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  • Who Is Brock Stewart?

    Ted Schwerzler

    By Ted Schwerzler

    The Minnesota Twins did a good job adding to the starting rotation this offseason, and their bullpen has taken significant strides forward. Now, they’ll add another flamethrowing arm to the group, and Brock Stewart has certainly earned his way back.

     

    Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

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    With the Minnesota Twins having an open roster spot after optioning Bailey Ober back to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday, they have decided to use it on hard-throwing righty Brock Stewart. He was not on the 40-man roster, so the Twins chose to Designate RHP Trevor Megill for Assignment.

    The 31-year-old's story is an interesting one, and when he takes the mound for the Twins, it will be the first time he’s been on a big league mound since 2019.

    Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, Stewart was taken out of Illinois State University. The former Redbird worked as a reliever in college and racked up strikeouts with strong velocity numbers. Los Angeles immediately tried him as a starter, and while the results were middling in 2015, he broke out in 2016.

    Across 121 innings from Single-A to Triple-A in 2016, Stewart posted a sparkling 1.79 ERA with a 9.6 K/9. He made 21 starts and excelled at the upper levels of the farm. While that year didn’t get him on any top-100 prospect lists, he vaulted up the Dodgers system and was now an arm with plenty of intrigue.

    With the strong effort on the farm in 2016, Stewart was called up to the big leagues for his debut. He pitched 28 innings for the Dodgers, but was bit by the longball, allowing seven of them in that timeframe.

    Working out of the Dodgers bullpen for the majority of 2017, Stewart saw plenty of success when it came to ERA. His 3.41 number was solid, but continuously he was walking a tightrope as the strikeouts dipped and the walks rose. A lackluster 2018 with the Dodgers meant his chances were running out, and by 2019 he found opportunity north of the border with Toronto. In 21 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays, Stewart posted an 8.31 ERA and was allowing a whopping 3.7 HR/9. At 27 years old, his career was at a crossroads.

    Out of affiliated baseball during Covid, Stewart found run with the Chicago Deep Dish, an independent team playing in the City of Champions Cup. He turned in a strong 3.38 ERA and the strikeout numbers rebounded. Unfortunately, he blew out his arm in 2021 and underwent Tommy John surgery.

    Signed by the Minnesota Twins last summer, Stewart was a prioritized minor league free agent as the organization brought him in to oversee his rehab. The righty made his organizational debut on August 23, 2022 working two innings in the Complex League. He then made three appearances for the Mighty Mussels before eventually finishing his season throwing 7 1/3 innings with the St. Paul Saints.

    The results weren’t good last year, but it was the first opportunity for him to get his feet wet following the long road back. Invited to big league spring training for Minnesota this year, Stewart threw 9 1/3 innings across Grapefruit League action. The results weren’t ideal, but it was another building block in the process.

    Having now worked 8 2/3 innings to start 2023 for the Saints, Stewart has been among the best relievers at Triple-A. His fastball velocity has sat in the upper 90’s, which is a big jump from his 92.8 mph career average. He has a ridiculous 17/2 K/BB. Maybe most importantly, he has yet to allow a home run.

    How manager Rocco Baldelli utilizes Stewart out of the Twins pen remains to be seen. He is not a traditional long man, although he has the ability to go multiple innings. He will obviously see most of his work in lower leverage, but this is a spot for Stewart to show he can hang and enjoy the hard work paying off. It has been a long road to get back, and you can imagine emotions will run high the first time the bullpen door swings open for him.

    Ted Schwerzler - A blogger for nearly a decade, passion for baseball and the Minnesota Twins runs deep.
    Follow Ted Schwerzler on Twitter: tlschwerz

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    wornsmooth

    wornsmooth 98

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I have reached the point in my life where I route for the guys who have had adversity in their career.

    It is why I look each day to see what J Gallo does. Or N Gordon. Or B Buxton.

    Now the Twins CF ....almost leading the team in HRs, yet doesn't seem to get much credit.

    Now Stewart, amongst others.

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    roger

    roger 4,077

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Interesting.  Was wondering late in last night's game if they had any relievers at St. Paul who could come up and replace Moran.  Although not the move I anticipated, will see how Stewart can do.

    Question, is he a one inning hard thrower?  Or has he been used for 2 or 2+ innings at St. Paul?

