Article: Q&A with Stephen Gonsalves

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php/2681-Q-A-with-Stephen-Gonsalves

[tjsyam921]

Will he start the year in Cedar Rapids? I look forward to seeing Stephen, Lewis Thorpe, and Stewart this season. Should be another fun year in Cedar Rapids.

[big dog]

Thanks for the interview! I hope he progresses quickly.

[nicksaviking]

He could be a steal and I hope he makes his goal this year of starting the year in full-season ball.

 

Someone may have to correct me, but wasn't one of the knocks on Stephen that he had a dust up or didn't listen to his coach? If I'm remembering that correctly I'm guessing it was overblown considering he posititvely mentioned his coach more than once here.

[cmathewson]

He could not have said anything better. At the end I thought he'd use the Nuke stock phrases: "I'm just happy to be here." "I'll take it one game at a time." Etc.

 

Can't wait to see him pitch. Making the Cedar Rapids team, and playing a full season is a good goal for him. Not sure if he'll be able to out of spring training, given the depth of the system. But I would be shocked if he doesn't pitch there at some point this year.

[cmathewson]

He could be a steal and I hope he makes his goal this year of starting the year in full-season ball.

 

Someone may have to correct me, but wasn't one of the knocks on Stephen that he had a dust up or didn't listen to his coach? If I'm remembering that correctly I'm guessing it was overblown considering he posititvely mentioned his coach more than once here.

 

He gave some teammates a ride home after a party in which some of them were drinking and smoking pot. By team policy, the whole car was suspended.

[twinsnorth49]

Great interview. There is a pretty good chance a lot of teams will regret letting Gonsalves slide so low. His bad rep was such a non-issue I was pretty surprised people didn't dig a little deeper to uncover what really happened. Great move by the Twins grabbing him when they did.

 

I'm really curious to see how he progresses, what a steal he could end up being.

[ericchri]

I know nothing about him besides what I've read on this site, but I like his answers. He sounds a little chippy and very confident, and that's a good thing in a starting pitcher. Definitely seems like we may have gotten a steal. Best of luck to him this season, I hope we start hearing about him regularly as that will likely mean he's doing well.

[nicksaviking]

He gave some teammates a ride home after a party in which some of them were drinking and smoking pot. By team policy, the whole car was suspended.

 

Yeah, I was thinking there was a different issue with an authority figure and I thought that figure was the coach. I'm probably wrong, but regardless, he spoke well of the man.

[Monkeypaws]

I did chuckle when he said he pitches to contact.

 

Gardy and Andy will like this kid.

[Nate Haseman]

I want to see this kid pitch against the Yankees in the playoffs and make good on his "never let us down" promise.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Great article Seth. I also chuckled when he talked about pitching to contact. Since he was one of my adapt-a-prospects last year, I followed him closely and was very impressed.

 

I don't tweet so I didn't see his tweets but heard about them. He is a wee bit cocky, I wonder what will happen when he runs into his first problem (injury, a series of bad games, a bunch of bad calls from minor league umps). How will he handle it??

 

I hope he makes Cedar Rapids rotation and does well. A big lefty with powerful stuff...but part of me wonders about him overcoming obstacles. I will be following him again this summer.

[diehardtwinsfan]

He's made it hard so far not to root for him. His goals are pretty reasonable too, though being a HS draftee, I'd suspect he's going to be on an innings limit this year. Seeing him in CR at one point though seems reasonable. I kind of hope he starts there early on. With Thorpe, Stewart, and Gonclaves, they have a rotation that will keep me checking their box scores daily.

[cmb0252]

Thanks for the interview Seth. This is one I have been waiting on. I'm a huge fan of this kid and can definitely see him being the steal of the draft. I almost fell of my chair because I was so excited when the Twins drafted him.

[cmathewson]

I'm OK with a kid pitching to contact, as long as he puts up a 12 K/9.

[Jdosen]

"I pitch to contact"-Stephen Gonsalves

 

*facepalm*-Jdosen

 

In all seriousness, he's got good K/9 numbers so far, but he's only appeared in 8 games in his whole career. I hope that's just a quote and not a philosophy.

[Seth Stohs]

Again, "Pitch to Contact" means throw strikes... that's the area he probably has to work on most. It's just a phrase... we overthink it way too much.

[AlwaysinModeration]

It is almost like he was baiting this forum with the pitch to contact response. Awesome.

 

I like this kid. I hope he and Stewart move up through the minors together. It was an interesting response about watching guys he played against and thought he was better than get drafted higher. I like the chip on the shoulder attitude. I have a gut feeling in a couple of years it is going to be hard to remember that he and Stewart were drafted three rounds apart.

[Seth Stohs]

I thought the same thing about the Pitch to Contact thing... thought maybe I should edit it out. Ha!!

[Dantes929]

Again, "Pitch to Contact" means throw strikes... that's the area he probably has to work on most. It's just a phrase... we overthink it way too much.

Well said Seth. Last year we were dead last in strikeouts and it wasn't close. We were 7th best on the walks side but still very close to league average.

Its not the pitch to contact philosophy that hurts us so bad. Its that we execute it so badly. Anywhere in the top 18 in strikeouts and giving up the fewest walks would satisfy me.

[Oxtung]

I don't see any way he starts at CR next season. There are just too many other intriguing players fighting for starts. Jorge, Landa and Rosario seem to be locks. Then there are Hein Robb and Josh Burris who made starts their last year before being sent back to the Appy league. There is a chance Ryan Eades starts in CR as well instead of FM. IIRC the Twins wanted to move Slegers to the rotation and we can't forget about Luke Bard. He'll be back after his injury this season rearing to go. Then you also have Kohl Stewart and Lewis Thorpe as well.

 

It seems strange to say this but there seems to be an abundance of intriguing pitching building in the low minors. Behind the guys previously mentioned there are also some intriguing bullpen arms and a couple more guys who were pretty darn good at GCL last season who are just a year behind.

[h2oface]

At least the coaching staff doesn't have to convert him to "pitch to contact". Yikes.

[old nurse]

As was said earlier, pitching to contact is throwing strikes. Near as I can figure, you need to throw strikes at some point to strike people out. The question before that one he said "I tell the batter in my head that you can't touch this." You can pitch to contact if they can't make contact with what you pitch.

A pitch with poor movement and/or poor location is going to get hit regardless the pitching coach's philosophy, The parade of pitchers through the starting rotation the last few years that now are pitching elsewhere should be proof of that. PJ Walters will not be having a 24 K% in KC with a different coach.

[clutterheart]

Again, "Pitch to Contact" means throw strikes... that's the area he probably has to work on most. It's just a phrase... we overthink it way too much.

 

Gonsalves is Trolling Twins fans with this phrase.

 

I am sure his family has looked at Twins blogs in the past. He must know this phrase is a buzz word in the Twins fandom.