Article: Twins Top Pitcher Prospect Brusdar Graterol At Target Field For...?

[John Bonnes]

Note the question mark in that headline (for now) but Brusdar Graterol, the Minnesota Twins' top pitching prospect, posted several pictures to instagram that suggest he's at Target Field today, and they include one in front of a locker with boxes in it and one with him on the field. Twins Daily's preseason #3 prospect, who commands triple-digit heat, has dominated in AA this year as a 20-year-old, posting a 1.89 ERA. Is he being called up or being evaluated for something more ominous?The ominous possibility is that he is being evaluated for some problem. But there have been no reports of injuries, and he pitched four days ago, throwing 81 pitches and striking out seven in five innings. Of course, that would also mean he is due for another start somewhere on May 24th, which is tomorrow. And he certainly does not look sad in these pictures.

 

On the other hand, there are also no reports of problems in the Twins rotation, and Graterol is a starting pitcher. So far this year, he's 5-0, with a 1.89 ERA and 46 strikeouts and 19 walks in 47.2 innings pitched.

 

Of course, the team could also have the 6'1" right-hander work as a reliever, which is where several scouts saw his future. For instance, Keith Law, in his evaluation of Graterol this preseason, said "Scouts see no projection here and a delivery that probably points to a power-reliever role."

 

It's also worth noting that Graterol has already been through Tommy John surgery once, in 2016.

 

In Twins Daily's profile of Graterol, Nick Nelson talked about Graterol's two big pitches:

His fastball gets the headlines. It's not just the velocity – reaching as high as 101 MPH and maintaining in the upper-90s throughout his starts – that makes Brusdar Graterol's heater such a lethal weapon. It's also the movement and command. The right-hander hurls fear-inducing two-seamers that sink and run in on same-sided hitters, while tailing away from lefties. He can place them all over the zone and he likes to throw inside, which is good news for grouchy old-school seamheads and bad news for hitters that have to sweat out ABs in the box.

 

Often lost in the shuffle is Graterol's slider, which many scouts label as a potential plus or plus-plus pitch. Tightly spun and fiercely sharp, his hard slider buzzes in around 87-89 MPH (per MLB Pipeline) and is almost unhittable when executed well.

There have also been several reports over the last few days of various minor leaguers who were brought up to throw in front of the front office. It could be as harmless as that - he's just being asked to throw in front of people, rather than bring the evaluators to the various minor league affiliates.

 

Stay tuned for more updates....

 

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[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Scoop!!

[ChrisKnutson]

If Chris Paddack can skip AAA and have success, I gotta believe Brusdar can do the same.

[Seth Stohs]

Twins have announced that they are bringing minor leaguers to Target Field throughout the season for evaluation... 

 

https://twitter.com/betsyhelfand/status/1131643599303503872https://twitter.com/betsyhelfand/status/1131643599303503872

 

I've talked to a couple of other players who were at Target Field yesterday. Said they were throwing in front of the team's front office. 

 

Exciting, but it doesn't appear that he is being called up at this time. 

 

 

[AZTwin]

Well they may be interested in getting help at the deadline which would require giving up prospects. Maybe the in person evaluations are to help make sure they aren’t including the wrong ones!

Edited May 23, 2019 by AZTwin

[Seth Stohs]

 

Well they may be interested in getting help at the deadline which would require giving up prospects. Maybe the in person evaluations are to help make sure they aren’t including the wrong ones!

 

They pretty much know what they have ,but bringing them to Target Field is kind of a neat treat for them... A chance to pitch and just be in that environment is exciting.  

[ashbury]

They pretty much know what they have ,but bringing them to Target Field is kind of a neat treat for them... A chance to pitch and just be in that environment is exciting.  

I was thinking the same thing. Many top prospects have never set foot in Minnesota. So why not put a guy in a first-class seat on a plane a day after his start, have a limo driver meet him and bring him to the ballpark, give him a taste of the major league clubhouse and food, put him up at the visiting team's hotel, have him pitch off the Target Field mound instead of some grubby bullpen for his between-starts work, and send him home in similar style a couple of days later with a keener sense of just how close he is to never having to travel an inter-city charter bus^* to a game again, if he continues his rate of progress.

 

^{* _{I guess AAA uses aircraft a lot of the time. Poetic license.}}

[Otto von Ballpark]

I was thinking the same thing. Many top prospects have never set foot in Minnesota. So why not put a guy in a first-class seat on a plane a day after his start, have a limo driver meet him and bring him to the ballpark, give him a taste of the major league clubhouse and food, put him up at the visiting team's hotel, have him pitch off the Target Field mound instead of some grubby bullpen for his between-starts work, and send him home a couple of days later with a keener sense of just how close he is, if he continues his rate of progress.

I generally agree, but I'd guess these visits may mostly occur when the MLB team is off or on the road.

 

Still, they get the big league accommodations (travel/hotel/workout), which is probably a welcome break from minor league accommodations. I'd liken it to a working vacation, perhaps?

Edited May 24, 2019 by spycake

[ashbury]

I generally agree, but I'd guess these visits may mostly occur when the MLB team is off or on the road.

 

Still, they get the big league accommodations (travel/hotel/workout), which is probably a welcome break from minor league accommodations. I'd liken it to a working vacation, perhaps?

