Thrylos

Thanks for the update! I had a chance to see you all play in Spring Training and got the impression that, if anything, you guys are going to have fun playing the game this season. This is from then: http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6046/7022468617_ae7f3d3f96_b.jpg Congratulations for what you guys are doing this season. You are a really good group to watch move up the ranks.

So we are talking about a 93-94 mph guy max in a real gun who according the minor league director has command issues and awful mechanics. The Twins had a guy like that a few years ago, only he could reach triple digits (Juan Morillo, remember him?) and a guy like that last season, only who could reach 98 in a real gun (Jimmy Hoey, remember him?)

I agree with the "Best Player Available" philosophy. The problem is that what "Best Player" means and who that might be in a particular draft, is defined differently. And those definitions are subjective and change. That's why each team has a totally different board. For Example: I'd like to see them pick the player with the highest ceiling (because to me, that is the definition of the best player available in an MLB amateur draft). I'd argue, that the player with the highest ceiling in this draft, is also the player with the highest risk in this draft, and might be unsignable (Lucas Giolito.) I doubt that the Twins are thinking this way...

I think that Ricky Bowen, Jhon Garcia, Edgar Ibarra or Bruce Pugh might disagree You just cannot have 23 and 24 year olds stuck in high A because you sign a bunch of 28 year old never had beens and assign them to AA. And the same thing goes with the 22-23 year olds who will get stuck in Beloit. Add the College players among the top 6 Twins' picks who might go to Ft. Myers or Beloit, and you really got a mess... This time of the year, the Twins should be getting rid of older players not adding them...

The Twins signed the St. Paul Saints' closer, 28 year old RHP Dan Sattler, to a minor league contract and sent him to extended spring training with the idea to promote him to New Britain. That's a week before the draft. If anyone thinks that this makes any sense, please enlighten me.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 20: Michael Wacha Profile/Stats: Michael Joseph Wacha is a Junior at Texas A&M University. He throws right handed. He was born on July 1st, 1991 in Iowa City, IA. He grew up in Texarkana, TX and went to Pleasant Grove High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 200 lbs. He was not previously drafted. He has been a starter for 3 season. This season he is 8-0 in 14 Games Started (99 innings) allowing 16 Bases on Balls and accumulating 99 strike outs. Hepitched 2 complete game shutouts, has a 2.09 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Was a member of the National Honor Society in High School. Mini Scouting Report: Michael Wacha has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up. Regarded by some the most polished pitcher in the draft and a typical Twins'-type selection because he's close to being ready and throwing strikes. His fastball is a two-seamer with good movement sitting at 90-92 and up to 93-94. His changeup is a plus pitch with good deception and late movement. Good command and control of both his sinker and change. His slider is a work in progress that has shown some promise, but he has not been using it much. Tall and lanky with lots of arms and legs and deception in his delivery. Good mechanics and good angle to the plate. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Michael Wacha pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/XV/XVWDKTVXMVVMUPD.20111027194438.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 20: Michael Wacha Profile/Stats: Michael Joseph Wacha is a Junior at Texas A&M University. He throws right handed. He was born on July 1st, 1991 in Iowa City, IA. He grew up in Texarkana, TX and went to Pleasant Grove High School. He is listed at 6'6" and 200 lbs. He was not previously drafted. He has been a starter for 3 season. This season he is 8-0 in 14 Games Started (99 innings) allowing 16 Bases on Balls and accumulating 99 strike outs. Hepitched 2 complete game shutouts, has a 2.09 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. Was a member of the National Honor Society in High School. Mini Scouting Report: Michael Wacha has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up. Regarded by some the most polished pitcher in the draft and a typical Twins'-type selection because he's close to being ready and throwing strikes. His fastball is a two-seamer with good movement sitting at 90-92 and up to 93-94. His changeup is a plus pitch with good deception and late movement. Good command and control of both his sinker and change. His slider is a work in progress that has shown some promise, but he has not been using it much. Tall and lanky with lots of arms and legs and deception in his delivery. Good mechanics and good angle to the plate. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Michael Wacha pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/XV/XVWDKTVXMVVMUPD.20111027194438.jpg

I'd add Philly in the list as well. Another team that might be also interested in Span and got plenty of good MLB-ready young pitching to deal.

