Logan Darnell 2016

[goulik]

Born Feb. 2nd, 1989 in Nashville Tenn. (27 yrs)

LH Starting Pitcher- Rochester Red Wings

6th round draft pick 2010

6'2", 220 lbs

 

Logan Reece Darnell was initially a fast mover in the Twins system. He played in Elizabethton his rookie year. His second season in the organization he hopped right up from low A his first 6 starts, to high A for the meat of the season over 15 starts, to AA for his final 5 starts. He stalled out for 2012 at New Britain with 28 starts, a 308 BA against and a 5.08 ERA. He managed to win 11 to 12 losses and he struck out twice as many as he walked (98-47) but that is only a K/9 rate of around 5 (est). In 2013, he was 6-6 in 15 starts with an ERA of 2.61, K/9 over 7 and BA against down to 263 before finishing the year in Rochester where his ERA jumped to 4.26 in 12 starts and batters teed off at a 292 BA against. In 2014, Darnell got his chance. He put in 115 inning in Rochester with 19 starts but the big news for him was the MLB call up. In 4 starts and 3 relief appearances, Darnell threw only 24 innings giving up 19 earned runsHe struck out almost a batter per inning (22) but the 307 BA against and 5 home runs got him demoted. Despite a 2.78 and 3.53 ERA the last two years and holding Opp. BA to 258 and 260 the past two seasons, he has not been back.

 

Whats ahead:

Currently, Logan is on the DL. As a 27 year old, he is nearly done with being considered a prospect. Long term, I think he is a future bullpen option at best but who knows until he really gets a shot. 28 of 35 appearances in 2015 were out of the bullpen as were 3 of his MLB appearances. He looked awful when he started for the Twins in 2014 but he has done poorly with each of the last 3 promotions. 2 of them he kept getting chances and turned out to be half decent. 4 starts isnt much of an audition. Too bad he's hurt. I would have rather auditioned Darnell (or Wheeler) than watch Albers try again.

[goulik]

2016 Wrap

Darnell finished 2016 at 8-8 with a 3.53 ERA in 109.2 innings. He started all 18 games he appeared in this season with 2 Complete games. He struck out 53 and walked 36 so his K9 was a little lacking. For the second year in a row, Darnell finished his season on the DL

 

2017 Outlook

Darnell has watched his prospect status pass before his eyes. If he was to get a shot at becoming a back of the rotation MLB pitcher, he needed to be healthy when the GM called. Instead, Albers and Dean got Darnell's innings and he will quickly be behind the up and coming true prospects like Gonsalves. Logan will probably be stuck in AAA for the remainder of his Twins career and relegated to AAAA status.