Article: REPORT: Twins to Promote Kohl Stewart for His MLB Debut

[Squirrel]

Oh don't get me wrong. I'm excited to actually see him pitch after all these years. I just don't see how we could possibly make a 40 man decision based off what happens in the next 6 weeks in a role I seriously doubt he'll stick in.

And I don’t disagree with that, either. I’m trusting that those who evaluate will know what they’re looking for in their decision-making process. I want to see what he does in this start.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

I rolled into Rochester tonight, preparing to see Kohl Stewart pitch. Instead,DJ Baxendale can't get out of the 2nd inning, and Luke Bard didn't last much longer. At the end of 3, the Red Wings were down 8-0.

 

Stewart's numbers seem to have turned toward the good over the 2nd half. Rotation turns and injuries create opportunities. Ding,ding! Time to answer the bell, young Mr. Stewart.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I'm reading this as a 40 man tryout. Hopefully he gets a fair chance to stick with the team and show whether he needs to be protected.

The only time a 40-man addition could really be considered a "tryout" for protection is if the player would otherwise be eligible for minor league free agency. That's not Stewart, he wouldn't have been eligible for that until after 2019.

 

The only way this move makes sense is if we are committed to keeping him on the 40-man into the 2019 season.

[Otto von Ballpark]

This seems to be one of those cases where he will be given a couple of starts and if he fails big time DFA.

Not at all. No way they should DFA him before giving him an extended shot at converting to relief, at least. Stewart should stay on the 40-man into 2019, no matter how he performs late this season in MLB.

 

And the Twins appear to have 40-man roster room to keep him this winter.

[KirbyDome89]

 

The only time a 40-man addition could really be considered a "tryout" for protection is if the player would otherwise be eligible for minor league free agency. That's not Stewart, he wouldn't have been eligible for that until after 2019.

The only way this move makes sense is if we are committed to keeping him on the 40-man into the 2019 season.

He would've been eligible for the Rule V draft if he wasn't on the 40 man roster correct? In essence it's a tryout to determine whether he's worth protecting. There isn't much downside here, aside from him potentially not getting enough innings, which shouldn't be a problem over the next two months. There's no reason for the Twins not to keep him on the 40 man into the winter, and if they're absolutely unimpressed they can DFA him and they're no worse off than they would've been exposing him to the draft. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

And while Stewart will take Rodney's 40-man spot, he will need someone else's 25-man spot to start Sunday.

 

I'd still guess it will be Duffey going back down.

[Otto von Ballpark]

He would've been eligible for the Rule V draft if he wasn't on the 40 man roster correct? In essence it's a tryout to determine whether he's worth protecting. There isn't much downside here, aside from him potentially not getting enough innings, which shouldn't be a problem over the next two months. There's no reason for the Twins not to keep him on the 40 man into the winter, and if they're absolutely unimpressed they can DFA him and they're no worse off than they would've been exposing him to the draft.

They would be worse off if they were even considering removing him from the 40-man before the 2019 season. Making a waiver claim is much easier for teams than satisfying the requirements of a Rule 5 selection -- near 100% chance that we'd lose Stewart if we tried to put him through waivers. Not sure of his Rule 5 odds, they have probably improved since last winter, but they are probably still less than that (both selection odds and the odds they wouldn't return him at some point).

[KirbyDome89]

 

They would be worse off if they were even considering removing him from the 40-man before the 2019 season. Making a waiver claim is much easier for teams than satisfying the requirements of a Rule 5 selection -- near 100% chance that we'd lose Stewart if we tried to put him through waivers. Not sure of his Rule 5 odds, they have probably improved since last winter, but they are probably still less than that (both selection odds and the odds they wouldn't return him at some point).

His chance of going in the draft probably isn't quite as high but he's almost certainly gone either way. He has to stay on the active roster, but there are plenty of bad teams with rosters that can burn a bullpen spot on him if they believe they stole something. The Twins rostered J.R. Graham; I'm sure another team can find room for a former top 5 pick. 

 

In this scenario they at least get a look at him for 2 months before making the decision whether or not to risk losing him. 

