Article: Twins Minor League Report (7/23): Slegers Continues Strong Streak

[Mr. Brooks]

Question: Has he ever pitched for an extended period in the major leagues? If he hasn't, what is the basis for declaring that he can't "pitch successfully?"

Probably wrong of him to say it declaratively, but the fact is that you can't give every minor leaguer a shot at mlb. Some guys you are going to have to judge on stuff and profile.

Soft tossers that struggle to k 6 per 9 are likely going to profile as depth AAAA arms, regardless of how good their ERA is.

That doesn't mean a guy like that can't get a shot someday and have his moments. Scott Diamond did it. But, no, he'll never be a legit prospect, IMO.

[drjim]

Garcia trade really makes it unlikely Slegers gets a mlb start this year.

[ashbury]

Garcia trade really makes it unlikely Slegers gets a mlb start this year.

I like Slegers as much as the next guy (I adopted him, after all) but if the Twins are somehow still in contention then I don't especially want him getting starts. If the team has fallen out of it, they'll work one or two rookie starters in - let some tired arms have some rest.

[DocBauer]

Sure, Slegers can be considered a prospect.  But he's a Justin Haley type prospect, which doesn't necessarily mean much to the Twins, unfortunately.

At this point, we certainly don't know how good he could be. But 24, decent stuff and control, he's worth taking a harder look at. Someone mentioned body of work, not the month of July. And I agree with that. But to succeed the way he has thus far in his introduction to AAA, plus the bug month plus, would seem to indicate improvement to me. And improvement in a player as he advances to a higher level always makes me want to look closer at him.