Brandon Peterson - 2015

[TheDean]

Name: Brandon Peterson
Position: RHP
Birthday: September 23, 1991
Birthplace: Burnsville, MN
College: Wichita State (1 yr), Des Moines Area CC (2 yrs)
Height/Weight: 6'1", 198 lbs
Bats: R
Throws: R

Summary:
Peterson looks to build on past success as he begins the year at Ft. Myers. Twins Daily named him the minor league relief pitcher of the year for the Twins in 2014 based on his performances in both the MWL and FSL. If his numbers are close to what they were last year, it will be difficult to deny him a promotion to Chattanooga.

History:
Brandon Peterson is a native of Savage, MN, and attended Burnsville High School. He was a key part of a strong 2010 Burnsville Blaze team that finished runner-up to Eden Prairie in the MSHSL AAA tournament.

After high school, Peterson attended Des Moines Area Community College where he compiled a 3.50 ERA, 6 saves, and a 6-1 record in 24 appearances during his freshman season. In his sophomore season, he went 6-4 with a 4.94 ERA and 3 saves in 21 appearances, eight of which were starts.

He attended Wichita State University (like Twins SP Mike Pelfrey) after junior college, pitching well as a closer for the Shockers. He appeared in 26 games and put up a 1.12 ERA in 40 IP. He earned 10 saves and a 3-1 record, holding opponents to a .189 batting average, striking out 42 and walking 15.

The Twins drafted him with the 380th overall pick in the 13th round of the 2013 Amateur Player Draft. According to his MLB.com draft writeup, his fastball reaches 95 mph, usually falling to the low 90s. His main secondary pitch is a slider.
After the draft, he was assigned to Elizabethton where he led the Appalachian League with a SO/9 of 13.2. He went 0-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 27.1 IP over 19 games. He walked only 9, striking out 40. He finished 14 games, 5 of which were saves.

To start 2014, he only pitched 12.1 innings at Cedar Rapids (with 1 run allowed), before earning a spot in the Miracle's bullpen. He spent the rest of the year there and compiled the best FIP in the FSL among pitchers with at least 40 innings. He was also second in K%.

Future:
In my opinion, Peterson could be pitching at AA right now and will probably end up there at some point. He's already paying dividends for someone who went in the 13th round. Keep an eye on this guy. No triple digits heat, no big signing bonus, but racks up strikeouts as well as anyone in the system right now. No full-season pitchers in the Twins system last year could best his 13.2 K/9.

 

References: BbRef, Fangraphs, MiLB, 2014 AaP Thread

[TheDean]

Three appearances through the season and Peterson's line is strong as ever. 4.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 7 SO. Classic.

[TheDean]

Peterson has appeared in three more games since my last post. He ran into his first troubles against St. Lucie, pitching 1.2 innings. He allowed 2 hits and three walks, resulting in one earned run. One of the hits was his first allowed XBH this season.

 

He followed that with two smoother two-inning appearances, allowing no runs and no hits. His walk numbers crept up in this last round of games, but his strikeout numbers are still superb.

 

10.0 IP, 1 ER, 7 BB, 14 SO. FIP sits at 2.61 and K% at 36%.

 

Interesting factoid: Peterson has pitched 3.1 innings in the 10th inning or later so far this season with no decisions in all appearances.

[TheDean]

I've been slacking on posts here, but here goes on the update front - 

 

Peterson's results remain stellar, only 3 runs allowed so far this year in 16.2 IP. He has no decisions or saves. However, control may be troublesome with 12 walks issued (he gave up 17 in Ft. Myers last year). As a result, his FIP sits at a whopping 2.61. He's still striking out about one in three batters, which I would judge to be good baseball.

 

His longest outing of the season was against Bradenton on the 5th, going 2.1 innings in extras (because of course the Miracle was playing extras).

 

As long as he can reign in the control, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have an opportunity to shift up to Chattanooga, if room were made one way or another.

[TheDean]

Peterson earned his first decision on Tuesday against Dunedin, pitching two innings of one-hit ball for the win. He struck out two and walked one. His season ERA dropped to 1.45. Opposing batters have a .169/.319/.203 line against him.

