Luke Westphal - 2016

[formerly33]

The short story: Luke Westphal is a 26-yr-old southpaw who was signed by the Minnesota Twins as an undrafted free agent on January 31, 2015, and had a quietly successful year in Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers with a 2.74 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 95.1 innings.
 
The long story, however, is so much more interesting.
 
Westphal was born and raised in Clintonville, WI, a small town located 45 miles north of Oshkosh in northeast Wisconsin, where he grew up a Brewers fan and cultivated his pitching mechanics by modeling himself after his favorite athlete, Cliff Lee. After graduating from high school, Westphal went on to pitch for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he dominated the game, making 29 starts in 40 appearances and posting a 17-10 record with a 3.08 ERA and 197 strikeouts over 207.2 innings pitched. In his junior year at Division III, Westphal earned NCAA Division III All-American honors (second team) and was voted the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association pitcher of the year after hurling 60.1 innings and striking out 64 while holding opponents to a .184 average, ending the season with a 1.34 ERA and 7-0 record.
 
Still undrafted following his senior year at college, Westphal began his professional career with the Gateway Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League in 2013. Though he had been a starter for the UW-Oshkosh Titans, the Grizzlies switched him to the bullpen, where he produced a 1.59 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 17 innings before having his season cut short due to an injury. The following year he returned for the full season, going 3-5 with a 2.91 ERA and 69 strikeouts in just 52.2 innings over 35 games.
 
The idea of playing baseball in Australia was introduced to Luke by an Australian teammate on Gateway. Intrigued, Westphal approached him and asked if there would be any interest in him playing down under, and a few phone calls ensued followed by an email within a few days asking Luke if he’d like to come down and play ball that winter.
 
Back in starting position in Doncaster (Victoria Summer League), he started 14 games, slowly building his pitch count each game as he eased back into starting position, compiling 141 strikeouts with an 0.49 ERA over 80 innings. Read that over again: 141 k’s in 80 innings, or 15.9 strikeouts per nine!
 
Of course, it wasn’t the Australian Baseball League, so the competition wasn’t as high, but Westphal’s performance was enough to catch renowned Twins scout Howie Norsetter’s eye. That winter, Westphal received the phone call every young ballplayer dreams of getting, and although the Grizzlies had already traded him to the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League, the Twins bought his contract before he made an appearance for Joliet.
 
Luke Westphal started his Minor League career in Fort Myers where he struggled a bit as a starter but slowly improved, focusing on control and lowering his walk numbers before being demoted to the Kernels to open up a spot for Tyler Jay in High A. He was finally able to find his groove as a starter in Low A, tossing 30 innings and holding opponents to a .198 average, striking out 28, and walking only 9 with a WHIP of 0.97. On August 3 he was reassigned to Fort Myers and finished strongly, hurling 32.1 innings in 6 more starts, striking out 29 while walking 8, and allowing only 8 runs to lower his ERA from 3.82 to 2.76.
 
Westphal, who was just one of four Miracle pitchers with sub-3.00 ERA’s in 2015, wasn’t necessarily the first name to come to mind when thinking about pitching prospects, but he was inarguably in good company, and his ERA ranked second only to Stephen Gonsalves in Fort Myers. His stats on the year were a 6-8 record with 17 starts in 29 games, 2.74 ERA, 81 SO, and 1.322 WHIP in 95.1 IP.
 
This year he has made 5 bullpen appearances in Fort Myers, pitching 6.1 innings and striking out 8 with a WHIP of 0.789.
 
It has been a pleasure to follow Luke Westphal from his beginnings in the organization, and I’m looking forward to following the rest of his baseball career, wherever that takes him. He has a fascinating story, and you can’t help but root for the guy from Wisconsin who had to travel all the way to the other side of the globe after four years playing at the NCAA Division III level followed by two years in an Independent League in order to be signed by the Minnesota Twins. The odds haven’t always been in his favor, but he continues to beat them. To paraphrase that clichéd Hunger Games rally cry, may the odds henceforward be forever in his favor.
 
http://www.captivephotons.com/Events/Miracle/Players/Luke-Westphal/i-6XdCTrv/2/X3/Miracle%20v%20Palm%20Beach%2004-27-2015%20-%20DSC_1111_56592-X3.jpg
Image courtesy of captivephotons.com

[formerly33]

Luke Westphal was promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts on April 26th, and last night he made his AA debut, pitching an inning in relief and allowing 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 2.

 

This year at Fort Myers he had a 1-0 record and 0.00  in 7.1 innings pitched with 4 walks and 10 strikeouts.

[DocBauer]

I missed this on first post. Great human interest story. Thanks for sharing!

 

I have been absent minded and keep forgetting to order my prospect handbook. Any idea what he throws and how hard?

[formerly33]

Wow ... I cannot believe I missed that in the intro. Westphal has a fastball which he routinely throws in the 95 mph and above range, plus an additional curveball, slider, and changeup.