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    Whitey333

    Whitey333 1,841

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Glad for Stewart. Another typical Twins bullpen signing.  Sign whomever no one else wants and see if it sticks here.  I hope it does but not very likely.  It's amazing to me that as much as the Twins depend on their bullpen they seem so reluctant to sign any PROVEN bullpen arms during the off season then need to scramble some to find better pieces than the previous reclamation project.  It seems Baldelli already has two to three arms he's reluctant to use.  Looks like they added another one.

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    Ted Schwerzler

    Ted Schwerzler 5,937

  • Twins Daily Contributor

    • Posted

    The Minnesota Twins did a good job adding to the starting rotation this offseason, and their bullpen has taken significant strides forward. Now, they’ll add another flamethrowing arm to the group, and Brock Stewart has certainly earned his way back.

     

    Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

    With the Minnesota Twins having an open roster spot after optioning Bailey Ober back to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday, they have decided to use it on hard-throwing righty Brock Stewart. He was not on the 40-man roster, so the Twins chose to Designate RHP Trevor Megill for Assignment.

    The 31-year-old's story is an interesting one, and when he takes the mound for the Twins, it will be the first time he’s been on a big league mound since 2019.

    Drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, Stewart was taken out of Illinois State University. The former Redbird worked as a reliever in college and racked up strikeouts with strong velocity numbers. Los Angeles immediately tried him as a starter, and while the results were middling in 2015, he broke out in 2016.

    Across 121 innings from Single-A to Triple-A in 2016, Stewart posted a sparkling 1.79 ERA with a 9.6 K/9. He made 21 starts and excelled at the upper levels of the farm. While that year didn’t get him on any top-100 prospect lists, he vaulted up the Dodgers system and was now an arm with plenty of intrigue.

    With the strong effort on the farm in 2016, Stewart was called up to the big leagues for his debut. He pitched 28 innings for the Dodgers, but was bit by the longball, allowing seven of them in that timeframe.

    Working out of the Dodgers bullpen for the majority of 2017, Stewart saw plenty of success when it came to ERA. His 3.41 number was solid, but continuously he was walking a tightrope as the strikeouts dipped and the walks rose. A lackluster 2018 with the Dodgers meant his chances were running out, and by 2019 he found opportunity north of the border with Toronto. In 21 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays, Stewart posted an 8.31 ERA and was allowing a whopping 3.7 HR/9. At 27 years old, his career was at a crossroads.

    Out of affiliated baseball during Covid, Stewart found run with the Chicago Deep Dish, an independent team playing in the City of Champions Cup. He turned in a strong 3.38 ERA and the strikeout numbers rebounded. Unfortunately, he blew out his arm in 2021 and underwent Tommy John surgery.

    Signed by the Minnesota Twins last summer, Stewart was a prioritized minor league free agent as the organization brought him in to oversee his rehab. The righty made his organizational debut on August 23, 2022 working two innings in the Complex League. He then made three appearances for the Mighty Mussels before eventually finishing his season throwing 7 1/3 innings with the St. Paul Saints.

    The results weren’t good last year, but it was the first opportunity for him to get his feet wet following the long road back. Invited to big league spring training for Minnesota this year, Stewart threw 9 1/3 innings across Grapefruit League action. The results weren’t ideal, but it was another building block in the process.

    Having now worked 8 2/3 innings to start 2023 for the Saints, Stewart has been among the best relievers at Triple-A. His fastball velocity has sat in the upper 90’s, which is a big jump from his 92.8 mph career average. He has a ridiculous 17/2 K/BB. Maybe most importantly, he has yet to allow a home run.

    How manager Rocco Baldelli utilizes Stewart out of the Twins pen remains to be seen. He is not a traditional long man, although he has the ability to go multiple innings. He will obviously see most of his work in lower leverage, but this is a spot for Stewart to show he can hang and enjoy the hard work paying off. It has been a long road to get back, and you can imagine emotions will run high the first time the bullpen door swings open for him.


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    DocBauer

    DocBauer 15,780

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I like this move. I don't expect him to be a late inning, shutdown arm by any imagination. But he's got experience. He's been through the injury and DFA wars in his career. He's now throwing harder than ever and off to a great start this season. Who knows, he just might be a RH version of Thielbar. 

