Minor League Career
The Twins selected Parmelee with their first round (20th overall) pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft after he hit .407 with 11 home runs and 26 runs batted in (RBIs) as a senior at Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California. As soon as the Twins signed Parmelee, he instantly became one of the organizations top power hitting prospects, and was projected to be a potential impact player in the middle of their lineup within the next few years.
Parmelee began his professional career with the Twins' rookie league affiliate, the Gulf Coast Twins. After batting .279 with eight home runs in 45 games, he earned a promotion to the single-A Beloit Snappers. He returned to Beloit for the 2007 season, where he hit .239 with a team-leading 15 home runs in 128 games. He returned to Beloit again in 2008 due to a glut of outfielders in the Twins farm system. Although he missed a good chunk of the season due to a broken wrist and had the same .239 batting average, he nearly equaled his output from 2007, hitting 14 home runs in just 69 games while increasing his on-base percentage from .313 to .385 and his slugging percentage from .414 to .496.
Parmelee began the 2009 season assigned to the Twins' advanced-A affiliate, the Fort Myers Miracle, with whom he batted .244 with five home runs and 28 RBIs in the first half of the season. He joined teammates David Bromberg, Carlos Gutierrez, Steven Hirschfeld, Spencer Steedley, Daniel Lehmann, Chris Cates, Steve Singleton and Ben Revere as All-stars for the Florida State League's Southern division, and won the home run derby held before the game.
Parmelee started the 2010 season with Fort Myers, but was quickly promoted to the double-A New Britain Rock Cats. In his first season at that level, he batted .275 in 111 games, but his power numbers dipped, as he hit just six home runs. This led to Parmelee returning to New Britain for the 2011 season, where he improved his numbers to a .287 batting average with 13 homers in 142 games.
Read more about this topic: Chris Parmelee
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