January 21, 2010

Top 50 Twins Prospects 2010: #30 Michael Tonkin

2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects | #30 | Michael Tonkin

Position | Pitcher

Bats/Throws | Right/Right

Born
| November 19, 1989 (Palmdale, California)

School
| Palmdale High School

Height
| 6'7''

Weight
| 215 lbs.

2009 Ranking | Not Ranked




Breakdown
In 2008, the Twins spent around $1.5 million to bring in four hurling teenagers, including Michael Tonkin. Taken in the 30th round of the 2008 draft, the Twins persuaded him from playing baseball at USC with a $230,000 signing bonus. The 6-foot-7-inch pitcher showed a lot of promise in high school hitting 90 mph with regularity. So far, he may be best known to fans as Jason Kubel's brother-in-law, but he's on the right path to making people remember him for his performance instead. In 2009, Tonkin went 3-4 with a 3.62 ERA in 54 2/3 innings in the Gulf Coast League. Those numbers aren't fantastic, but when you look past two rough starts in July, he actually had a great season. He hit his spots, kept the ball on the ground and struck out 60 batters. He allowed two home runs in 2009 and both came in consecutive innings of the same game. Look for Tonkin to continue to get better in 2010, where he should be apart of a very talented Elizabethton Twins rotation.

2009 Statistics
Level      W     L     ERA     IP      K     BB     WHIP     FIP
R (GCL)    3     4    3.62   54.2     60      9     1.17    2.19

2010 Outlook

The most likely course of action would now be for Tonkin to stay in Extended Spring Training until June when the Rookie League teams begin playing. Tonkin will then pitch for the Elizabethton Twins this season.

Pitching Repertoire
  • Fastball (90-92)
  • Slider
  • Change-up
Video
Click Here

Estimated Time of Arrival
2015

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

6'7"? Yes, please. I remember him making news with his 15k 7/ip game against the Red Sox in July. Nice to know that the Twins paid him that much to avoid USC. Should be a fun guy to watch through the system.