Pierson Ohl Set to Make Minnesota Twins Debut: What Can Pitching Prospect Offer?

There should be a lot of opportunities for the young pitchers over the next few months. SWR, Festa, and Mathews, plus Adams, Ohl, and anyone else pending trades.  I am just hoping to see progress giving the fans some hope for next year.

The return of the Kevin Slowey profile that the Twins used to covet.

Hopefully he does well, I would like to see a number of young arms get looks for the rest of the season.

He may fool people for a while until the scouting reports catch up, then he will get pounded and head back to AAA to make adjustments and improvements. However, that is the most productive use of MLB playing time for the final two months of this season.

WHO? 

Do we really have to do the opener just let him start I don't see the point

11 minutes ago, lukeduke1980 said:

Do we really have to do the opener just let him start I don't see the point

I believe he is starting.

55 minutes ago, lukeduke1980 said:

Do we really have to do the opener just let him start I don't see the point

It's a lot easier to enter the game against the 4/5/6 or 5/6/7 hitters than it is to face the top of the order.  It gives them the opportunity to pitch more innings without facing the top of the order 3 times.

" The Twins have made a conscious pitching development plan with players like Ohl to get them more consistent work in shorter outings. "

The highest value pitchers are ace starters. The next most valuable are shutdown closers. 

The Twins are focused on optimizing development of middle relievers. Incredible.

3 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

One of several pitchers who are being trained to never be a starting pitcher. I couldn’t disagree more with Falvey on this strategy. The way things are trending we’re going to be watching bullpen games multiple times per week. 

My interpretation is that there are a lot of pitchers that are effective one or twice through the order.  Can they develop specifically for that role and maximize effectiveness?  Probably.  They might also be thinking this approach would cover more innings.  If they can get 2 IPs twice a week that's over 100 IPs.  180-200 IP from 2 BP arms would be great.  That would be a good way to preserve the BP.  Again, I will wait and see if this can be executed.   In theory, I like the idea of a couple guys that can go 2-3 innings per outing twice a week.  If they can make this an effective strategy, I will like it a lot.  I give them props for thinking outside the box.  It's a little Tampa Bayish.

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Reminds me of when Zebby came up.  Fantastic control, but not great velocity.  Maybe if Ohl gets a taste this season, he can mimic Zebby and add velocity to his control to become effective.

If the goal is for him to mimic Zebby, I will be reserving judgement until Zebby proves he belongs at the major league level as well.

1 hour ago, shimrod said:

" The Twins have made a conscious pitching development plan with players like Ohl to get them more consistent work in shorter outings. "

The highest value pitchers are ace starters. The next most valuable are shutdown closers. 

The Twins are focused on optimizing development of middle relievers. Incredible.

This would be a valid criticism if people thought Ohl could be an ace or shutdown reliever.  The velocity needed to start or be a top reliever hasn't developed.  He's a 14th round pick, and if he becomes a serviceable long reliever that is a win.

The article at the link says the Twins are taking this approach with most, if not all, of their minor league pitchers. It's not just Ohl. It's the new Twins way.

Perhaps the article is incorrect, I hope so. 

4 hours ago, RaoulDuke said:

The return of the Kevin Slowey profile that the Twins used to covet.

Hopefully he does well, I would like to see a number of young arms get looks for the rest of the season.

Or, perhaps, Brad Radke. Judging by the dunderheads calling ball &s strikes, a pitcher that lives on outer reaches of the strike zone might be onto something.

Thanks for the update.  Will be watching tonight with my fingers crossed.

Appears the Twins will be mixing and matching a lot over the next two months.  Assuming he doesn't wear down as the season winds down, is it possible we will see Prielipp?  Now that's an appearance I won't want to miss.

I do think this is going to be more of thing in baseball going forward.  Teams are leaning into analytics and pulling starters earlier and earlier to avoid the 3rd time through the lineup which leads to more bullpen innings.  To eat those innings you have to either use a bunch of 1 inning guys often or have bulk arms.  

For some guys I think it could be a good role, think Jake Odorizzi.  Good stuff but throws to many pitches to be more than a 4/5 inning guy.  Instead you have him let loose for 3 innings more often and in spots that you pick.  

The long/ bulk guy has traditionally been basically your worst pitcher, but it could be a weapon.  The major problem is how do you get players to accept it because you get paid by being a starter or back end pen arm.

23 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

What I was referring to was Zebby's increase in velocity not necessarily his SSS to-date.  When Zebby first came up last year his FB was like 91-93.  He worked in the off season and is now up in the high 90's.  I am hoping that Ohl can also increase his velocity and with high control (like Zebby) be someone we can count on in the future.

I think you are mistakenly tying the increase in velocity to success. Zebby hasn't proven it has helped him nor that he can be counted on. Outside of Ober, the 9 years of Falvey developing a pitching pipeline has been a massive swing and a miss.