[Platoon]

What concerns me more than who is starting in his place is the Mejia injury. It's starting to follow a familiar progression. Just a little sore wrist, be ready in ten days. Well the forearm is a little sore, rest will help. Then more rest. The a rehab. Then a second opinion by Dr. (Fill in the name). Then TJ surgery. I think I read this book this once or twice before.

[Nine of twelve]

 

This is one of the very important experiments the Twins need to do with the remainder of the season. 

The second sentence of this post is the crux of the matter. Even though it's early August we are in fall training mode. Evaluate the youngsters because we already know what we have in the veterans. Yes, we need to send our best players to the field when we are facing teams with postseason aspirations but we have a lot of games left against the Tigers, Royals and Whities (plus one series vs Texas) in which to give our prospects in the upper minors a tryout in the bigs.

[Riverbrian]

 

And while Stewart will take Rodney's 40-man spot, he will need someone else's 25-man spot to start Sunday.

I'd still guess it will be Duffey going back down.

 

I'm looking at the functionality of Mauer, Morrison and Austin on the same roster and assuming Mauer will be sent down. 

[FormerMinnasotan]

What I don’t understand is the narrative that somehow Kohl Stewart is more “ready” for the MLB than Lewis Thorpe. Look when both were teammates in Chattanooga neither differentiated themselves with each other. And NOW you look at the raw numbers and clearly while in AA Lewis Thorpe is the better pitcher RIGHT NOW. Thorpe has a lower batting average against by 50 points his WHIP is 20 points lower and has a SO/BB split of 131/30. Also Thorpe, not Stewart is averaging 10.9 K/9. I mean I’m sure to a way you could reshuffle the deck if you wanted to bring Thorpe up but they chose not to. But clearly given how Thorpe has throughly been the best starting pitcher in the upper minors from July-now says he should be “tested” before his innings limit shuts him down since he has more than earned it, especially more than Kohl Stewart.

[mikelink45]

 

I am torn at Gonsalves.  His numbers are good, but most people believe he's a AAAA pitcher with fringe stuff at best.  

If we are willing to give Kohl Stewart a start to see what he can do, we owe Gonsalves a chance to prove what he can do.  Or else we can send him to Detroit so he can play with Hicks and Goodrum and let Gardy show us how to use the minor leaguers we do not want.

[Mr. Brooks]

What I don’t understand is the narrative that somehow Kohl Stewart is more “ready” for the MLB than Lewis Thorpe. Look when both were teammates in Chattanooga neither differentiated themselves with each other. And NOW you look at the raw numbers and clearly while in AA Lewis Thorpe is the better pitcher RIGHT NOW. Thorpe has a lower batting average against by 50 points his WHIP is 20 points lower and has a SO/BB split of 131/30. Also Thorpe, not Stewart is averaging 10.9 K/9. I mean I’m sure to a way you could reshuffle the deck if you wanted to bring Thorpe up but they chose not to. But clearly given how Thorpe has throughly been the best starting pitcher in the upper minors from July-now says he should be “tested” before his innings limit shuts him down since he has more than earned it, especially more than Kohl Stewart.

It's not so much about which is ready or which has earned it.

They can lose Stewart this winter, they can't lose Thorpe.

It's more urgent for them to get some mlb data on Stewart than it is Thorpe, at this point.

[Major League Ready]

 

What I don’t understand is the narrative that somehow Kohl Stewart is more “ready” for the MLB than Lewis Thorpe. Look when both were teammates in Chattanooga neither differentiated themselves with each other. And NOW you look at the raw numbers and clearly while in AA Lewis Thorpe is the better pitcher RIGHT NOW. Thorpe has a lower batting average against by 50 points his WHIP is 20 points lower and has a SO/BB split of 131/30. Also Thorpe, not Stewart is averaging 10.9 K/9. I mean I’m sure to a way you could reshuffle the deck if you wanted to bring Thorpe up but they chose not to. But clearly given how Thorpe has throughly been the best starting pitcher in the upper minors from July-now says he should be “tested” before his innings limit shuts him down since he has more than earned it, especially more than Kohl Stewart.

