Thread: Samuel Deduno

I don't trust Deduno at all, but as I mentioned in a game thread a while back, he's not your ordinary Twins minor league free agent AAAA junkballer. He has no command whatsoever, but he does have stuff. If you're gonna throw crap against a wall to see what sticks, I'd rather be throwing crap that has a chance to be a spectacular flame out or a spectacular success, rather than crap that might not embarrass you, but has no real shot at being good, either.

Originally Posted by DPJ

If the rotation doesn't work out, he could be an intresting guy in the pen. Have him just focus on 2 pitches and hopefully that would help his walks.

I don't think it would. His fastball is uncontrollable, it seems.

I like what the Twins have now, and what's also coming very soon.

Possible Starting Pitchers for 2013:
1. Scott Diamond - thinking he's a lock
2. Kyle Gibson - probably not till end of may or june
3. PJ Walters
4. Cole Devries
5. Sam Deduno
6. Liam Hendricks
7. Free Agent/s

Please let Nick Blackburn go!!!

You could never move Deduno (who is 29 years old) beyond a fifth starter role because of all the walks, probable short starts and the likelyhood of ugly 100 pitch, 3 inning clunkers. However, when matched with low expectations, he can and should be considered for the rotation in 2013.

I don't think I'd count on him.... Keeping him on the 40 man and seeing if he can hone his control is certainly worth it... sometimes guys just figure that out... If cuts his walk rate in half, he's an effective starter.

Deduno really is the least " Twins like" starter we've seen them trot out to the mound in a long time. I really don't recall the last starter we've pitched with the same combination of nasty breaking stuff, and unpredictable fastball. A refreshing change, at times a scary change. But you have to kind of like the guy, it's clear he really is giving it his all. You have to wonder how long it will continue to work, how long he'll be effective, maybe he beats the odds and has a real future as a starter.

1) Mauer did not catch last night because he deserved a rest. AND Drew "the pitcher whisperer" Butera has proven that he can handle guys with control issues very well. Look at what he did to help Liriano come back after his terrible start to the season.

2) Deduno is a joy to watch pitch right now. His emotion and competitive spirit is a huge refresher from what we are used to and I love it! As Gardy said last night in his post game interview, who cares about how many balls to strikes he threw last night. His performance was fantastic, and he shut out the Red Sox at Fenway, for the first time in 16 years for the Twins. No way should we second guess what he did or did not do.

2.1) Moving forward he will have to bring in the control just a bit on his fastball. But really only enough to keep the hitters off his breaking stuff as they get used to it. His recipe for success is to stay outside of the strike zone to keep hitters chasing the ball and either making terrible contact or striking out.

The problem with Deduno is that he can't even be a reliever - he's just too erratic to be anything but a spot starter. Pitched a nice game though.

It would of course be epic if he went to Yankee Stadium and threw this same kind of game. He'd never have to win again to be a Twins legend.

Originally Posted by BigVin

I like what the Twins have now, and what's also coming very soon.

Possible Starting Pitchers for 2013:
1. Scott Diamond - thinking he's a lock
2. Kyle Gibson - probably not till end of may or june
3. PJ Walters
4. Cole Devries
5. Sam Deduno
6. Liam Hendricks
7. Free Agent/s

Please let Nick Blackburn go!!!

My best-case scenario would be for Blackburn to build some trade value and for the Twins to trade him for a (Blylevenism) Jonathan Sanchez type, who maybe could benefit from the strike-thrower mentality that Anderson and the Twins' org preaches.

Originally Posted by Mauerzy4Prez

1) Mauer did not catch last night because he deserved a rest. AND Drew "the pitcher whisperer" Butera has proven that he can handle guys with control issues very well. Look at what he did to help Liriano come back after his terrible start to the season.

2) Deduno is a joy to watch pitch right now. His emotion and competitive spirit is a huge refresher from what we are used to and I love it! As Gardy said last night in his post game interview, who cares about how many balls to strikes he threw last night. His performance was fantastic, and he shut out the Red Sox at Fenway, for the first time in 16 years for the Twins. No way should we second guess what he did or did not do.

2.1) Moving forward he will have to bring in the control just a bit on his fastball. But really only enough to keep the hitters off his breaking stuff as they get used to it. His recipe for success is to stay outside of the strike zone to keep hitters chasing the ball and either making terrible contact or striking out.

Deduno is a joy to watch!!! Lets leave it at that. I too look forward to his next start. It's not like he is going to cost us a chance at a playoff spot with a poor showing in his next start. He is the kind of guy we should all be rooting for.

I like Deduno.. I think he can still be effective with the wild fastball. He doesnt really know where the balls gonna go when he throws a fastball, so it must be hard for hitters to sit on his fastball, and generally the best hitters are fastball hitters. Plus, his curveball is his best pitch. Yeah, its easy for hitters to lay off the fastballs three feet out of the zone, but if half of Dedunos fastballs are out there it seems like it would be a bad approach for hitters to look for a nice fastball to hit, and they aren't going to hit his curveball hard very often. I also think that Deduno's fastballs are so off sometimes because he's scared of grooving one down the middle, and thats why he hasnt really been hit hard. He's been effective with 3 ball counts and runners on (as far as I know) which might be luck, but i think its just hard to make good contact off of him, and thats why he's been so successful so far. He is walking a fine line though, because a bad pitch will hurt him worse when he walks so many guys.

