Kohl Stewart

[cgreuling]

There's been a lot of talk about Kohl's strikeout (or lack there of) rate and how it could hinder him. How does he compare to Rick Porcello?

 

Obviously there are some big differences between the 2, Porcello pitched 1 full season in the FSL at 19 and was in MLB the next season at 20 but when Porcello came up he was primarily a sinker baller that struck out 4.5 per 9 and has evolved into a really good pitcher that is sitting around 7.5-8K per 9.

 

Does anyone know if their pitching styles/pitches are similar?

 

[jorgenswest]

Great thought. It would be nice to compare pitchf/x data.

[Badsmerf]

He has a lot of people interested in what he does. Still good stuff, doesn't get hit hard, doesn't locate the ball well, doesn't miss many bats.... yet still has a good level of success.

[jsteve96]

hes a wildcard

[Vanimal46]

I don't really compare players to other players since that usually leads to preposterous statements.

 

Stewart is a guy I'm going to be following closely to see if the new regime/developmental program can get him on track.

[Thrylos]

I expect a huge season from Stewart in 2017.

 

He has 2 issues that Porcello does not:

 

a.  His delivery is really messed up, has a hard time repeating it, and it results in not good command and control (I can live with a 7 K/9 if someone did not have a 3+ BB/9)

 

b.  The big elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, because it is taboo/politically incorrect/whatever, but has to be stated:  He is diabetic.  This article is a good one to read (from his Kernels' season) .  He has to inject himself at least once a day with insulin.  Sometimes more.  Sometimes (as that article says) pro baseball makes him miss doctor's appointments.  Does that have anything to do with his performance?  I suspect that it does.  And also, I would love to see the Twins being proactive and try to give him state of the art tools to manage his condition and get him a local doctor and/or having the team doctor step up.

 

Way different situations...

[Bob Sacamento]

In case you missed it, here is a side session video I took of Stewart less than a month ago:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or8rEsKUVDU

[laloesch]

 

I expect a huge season from Stewart in 2017.

 

He has 2 issues that Porcello does not:

 

a.  His delivery is really messed up, has a hard time repeating it, and it results in not good command and control (I can live with a 7 K/9 if someone did not have a 3+ BB/9)

 

b.  The big elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, because it is taboo/politically incorrect/whatever, but has to be stated:  He is diabetic.  This article is a good one to read (from his Kernels' season) .  He has to inject himself at least once a day with insulin.  Sometimes more.  Sometimes (as that article says) pro baseball makes him miss doctor's appointments.  Does that have anything to do with his performance?  I suspect that it does.  And also, I would love to see the Twins being proactive and try to give him state of the art tools to manage his condition and get him a local doctor and/or having the team doctor step up.

 

Way different situations...

 

I had a friend years ago that was a type 1 diabetic.  I was one of his work emergency backups in case he went into insulin shock or became incoherent. Many times he would get lethargic, have trouble keeping his eyes open, and would start to slur his speech before injecting himself with insulin and coming right out of it.  Made me nervous watching this, because you could see the difference.    

 

In short they have to be very very careful to regulate correctly.  Not eating enough, eating the wrong things, not eating at the right time, exercising too much and not changing the dosage of insulin that day to compensate, etc.  Very tricky.

[Steve Lein]

 

I expect a huge season from Stewart in 2017.

 

He has 2 issues that Porcello does not:

 

a.  His delivery is really messed up, has a hard time repeating it, and it results in not good command and control (I can live with a 7 K/9 if someone did not have a 3+ BB/9)

 

b.  The big elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, because it is taboo/politically incorrect/whatever, but has to be stated:  He is diabetic.  This article is a good one to read (from his Kernels' season) .  He has to inject himself at least once a day with insulin.  Sometimes more.  Sometimes (as that article says) pro baseball makes him miss doctor's appointments.  Does that have anything to do with his performance?  I suspect that it does.  And also, I would love to see the Twins being proactive and try to give him state of the art tools to manage his condition and get him a local doctor and/or having the team doctor step up.

 

Way different situations...

 

As a diabetic who played competitively until tearing my knee up at 28, there is concern with the disease, but this one is the wrong one.

 

I'll spare you the medical jargon, but I inject myself at least 5 times a day: Once with my long-lasting/baseline establishing insulin, then fast acting insulin type any time I consume carbs.

 

I'm old-school, no insulin pump or other high-tech stuff. I am not sure what Kohl's method of treatment is, but I do just fine with mine. If the excuse they or he peddles is he can't see his doctor during the season, that's a bullsh*t one. Family doctors, or even team doctors, should be able to monitor and treat it just fine. I go to see my specialist once every 4-6 months. It is not a complicated disease when you understand it (I adjust my treatments on my own all the time). If the doctors/people they have available to him can't help enough, the team needs to find new doctors, or as you say, actually have them available.

 

The real concern, is the long-term health of his shoulder. Diabetics are prone to issues with it (and joints in general), and I have experienced them first-hand. If Kohl's A1C's test values (gives long-term assessment of how diabetes is being managed. Someone without the disease will be below 6) aren't below 7 as a professional athlete with all the resources he should have available for treatment, that's either a him problem or an organizational one (my last one was 7.1, for reference).