 

How knows? Maybe they might have a lot of confidence in Thorpe and believe he will be here in 2019 via a promotion to AAA to start the season and then a promotion in the likely event someone is hurt or ineffective. Where with Stewart, they are auditioning him for a 40 man spot. Nothing more than a guess but there are scenarios which could make sense for Stewart instead of Thorpe right now.

[Otto von Ballpark]

His chance of going in the draft probably isn't quite as high but he's almost certainly gone either way. He has to stay on the active roster, but there are plenty of bad teams with rosters that can burn a bullpen spot on him if they believe they stole something. The Twins rostered J.R. Graham; I'm sure another team can find room for a former top 5 pick.

 

I would have thought so too, but then last year's Rule 5 draft happened. I know he has had a better year in 2018 than he did in 2017, but his pedigree and likely role (relief conversion) are still the same.

 

But yes, if you think he was near 100% likely to be lost in Rule 5, then it also make sense to add him now. I just think his Rule 5 odds are lower, and instead we have 40-man room and we plan to keep him into 2019 regardless of Rule 5.

[Jham]

How knows? Maybe they might have a lot of confidence in Thorpe and believe he will be here in 2019 via a promotion to AAA to start the season and then a promotion in the likely event someone is hurt or ineffective. Where with Stewart, they are auditioning him for a 40 man spot. Nothing more than a guess but there are scenarios which could make sense for Stewart instead of Thorpe right now.

We've also debuted guys in the past to get them an mlb paycheck as a reward for loyalty before cutting them haven't we? I'd have to think this is a possibility as well. Maybe we convinced him to not play football this year or something and feel like we owe him something.

[Doctor Wu]

Like most everyone else on the board I'm very surprised if not shocked by the move. But I also love it. Just the fact that the head office is doing something unexpected and daring gives me hope. Sure, Thorpe and/or Gonsalves probably earned a callup sooner than Stewart, but current circumstances have combined to make this an understandable move. Good luck to him!

[Riverbrian]

 

Falvine controls who’s in the rotation by the players they put on the roster.

 

True but that makes it hard for me to twist my narrative directly toward Molitor. 

 

You gotta work with me here. 

[jorgenswest]

I sure hope they don’t use a short stint in the majors as means of making a decision.

 

They see him pitch every day. His spin rate isn’t going to change when he puts on a major league uniform. His ability to command his fastball isn’t going to change. He isn’t going to lost his ground ball tendencies.

 

I assume he is here because they had already decided that he was going to be put on the 40 this winter and it fit his spot in the rotation well.

 

Maybe his debut is like that of Trevor May or maybe it will be like Andrew Albers. May came up at about the same time in 2014 and was hammered. He still was in their rotation early in 2015. Albers came up in August 2013 and was historically good in his first two starts. Even that Twin organization was smart enough to know that what they were seeing wasn’t what they had in each pitcher.

 

It is a great opportunity for Stewart. The opportunity to get his feet wet is valuable. I hope he does well and gives fans something to hope on.

[ashbury]

This seems to be one of those cases where he will be given a couple of starts and if he fails big time DFA.

Note that it's much easier for another team to take him via waivers than to take him via Rule-5. The fact he wasn't drafted last off-season doesn't mean there is zero interest by some other teams. The FO will need to be very sure, if they were to take this step. Hopefully, a minor trade, or a bigger trade with him as a component or even sweetener, could be done in preference.

[KirbyDome89]

 

I would have thought so too, but then last year's Rule 5 draft happened. I know he has had a better year in 2018 than he did in 2017, but his pedigree and likely role (relief conversion) are still the same.

But yes, if you think he was near 100% likely to be lost in Rule 5, then it also make sense to add him now. I just think his Rule 5 odds are lower, and instead we have 40-man room and we plan to keep him into 2019 regardless of Rule 5.

We agree that the odds of him being taken in the Rule V aren't as high as him being claimed after a DFA. I just think there isn't much of a gap there. If you're going to have to protect him either way it really comes down to the risk you'll have to DFA him to make room vs. the risk he never comes back. I'd rather see him for 2 months and try to hold on than lose him over the winter and potentially never see him again. It isn't an ideal situation either way.

[jorgenswest]

I don’t think rule 5 or DFA is even a question.

