Behind the Fence: Return of ex-pat Kam Mickolio, Jake Reed continues Rehab, Graterol shines in outing

[Bob Sacamento]

 

It was a beautiful weekend at the ballparks as long as you don't mind 90 degree heat and humidity by 10 am.  Like every weekend the past few years, the Twins took on their crosstown rival the  Red Sox.  The two teams played a split squad on both days, with one team being composed primarily of GCL bound players and the other Etown hopefuls.  On Friday I stayed on one field primarily, the advanced diamond with rehabbing TJS RHP Brusdar Graterol starting.  I was lucky enough to get there early enough to catch Brudar warming up in the pen where he showed four plus offerings.  A four seamer that sat 96-98 mph with great life in the game, a hard biting slider (with good lateral and vertical movement) that was 85-88 mph in game, as well as a changeup with good tumble, and a two-seamer/cutter that he was playing around with.  Graterol had the same exact TJ surgery (replacing right elbow UCL with portion of left patellar tendon) by the same surgeon that did Fernando Romero's.  Keep an eye on this kid, if he can stay healthy he can be a frontline starter or elite setup man.  In his inning of work, he struck out two and threw 18 pitches.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Yctgc4Lz4

 

After facing Graterol it didn't get any easier for the Red Sox as rehabbing RHP flamethrower Jake Reed was inserted into the game.  Reed went 2 innings this time out, last week when I saw him he threw only 7 pitches in one inning.  In his two innings, he looked sharp early on, striking out 2 in his first inning. When he came back out for his second inning, he started strong but his control started to waiver after the first two batters he saw.  A couple of the BoSox hitters put wood on the ball but for weak contact.  Jake's fastball was 96-98 mph, not nearly as much life to it as Brusdar's but he controlled it well to start with before fatigue started to set in.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPQJ95_Tz8

 

On the lower level field, former Japanese closer Kam Mickolio got his first taste of EXST ball this spring.  Mickolio is an imposing figure in size alone, then add in his mountain man beard and it adds to grizzled vet appearance.  Kam made quick and easy work, even after recording "4 outs", with a fastball that was 92-93 mph with late sink.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IYvpxSpDeo

 

On Saturday at the JetBlue Complex, UDFA LHP Evan Sanders from Eastern Oklahoma State.  Sanders was pretty impressive for a kid that no one drafted, his fastball was 88-94 mph sitting mainly around 91-92.  Without question though, his go to pitch is a slow bending curveball that he shows good control and command of.  In the outing, it was 70-74 mph.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbMbRr9aqgU

 

After Sanders threw a couple innings, he was relieved by converted catcher Juan Gamez.  Gamez went two innings as well, his fastball and control over it have really come along quite well in the past year.  Juan's fastball was sitting 94-95 mph comfortably, his secondary still needs work.  He was also working on a new release point.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ40zTwKwzQ

 

 

Vadim Balan made an appearance going the final two innings.  His control and command were a little off in his outing as the Red Sox were squaring up on him. His fastball was 91-93 mph.

 

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

 

And last but not least, wunderkid Wander Javier played SS and got two at bats in before getting pulled.  The coaches have been very weary of playing Javier too much as most games I've seen him in, he plays half the game (in the field at SS and getting 2 AB).  At the plate, he takes some mighty big cuts, in fact he about took off the pitcher's face in his second at bat.  In the field, Javier looked good at SS, one play he went deep in the hole and still threw out the guy at first.  He did try and pull a Javy Baez off by quick tagging a Sox player sliding into second.  The arm looks strong, the footwork still needs work, but he's got the tools to stay there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4NFu8WBP0

[diehardtwinsfan]

love these posts bob.

[drjim]

 

love these posts bob.

 

+1 for sure. Thank you for doing these.

[bird]

Ditto. Bob, can you rattle off the names of the five prospects that impressed and excited you most the first time you saw them? And which several prospects currently at EXT do you think have the best chance at becoming MLB studs? I realized they may be the same names.

 

Thank you so much for these reports!

[clutterheart]

Thanks!

Really looking forward for the rookie teams to start! Some fun players to watch and hopefully a few of them end the year at Cedar Rapids. Hopefully Balazovic Graterol Benninghoff & Baddo all get/stay healthy

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Ditto. Bob, can you rattle off the names of the five prospects that impressed and excited you most the first time you saw them? And which several prospects currently at EXT do you think have the best chance at becoming MLB studs? I realized they may be the same names.

 

Thank you so much for these reports!

Hmm, two part question, second part first, of the players currently at EXST the best ones with the best chances of becoming an MLB stud that's hard to peg probably a little easier who can make it to the MLBs.  There are over 70 guys currently at EXST, with the attrition rate of baseball, it's likely only one or two ever gets a cup of coffee let alone becomes a MLB stud.  Of the guys in camp who have a better chance of making the show are Wander Javier, Jose Miranda, Gorge Munoz, Akil Baddoo, Brusdar Graterol, Huascar Ynoa, all are under 20 and have never played above low A if that tells you anything.  I don't think Twins fans know how good Graterol can be, he's 18 and is already throwing 96-98 mph after TJS, he has some mechanical tweeks that he needs to make to repeat his delivery but the stuff is there.  He might end up as a reliever in the long run due to his high effort delivery but he can be downright filthy in short bursts.  Ynoa has a better chance of the two of staying a starter due to the low effort of his mechanics, but he's still 18 (for 5 more days) so he's got a long road ahead of him.  Still plenty to like though.

 

Back to the first part of the question, five prospects that I've seen and was excited the first time: Twins Byron Buxton in the GCL- his line wasn't that great but he hit the ball hard and seemed to play on a different speed than everyone else.  Red Sox Anderson Espinoza, I've watched alot of baseball in my time but in the GCL at age 17 I've never seen a kid so young throw the ball so hard that seemed so effortless.  He was throwing 99-100 mph and if I didn't see the guns, I would have swore it was 90.  Add in a nasty breaker and he's got special stuff.  Twins Nick Gordon, I saw him in 2012/13 PG events in Ft. Myers when he was still a Junior in HS, he was the best player out there and a year younger than everyone. At 15/16, Gordon's contact, speed and arm separated him from the rest of the field. Miguel Sano, a man amongst boys, the ball just flew off his bat when I first saw him in Ft Myers 2013.  On the still amateur side, Seth Beer just raking at the WWBA in 2015 one of the prettiest swings I've ever seen.  Look for him to be at the top of the draft in 2018.  Here's a sixth and more related to this year's draft, Mark Vientos has really showed plus contact, speed, and arm strength at PG events in Ft. Myers as well as WWBA in 2015 and 2016.