 

That's right, they're slugging .203. He's faced 75 batters so far; only one has an extra-base hit.

[TheDean]

After getting his first win last week, Peterson got his first save of the season today. He struck out the side in the ninth inning against Brevard County, preserving a one-run lead.

 

He also pitched two scoreless innings on Saturday with four strikeouts and 1.1 on Tuesday with two strikeouts and a hit.

 

Dating back to May 7, Peterson has pitched 7 innings, allowed 1 BB, 2 hits, and struck out 11. His ERA is down to 1.17.

[TheDean]

Peterson got his second save of the season on Thursday. He pitched a scoreless 7th inning in the first game of a doubleheader versus Clearwater, preserving a 2-1 lead.

 

This was his second appearance since his first save. He pitched a scoreless 8th against Brevard County, despite allowing a hit and walking one. He had one strikeout.

 

On the season, hitters have amassed a nearly futile .183 SLG against Peterson. 

Another way to look at it: Hitters have 15 total bases against him in 25 innings.

 

Selected stats: ERA 1.08, FIP 2.06, WHIP 1.08, K% 35.4

[TheDean]

I forgot to add last night's game here: scoreless 9th and 10th, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 0 hits.

Opposing SLG down to .170. (.442 OPS)

ERA to 1.00. 

FIP at 1.97.

He ranks third in the FSL in both ERA and FIP among pitchers with >20 IP.

 

He sits atop the FSL's K% leaderboard at 36.9%.

[TheDean]

So far in June, Peterson has been called into two games, both multi-inning appearances.

 

He pitched the final two outs of the seventh and completed the eighth against Charlotte on Wednesday. He struck out three, walked none, and allowed no hits. One batter reached on an error and stole a base.

 

Yesterday, he pitched the ninth and tenth innings against Bradenton. He allowed 1 hit with no walks or strikeouts.

 

He was named Twins Minor League Player of the Week for last week based on these performances.

 

Opposing batting line: .139/.250/.158 good for a .408 OPS.

Peterson has appeared in the second most games in the Twins farm system with 20 (A.J. Achter leads with 23). ERA now at 0.88 and FIP at 1.92. K% still solid at 35.3% and walk rate improving to 12.6%.

[TheDean]

It's Brandon Peterson Promotion Day, everyone!

After a two-strikeout 13th inning save yesterday night, the Twins organization must have decided that Peterson has shown enough at Ft. Myers where he went 1-0 with 3 saves this year.

 

His 2015 Florida State League efforts demonstrated absolute dominance over opposing hitters who slashed .135/.244/.154 in his 21 appearances (31.2 IP). They managed one extra base hit, and Peterson accumulated a 0.85 ERA and 0.916 WHIP, while striking out 12.5 per nine. The sole sticking point in his performance was the 15 walks he gave up, mainly in the early season.

 

Best of luck to a hometown kid as he moves on to the Southern League, from which you can almost see the lights of Target Field.

[TheDean]

Peterson debuted in the 8th inning of tonight's game, unfortunately not in a setup role, but mopping up instead.

 

He issued a walk on four straight balls to the first batter he faced, but fought back to get a groundout, popout, and a swinging strikeout (of former Twins farmhand Kenny Wilson), stranding his runner at first. 1/4 FPS isn't a great start, but he got the job done, which was desperately needed as three Lookouts pitchers had combined for 8 ERs in the preceding inning (including an ugly 5-ER, 0 out appearance from Burdi).

 

AA Statline:

ERA 0.00

WHIP 1.000

[TheDean]

On Sunday, Peterson made his second Southern League appearance. Peterson came into the game in the sixth inning with two outs, trying to keep things in reach after Jacksonville did some damage to Shibuya's line (5 ER in 2.2 IP). Peterson stranded an inherited runner at third by striking out his man. He went on to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. No one got on base. Five batters failed to put the ball in play.

2.1 0 0 0 0 5 is a good line for a guy's second crack at a new league.