What's not to love about Deduno right now? Great story, and so fun to watch....for now. The 2013 rotation? I seriously hope Deduno is about our 8th best option, just ahead of DeVries and Blackburn. He won't be much fun anymore when players learn to tape their bat to their shoulder for three innings. I'd love to see him as a 30-year old injury call-up in 2013. Just like he is in 2012. But as a fifth starter, he has a chance to wreak havoc on a bullpen with short starts.

Originally Posted by jokin

I know it's over-optimistic-night, but those 10 Revere dingers in HS are intriguing....Ben Revere has a strong football background, as well, starring in high school (supposedly averaged 3 TDs/game his senior year) and genetic lineage with both his grandfather and father playing and coaching the sport at Eastern Kentucky University. Is there a chance he might develop a more powerful football physique of a body that might yet yield more power to his batting stroke? Remember when Kirby Puckett first came up and went homerless early on in his career, we know how that turned out. I know they aren't the same player, but they are both high contact rate free swingers and a hard-working kid like Revere could easily work some off-season strength training into his workout routine. Here's hoping.

I have to be careful how much I post about Ben. I'm a huge fan. He's my favorite Twin right now and I think you can win baseball games with players like him. However, I've posted enough on Ben in defense of him. He doesn't need my defense he's doing it on the field. However, I think I've posted enough that my view point seems one sided. I'm not confusing him with Ryan Braun. I'm really not... I just don't think he's as bad or worrisome as others make him out to be and I come across one sided in defense.

Let me just say... The Twins scouting department didn't look at a kid in Kentucky... With no arm and no power and say... Oh Yeah... 1st round baby.

They were looking at a kid who was stroking the ball... taking the ball deep and running at lightning speed. That's why they reached into the 1st round for him. The kid was stroking it. It wouldn't make sense otherwise. What the future brings... Who knows... Power hitter... Probably not... but can he reach the fence... I think so...

Back to Deduno... It's all about getting a chance and making the most of it. So many players get one chance and one chance only and if they aren't ready for it or slump at the wrong time. That chance never comes again.

Some players get that chance and do the job and they get to stick around and get to keep doing it.

It's why the worst thing that could have happened to the Twins is that Pavano and Blackburn would have stayed healthy and continued to pitch poorly. Not only would they pitch poorly and pull money out the teams pockets but they would have blocked Diamond and Deduno from getting that chance.

Sometimes there is good in the bad. It should be audition time for the starting rotation. Deduno has been a treat.

Originally Posted by BigVin

I like what the Twins have now, and what's also coming very soon.

Possible Starting Pitchers for 2013:
1. Scott Diamond - thinking he's a lock
2. Kyle Gibson - probably not till end of may or june
3. PJ Walters
4. Cole Devries
5. Sam Deduno
6. Liam Hendricks
7. Free Agent/s

Please let Nick Blackburn go!!!

What's to like about this list? Add it all up and it's still the worst starting rotation in the AL.

Originally Posted by birdwatcher

What's not to love about Deduno right now? Great story, and so fun to watch....for now. The 2013 rotation? I seriously hope Deduno is about our 8th best option, just ahead of DeVries and Blackburn. He won't be much fun anymore when players learn to tape their bat to their shoulder for three innings. I'd love to see him as a 30-year old injury call-up in 2013. Just like he is in 2012. But as a fifth starter, he has a chance to wreak havoc on a bullpen with short starts.

Let's get Deduno into mechanics mode. Consistent foot strike. Consistent release point. No Ball... Just show up at the park everyday early. Head out to a corner of the field. Stride, Plant and reach... Repeat... Stride, Plant and Reach... Repeat... Stride, Plant and reach... Repeat...

If you can control your spinner... You should be able to Control the #1. It's mechanics. I'm gonna stay optimistic.

Originally Posted by cr9617

What's to like about this list? Add it all up and it's still the worst starting rotation in the AL.

It might be but it has the potential to be a lot better than this season.

The Twins aren't going to fix their pitching woes in one year. The best they can hope for is respectability and there's a chance Diamond/Hendriks/Gibson/Free Agent/Scrub can do that by this point next season.

Originally Posted by DPJ

If the rotation doesn't work out, he could be an intresting guy in the pen. Have him just focus on 2 pitches and hopefully that would help his walks.

Yeah but if he can't spot his fastball....does cutting down on his repertoire really help?

Blackburn has just as good of a shot to stick as a #5 as DeDuno does have at this point.

Hopefully one can stick but the odds aren't in eithers favor.

The Twins have 5 million reasons for Blackburn to stick as a number 5... and performance isn't one of them.