Concur. When I said visiting team's hotel, I meant the one that other teams typically use, not that another team would be there. On days where there's no game, the team can maybe even save a few bucks due to lower demand^*. Sweet.

 

^{* _{I bet the hotel's revenue-management software eliminates that particular market inefficiency though. Oh well.}}

[John Kelsey]

 

If Chris Paddack can skip AAA and have success, I gotta believe Brusdar can do the same.

 

Chris Paddack is three years older than Brusdar. 

[mikelink45]

 

Chris Paddack is three years older than Brusdar. 

In today's game the players are coming up in their teens and early twenties.  Talent not age seems to be making the decision for a lot of teams.  

[iowadutchman]

At 20 years old there will be a time this season where they will want to limit his innings.  Bringing him up to work in relief might be a good way to do it.  If they think he can be a valuable piece to the bullpen, they may feel like they get a great arm without trading any assets to do it for August and September.  In an ideal world, they can start using him in low leverage situations and if he can get outs, gradually increase his use in bigger situations.  Having him come now for a look will keep him motivated as the dog days of summer roll in.

[jokin]

 

At 20 years old there will be a time this season where they will want to limit his innings.  Bringing him up to work in relief might be a good way to do it.  If they think he can be a valuable piece to the bullpen, they may feel like they get a great arm without trading any assets to do it for August and September.  In an ideal world, they can start using him in low leverage situations and if he can get outs, gradually increase his use in bigger situations.  Having him come now for a look will keep him motivated as the dog days of summer roll in.

 

I've been advocating for this since early April. The Cards have had success utilizing this strategy.

 

Why consider trading top prospects for relief help when there are hard throwing SPs on innings counts on the farm who prove out that they can throw a clean inning starting out, leading to higher leveraged situations?

[Trov]

In terms of Keith Law report, I recall he said Berrios would not be much of a pitcher at MLB level either.  It is always hard to project players, so much of it comes down to their ability to adjust to competition.  Some guys just never adjust and try their same old tricks and eventually get rocked, only to go back to same pitches.  

[joefish]

Bringin prospects up when we are WINNING certainly changes my mindset(and theirs?) rather than bringing them up when we are losing. Exciting times.

[ashbury]

In today's game the players are coming up in their teens and early twenties.  Talent not age seems to be making the decision for a lot of teams.  

Comparing 1988 to 2018 on baseball-reference.com, I don't see much difference. Gary Sheffield came up at 19, Juan Soto came up at 19. Roberto Alomar along with 2 others was 20, Ronald Acuna along with 3 others was 20.

 

For pitching, the Royals and Dodgers brought up a 20-year old each in 1988, the Braves (and no one else) had 3 20-year olds last season.

 

And so on.

 

If you rank hitters/pitchers by season-age, the top 30 look pretty similar to me in these two seasons.

 

League-wide, average age (weighted by appearances) for batters went from 28.3 to 28.1 in that span. For pitchers, 28.5 to 28.4.

 

You get that much variation just randomly year to year. If there truly was a difference in philosophy, with a greater weighting of young'uns, it ought to show up.

 

If you mean something further back than 1988 when distinguishing "today's" game, well, 30 years is a long time, to me.

 

Maybe a deeper analysis would turf up something, but these simple rankings and arithmetic-means don't.

 

Batters

1988: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1988-standard-batting.shtml

2018: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2018-standard-batting.shtml

Pitchers

1988: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/1988-standard-pitching.shtml

2018: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2018-standard-pitching.shtml

[Otto von Ballpark]

Concur. When I said visiting team's hotel, I meant the one that other teams typically use, not that another team would be there. On days where there's no game, the team can maybe even save a few bucks due to lower demand^*. Sweet.

 

^{* _{I bet the hotel's revenue-management software eliminates that particular market inefficiency though. Oh well.}}

Interestingly, more than the hotel, I read "clubhouse and food" as implying the game day spread, but I suppose the Twins are fully capable of ordering some food on non-game days too.

[ashbury]

Interestingly, more than the hotel, I read "clubhouse and food" as implying the game day spread, but I suppose the Twins are fully capable of ordering some food on non-game days too.

So my paragraph wasn't a masterpiece. What else is new.

[AlwaysinModeration]

This visit, if I were to guess, is for Wes Johnson to get Brusdar on the mound with Trackman and Rhapsodo and see where he’s at and see if there are any mechanical changes they want him to focus on.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I've been advocating for this since early April. The Cards have had success utilizing this strategy.

 

Why consider trading top prospects for relief help when there are hard throwing SPs on innings counts on the farm who prove out that they can throw a clean inning starting out, leading to higher leveraged situations?

 

He's probably in a situation where they still need to build up that endurance. You may be right come say August time frame where bringing him up won't cost an option if he's sent down and he could potentially be added to a playoff roster.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised (given Littell got called up) if he returns to AAA and starts pitching there.

[Otto von Ballpark]

[jkcarew]

 

Thanks for posting, Spy.

 

The radio broadcast today had hinted at some injuries, but I hadn't got the details. Between the injuries and the performance, it's almost as if the baseball gods are punishing us for all the major-league glee. Ouch.