Top Twins Prospect #10: Chris Parmelee

Name: Chris Parmelee | Position: 1B/OF | Born: 2/24/1988
Bats: Left | Throws: Left | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 223

+----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+----+-----+
| YR | AGE | LVL | PA  |  AVG/OPS  | HR | RBI |
+----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+----+-----+
| 07 | 19  |  A  | 501 | .239/.727 | 15 |  70 |
| 08 | 20  |  A  | 289 | .239/.881 | 14 |  49 |
| 09 | 21  |  A+ | 501 | .258/.800 | 16 |  73 |
+----+-----+-----+-----+-----------+----+-----+

Scouting Report: When Chris Parmelee was drafted in 2006 the Twins had high hopes of him becoming a future force in the middle of their lineup. While this still may be a possibility, Parmelee is giving the Twins more questions than answers.

It feels as if I have been hearing about Parmelee and his power for a long time now which disappoints me a little considering he still hasn't risen above A+ ball. On the bright side of Parmelee, he has shown that he has power potential by consistently hitting in the mid-teens in homers each of the past three seasons. If he can continue to build on this he can make himself a valuable asset to the Twins someday. The problem is this may be his only shot.

Unlike most players that the Twins bring into their organization, Parmelee doesn't possess the ability to hit for average and/or play strong defense. He doesn't look to ever be a guy that you can count on to hit for a very high average, maybe .260 if he's lucky, and he definitely isn't going to win any gold gloves at first or the outfield. If Parmelee wants to make it to the big leagues someday he's going to have to become a big masher.

I used to be a lot higher on this kid but I haven't see the progression I would have liked after almost 1500 plate appearances in the low minors. Hopefully he can increase the power outputs and make it to the bigs someday potentially as a DH.

[Photo courtesy of mwlguide/Flickr]