 

I think they had already made a decision to add him to the 40 before they made this decision. They shouldn’t even need to use an option because they can send him back down at a point where there are less than 20 days left in the AAA season.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Twins know what they have with the rest of the pitchers, this is for his future with the Twins

I can agree with Romero, but disagree with Gonsalves and especially Thorpe. How can the Twins know what they have in Gonsalves if he hasn’t had a chance to prove himself at the Big league level? And if the Twins know what they have in Thorpe how could they not promote Thorpe to at least AAA by now? I mean for Thorpe to even have decent season numbers in ERA, batting average against, WHIP, and especially having more innings pitched to hits took a Herculean effort by Thorpe to do so, and the Twins don’t promote him for that effort? It tells me they don’t see the bigger picture on Thorpe, of course I hope they prove me wrong.

[drivlikejehu]

Thorpe has pitched fewer than 200 total innings since 2014. The idea that the Twins are moving him slowly has no basis in reality.

[jimbo92107]

 

What I don’t understand is the narrative that somehow Kohl Stewart is more “ready” for the MLB than Lewis Thorpe. Look when both were teammates in Chattanooga neither differentiated themselves with each other. And NOW you look at the raw numbers and clearly while in AA Lewis Thorpe is the better pitcher RIGHT NOW. Thorpe has a lower batting average against by 50 points his WHIP is 20 points lower and has a SO/BB split of 131/30. Also Thorpe, not Stewart is averaging 10.9 K/9. I mean I’m sure to a way you could reshuffle the deck if you wanted to bring Thorpe up but they chose not to. But clearly given how Thorpe has throughly been the best starting pitcher in the upper minors from July-now says he should be “tested” before his innings limit shuts him down since he has more than earned it, especially more than Kohl Stewart.

I suspect that Kohl Stewart's cuppa coffee is a very important cup because Stewart has underperformed in his minor league career vs. his draft position. What does this kid have now? That's what the Twins want to know. Is he worth further development, or should they finally cut bait?

 

Stewart's starts in the coming weeks will reveal what kind of mlb pitcher he's likely to be, unless he discovers some special slider grip from an old veteran. His farm stats suggest he's a ground ball guy. Can he produce ground balls in the show? If so, he's a mid- to back end starter, maybe an innings eater. 

 

A lot will depend on the viability of his off-speed stuff, because his heater isn't dominant. Can he throw his "fringy" change for strikes? Does his curve miss enough bats? Most importantly, does he figure out some way to get guys out? Stewart will be under a microscope just about every pitch. 

 

The Twins are bringing Stewart up before Gonsalves and Thorpe because the other two guys are less mysterious. 

Edited August 11, 2018 by jimbo92107

[ashbury]

We agree that the odds of him being taken in the Rule V aren't as high as him being claimed after a DFA. I just think there isn't much of a gap there.

It's a question of room on the 40-man (for either pickup) versus room all season on the 25-man. To me that's a pretty big gap, especially considering that only one bottom feeder out of all 29 other teams needs to find a way to make room on their 40.

 

Again, if he's taken, it may not be a big loss to us. I was just responding to the notion that since he wasn't drafted last winter, no one would claim him now.

[mlhouse]

Good luck to Kohl.   I hope he does well and makes the Twins take notice of him and give him an extended chance.  

[Major League Ready]

 

We've also debuted guys in the past to get them an mlb paycheck as a reward for loyalty before cutting them haven't we? I'd have to think this is a possibility as well. Maybe we convinced him to not play football this year or something and feel like we owe him something.

 

Anything is possible. However, Stewart got a $4.5M signing bonus so I doubt the organization feels they owe Stewart for his loyalty.Plus, the paycheck at the ML minimum is not going to be much when compared to his initial bonus. I am sure we could come up with good examples of guys who got a shot because the team felt they owed it to the player but I would not think they fit Stewart's profile.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Anything is possible. However, Stewart got a $4.5M signing bonus so I doubt the organization feels they owe Stewart for his loyalty.Plus, the paycheck at the ML minimum is not going to be much when compared to his initial bonus.

Lifetime health insurance with just 1 day MLB service time. Pension at 43 days.

 

Not that I necessarily think that's what's going on for Stewart.