Oh yeah, and that high-quality Chattanooga lineup backed Peterson to his second win of the year, first at AA.

 

AA stats:

3.1 IP

ERA 0.00

WHIP 0.300

6 K

1 BB

0 H

[TheDean]

Peterson pitched Friday in relief of Alex Wimmers, who started solidly with four scoreless innings. The wheels began to come off in the bottom of the fifth for Wimmers who eventually gave up three runs that inning. Peterson was able to strand the inherited runner with a strikeout ... eerily similar to his previous outing.

 

Peterson was again able to demonstrate some stamina by pitching in parts of three innings just like his last game. No one reached base while he was pitching, just like last time. However, he "only" got three strikeouts in this appearance.

 

He was once again in-line to get the win, but unfortunately Jones blew the save by allowing 4 runs in the bottom of the eighth.

 

So far so good in AA:

5.2 IP

ERA 0.00

WHIP 0.176

9 SO

1 BB

0 H

 

37.1 Innings pitched on the year - still only one extra base hit allowed.

[TheDean]

Since my last post, Peterson has only appeared once more, despite getting Pitcher of the Month honors from both the Twins organization and Twins Daily.

 

Peterson came in for the last out of the 6th inning on June 29th. In his first instance of struggles at the AA level, he allowed his inherited runner to score. He allowed a walk and a single (his first at AA) before getting the inning's final out on a groundout.

 

He started out the 7th inning by hitting the leadoff batter. He got a popout and a flyout before allowing a single and getting a strikeout to strand two on the bases.

 

Things still looking good for Peterson in the Southern League:

7.0 IP

ERA 0.00

WHIP 0.571

10 SO

2 BB

2 H

 

Hitters have posted a .376 OPS against Peterson in 148 PAs across all levels this year.

[TheDean]

Yesterday I didn't realize that Chattanooga was completing their suspended game from Tuesday, so here's an extra update.

 

Peterson was able to pitch the final two innings of the Lookouts' 5-0 win over Jacksonville. He got a strikeout and allowed one single. He still faced the minimum on 18 pitches as Max Kepler threw out the hitter trying to push for a double. 154 batters faced this year and still only one has extra bases.

 

That makes 9 scoreless for Peterson at AA.

A fellow unheralded 13th round selection for the Twins, Ryan O'Rourke, made a nice ML debut the other night, so there is good news among the relief corps in the upper minors - even if the big names are having troubles.

[Shane Wahl]

You know, I would have started Peterson in AA anyway, and he probably would be in AAA by now. And, then, who knows? He could have been a Twin after the All-Star break in that world.

[TheDean]

Peterson pitched twice more over the last week. Both games were against the Mississippi Braves.

In the first game, Peterson pitched 1.1 innings and got 1 strikeout. He allowed 1 hit, his first double allowed this year.

In his most recent game, he unfortunately allowed his first runs since May 5, which is an amazingly good streak. He gave up a single, a double, and a triple in an inning of work for 2 ER, while striking out 2.

 

Southern League marks so far:

11.1 IP

1.59 ERA

0.794 WHIP

14 SO

2 BB

 

Nothing to scoff at. Importantly, his SO/BB rate remains an excellent 7.00, much higher than has been typical for him in the past.

 

[TheDean]

In the last two weeks, Peterson pitched three more times.  All three were two-inning appearances.

The first against Biloxi included his first HR allowed this year, though he did strike out three.

The second was a 1-hit scoreless outing against Montgomery.

He most recently pitched last Friday with a rare 2-walk, no strikeout line. The last time he had multiple walks in a game was May 5, and the last time without a strikeout was June 6.

 

The AA stats:

17.1 IP

3.12 ERA

1.154 WHIP

18 SO

5 BB

 

Peterson is only 8.1 innings from matching last year's total. His 49 innings are 5th among Twins org RPs.

[Shane Wahl]

Great job keeping us updated on a fast-rising prospest.

[TheDean]

Peterson is on the 7-day DL and hasn't pitched since July 24. I haven't seen anything mentioned on the Lookouts' site concerning his injury, so we can hope that it's just something minor.