Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - August 2023

[Matt Braun]

Read and rejoice in the starting pitchers who thrived in the month of August.

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

An issue that pops up in these lists is that of role assignments: pitchers in the minors often flip-flop between starting and relieving to eat up innings whenever they can. This poses challenges for those who acknowledge the delegation of title, as a starter with one relief appearance is still obviously a starter, but some situations aren't as clear-cut. I did my best to adhere to the spirit of the award while still understanding the sometimes silly nature of minor-league pitching order. 

Below are the names I thought most deserved to be on the list. Their ranking is entirely subjective; I value innings thrown, as those are outs, and outs are valuable, but also like to weigh strikeouts and peripherals as they can differentiate between dominance and a pitcher merely getting lucky. In times when it's a toss-up, I valued the almighty ERA as the great equalizer—got that? Good; let's start. 

Honorable mentions:

RHP Louie Varland - AAA St. Paul, 23 2/3 IP, 18.6 K%, 1.90 ERA, 4.61 FIP
Louie Varland had a sparkling 1.90 ERA in the month of August but walked a few too many people for my liking. Somehow he had eight unearned runs spread across multiple starts, which seems like a lot. Give him some help, Saints defense!

RHP Carlos Gutierrez - FCL Twins, 12 2/3 IP, 35.7 K%, 4.26 ERA, 3.71 FIP
Carlos Gutierrez allowed a few too many runs to make a serious case for the list, but he also struck out 20 in just over 12 innings. 

RHP Juan Cota - DSL Twins, 10 IP, 32.4 K%, 2.70 ERA, 1.88 FIP
Lacking the innings to overtake other arms, Juan Cota nonetheless whiffed 12 over 10 frames, and only walked one batter—something almost no DSL pitcher ever does. 

RHP Miguel Cordero - DSL Twins, 9 2/3 IP, 20.5 K%, 2.79 ERA, 3.25 FIP
Like Cota, Miguel Cordero showcased unusual command for a DSL pitcher. Even more impressive is Cordero’s fresh age of 17 (he was 16 for most of the season!). He was one of three Twins to appear in the DSL All-Star game.

5. RHP Cory Lewis - A+ Cedar Rapids, 23 1/3 IP, 28.4 K%, 3.09 ERA, 3.01 FIP
At this point, Cory Lewis should just start paying rent for how much he lives on these lists. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the system since the season started, totaling a 2.62 ERA with a system-leading 115 strikeouts while pitching for both Fort Myers and Cedar Rapids. 

August was yet another stellar month for the part-time knuckler and full-time Kernels ace. He had two partial clunkers, holding him back from being even higher on this list, but was otherwise his usual, impressive self with squirrelly stuff and tremendous command. Expect him to rocket up end-of-season prospect lists. 

4. RHP John Klein, A Fort Myers/FCL Twins, 21 1/3 IP, 32.5 K%, 2.95 ERA, 3.65 FIP
Minnesotan alert! John Klein was born in Brooklyn Park and discovered when pitching for Iowa Central Community College—a university with quite the brotherhood of pro ball players. 

Klein popped up on the prospect radar after striking out 11 over four frames with the FCL Twins on June 10th (those especially handy with numbers may understand how impressive that is). July wasn’t kind to him, but fortune reversed in August, leading to four impressive starts—two of which were back-to-back starts of six shutout innings. That strikeout rate is especially impressive; he whiffed eight and nine batters respectively in those scoreless starts. 

3. RHP Andrew Morris - A+ Cedar Rapids, 27 IP, 20.7 K%, 2.00 ERA, 2.82 FIP
There was a time where Andrew Morris once seemed like the runaway winner of this award. His first three August starts were absurdly dominant, highlighted by a nine strikeout start on the 5th, and a seven punch-out outing on the 17th. His final two starts weren’t quite as good—proving the prestigiousness needed to take home honors from us gruff Twins Daily judges—so he’ll have to settle for 3rd place. Hopefully he’s not crestfallen over this bronze medal. 

Morris’ calling card is a spinny, vertical fastball that often appears to take off, rocketing far higher in the zone than hitters expect. Throw in a semi-crossbody delivery, and it’s understandable to see batters swing wildly at his offerings. The Texas Tech product is now solidly established as a prospect. 

2. RHP David Festa - AA Wichita/AAA St. Paul, 20 1/3 IP, 33.3 K%, 1.33 ERA, 2.86 FIP
Perhaps Minnesota’s best pitching prospect, David Festa was incredible in August. He allowed just three runs the entire month, steadily increasing his stamina following a short stint dabbling in short stints. The Twins saw enough after a dominant start against the Travelers and sent him to St. Paul.

Festa appears well suited to join the crowd of small school arms turned into overwhelming pitching forced by the Falvey regime. He hammers the zone with a dominant fastball and well-command off-speed stuff, making hitters uncomfortable with his twisty windup and great extension. His early-season results weren’t sparkling—they were merely fine—but some of that could be chalked up to the difficult pitching environment that is the Texas League. If you’re looking for the next great Twins starter; here he is. 

1. RHP Pierson Ohl - AA Wichita, 30 2/3 IP, 23.4 K%, 1.17 ERA, 2.75 FIP
This was not a difficult deliberation; only Festa offered a serious case over Pierson Ohl. The Grand Canyon university product started the month with six shutout frames against the Tulsa Drillers—the Dodgers AA affiliate—and only surged from there, earning a win in each of his appearances. Pick any of his starts in August, and you have a gem on your hands: do you prefer his eight-inning outing on the 8th, or his eight strikeout performance on 26th to end the month? 

Ohl’s relentless pursuit of throwing strikes appears to be the fuel to his success. Batters simply can never get ahead of him. Falling behind too far only invites a dastardly changeup or a well-spotted fastball that often leaves hitters trudging back to the dugout unable to understand how to deal with Ohl’s craftiness.

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[FlyingFinn]

Makes me wonder about the Twins minor league pitcher of the year. Cory Lewis makes sense to me but there is a bias towards those in the upper levels (otherwise Festa would have won it last year). So Varland once again??

[Matt Braun]

7 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Makes me wonder about the Twins minor league pitcher of the year. Cory Lewis makes sense to me but there is a bias towards those in the upper levels (otherwise Festa would have won it last year). So Varland once again??

Good question. I would go Lewis as of now, but Culpepper, Morris, Ohl, and Festa have arguments as well. 

[Dman]

Supposedly Ohl doesn't even have a plus pitch but does appear to have plus control and command.  I really do love his attacking style, but I kind of thought that with so few walks and tougher hitters at the higher levels that he would struggle.  It looks like I am going to be wrong.  We might have another Brad Radke type pitcher in Ohl.

Nice to see the long shot make it to number one.  I am sure lot's of hard work has gone into getting him this far.  Hoping it translates all the way up to MLB.

It is nice to see this list and dream on some more good to great arms to reinforce what we have.  Just need to keep those arms healthy.

[Trov]

It is nice to some very good numbers this late in year.  Generally that would mean they have grown as the year has gone along, or the comp has graduated, but I like to be optimistic. 

[madtowntwin]

When Festa "Fills Out" his physicality could approach Bailey Obers....Isn't he like 6'7'' and 170#?? His combination of "Stuff & Wingspan" must be very off-putting to hitters. Ohl certainly is making the best of his opportunity. I find these write-ups fascinating and informative.