220-pounder dropped because he had Tommy John surgery in high school.
Jared Shuster, LHP, Wake Forest (77th): The 6-3 Shuster has a mid-90s fastball and already has a good feel for a changeup, which could be a big plus. He pitched extremely well in the Cape Cod league last summer and was 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA for Wake Forest before the season was stopped, walking only four and striking out 43 in 26⅓ innings.
LA VELLE E. NEAL III