    I have high hopes for both Moran and Alcala still. Both have good/great stuff. Alcala is getting a reset at AAA right now, and after basically missing last season, maybe that's for the best. But I also didn't like how he was being used, especially with the time missed. At least for now, I think he's a 1IP guy and they seemed to keep asking to go 2. Maybe Moran needs a reset as well? But I don't know if he's not better working with the coaches at the ML level to iron some things out. I don't think he, or Alcala, really have anything to prove at AAA. I think they just need some time and growth.

    I've been really impressed from what I've seen from Headrick between ST and his SSS at the ML level. He might ride the shuttle to and from St Paul a couple times this season, but the early returns are exciting. 

    The last spot in the pen will be a rotation of a long man between many arms, including Sands and Winder, eventually. 

    Where does that leave Pagan? Oh yeah, gone, as the FO finally realizes their misguided attempt to make him something he's not.

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    Mike Sixel

    Mike Sixel 44,746

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    3 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

    Glad for Stewart. Another typical Twins bullpen signing.  Sign whomever no one else wants and see if it sticks here.  I hope it does but not very likely.  It's amazing to me that as much as the Twins depend on their bullpen they seem so reluctant to sign any PROVEN bullpen arms during the off season then need to scramble some to find better pieces than the previous reclamation project.  It seems Baldelli already has two to three arms he's reluctant to use.  Looks like they added another one.

    The list of proven pitchers that fail the next year is longer than you can imagine. Why would we assume he won't use Stewart? 

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    Doctor Wu

    Doctor Wu 1,667

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    As reclamation projects go, Brock Stewart is an intriguing one. Great story about how he has come back from injury and making it back to the majors several years later. And I love his recent K to BB ratio. Go get 'em Brock!

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    wabene

    wabene 4,965

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    11 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

    Should have kept Coulombe... which was stated by many of us in real time.... 

    He doesn't have options and that left him out of the last man in the pen role. He was battling Sands not the higher upside guys for better or worse. 

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    wabene

    wabene 4,965

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    • Posted

    16 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

    Glad for Stewart. Another typical Twins bullpen signing.  Sign whomever no one else wants and see if it sticks here.  I hope it does but not very likely.  It's amazing to me that as much as the Twins depend on their bullpen they seem so reluctant to sign any PROVEN bullpen arms during the off season then need to scramble some to find better pieces than the previous reclamation project.  It seems Baldelli already has two to three arms he's reluctant to use.  Looks like they added another one.

    Gads man, give the man a chance. BTW the Twins have signed and traded for many PROVEN bullpen arms. Matt Belisle had a long healthy track record of success, signed for 2 years at about 17mil and then got hurt. They traded for Romo and Dyson and then Dyson's body (and brain) promptly went on the fritz. They traded for Fulmer. Lopez. I would agree that the pen is one area they don't want to put too many chips into. 

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    stringer bell

    stringer bell 17,517

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    30 minutes ago, wabene said:

    He doesn't have options and that left him out of the last man in the pen role. He was battling Sands not the higher upside guys for better or worse. 

    I don’t think there were many that wanted Coulombe at the expense of Acalá or Moran. Coulombe’s unusual contract provision of being able to opt out if he had a major league offer got him a major league job and he has run with it. If anyone says they wanted Coulombe for Pagán, hindsight is showing they are right so far. 

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    Blyleven2011

    Blyleven2011 1,928

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    This is the question  ...

    How Rocco  will use Stewart out of the bullpen ,,, 

    Until the front office deals with the pagan situation  , I'm not going to hold my breath on any of these added fringe players ...

    Get a long relief guy for a bullpen  please ...

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    JD-TWINS

    JD-TWINS 1,535

  • Silver Caretaker

    • Posted

    Isn’t Headrick sufficient for long relief? I know he went 3 innings in first game. Not much of a track record to date.

    Winder is another talented potential long guy, once healthy.

    Balazavic is a new Pen option in another 3-4 weeks.

    The new guy, Stewart, will get a couple looks but really don’t expect him to stick. We have guys with better stuff……,they dobsee something if they DFA’d MeGill - he throws 98 with a plus curveball…….lack of control though.

    Gotta get to some scenario soon where it’s completely logical - beyond any doubt - that Pagán is TOO inconsistent to keep on the staff.

    Last, Morán may need to go down…….. with the ultimatum that he’s not coming back up until he can complete two consecutive outings without walking anyone. He’s got a nice change-up - tired of hearing that, as he walks 1-3 guys per inning. He doesn’t get knocked around, he just puts himself in trouble way too often. Somewhere in the 7.50 ERA range at this point.

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