Mock drafts are an exercise in futility. I get talking about the needs of a particular team but trying to guess all 30 teams' draftboards is tough. A mock draft last week had the Twins pick 4 catchers among their first 6 picks. This one has 19 high school kids and 12 college kids going the first round, with 6 out of the top 9 picks being high school kids. It's not happening I think that the Twins could go one of 7 ways with their number 2 pick and these are the names that Seth mentioned at #3 above, minus Giolito (I think that he will probably end up going to College) plus Wacha.

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment; and it is heavily influenced by the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft: This is great evidence to reinforce my position to a. not believe in "mock drafts" and b. not attempt one. That mock draft had the Twins not taking a P until their 6th pick (3rd round) and taking 3 catchers with their first 4 picks. The chance of this happening is smaller than me winning the lottery (and I do not play the lottery.) This year, like I did in 2010 and 2009, I will live-blog the Twins' draft. More details about the coverage of the Twins' 2012 Draft at The Tenth Inning Stretch will be coming later this week, but it will be a lot like the 2010 coverage. Speaking of the Twins' draft, unless they feel strongly about a particular pitcher (Appel?, Gausman? Zimmer? Wacha? - yes, Wacha, he is a "Twins' kind of a pitcher") for the number 2 spot and Houston does not pick him before them, I think that they might go with highest upside healthy guy (and I mean healthy, because I think that Lucas Giolito has the highest upside of everyone in the draft) for his position, and this would probably be Carlos Correa, the 17 year old High School Senior SS from Puerto Rico. Since they have plenty of picks in the supplemental round, they could use those to pick good arms who might fall there like Matt Smoral (because of injury) or Chris Stratton or Pat Light or Rochester's Mitch Brown. A future infield of Sano, Rosario and Correa sounds pretty interesting; but let's not put the carriage in front of the horse... Lots of possible things the Twins can do with that second pick and I can see them take any of seven players. Speaking of him, he did not make my top 22 pitchers of the MLB draft list, but this is a great story on Rochester's (MN) Mitch Brown, by Tyler Mason. And his father is a former Korean power-lifter. Good blood lines. It appears that the player who the Twins will pick at #2, will be a Boras client. No word about who that might be yet. Appel is a Boras client. And if someone does not realize why the Twins should promote the best people from the minors and should be fair about it, here is a reminder Speaking off promoting the best players and being fair, sad to read about the miss-trust that Ron Gardenhire and this organization shows to Anthony Slama. And when the Twins promoted another pitcher for their pen last Sunday, it was Jeff Manship who has been OK, but not exactly as good as Slama. The online voting for the 2012 AAA All-Star Game is open. Maybe voting early and often for Anthony Slama might open the Twins' eyes. I was not surprised with the practical release of Erik Komatsu. He was overmatched in the majors and the presense of Ben Revere lessened the need for another lighter hitting and slower lefty outfielder. Mastroianni bats right-handed. And I do not foresee the Twins making a deal with Washington to keep him (if he passes waivers.) They just have too many outfielders in the minors at this point. Also, to fill Manship's spot in the Rochester rotation, David Bromberg has been promoted from New Britain to Rochester. I suspect Aaron Thomspon who is to be able to return from his suspension today or tomorrow, will take Bromberg's spot for the Rock Cats. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Michael, the Twins' 2011 1st round draft pick, gets demoted to Beloit one of these days. Unfortunately, I think that the Twins pushed him too high for his first pro season by assigning him to Fort Myers. The problem was that Tyler Grimes (who is not playing at Beloit-level also) was assigned to Beloit and they both need playing time. The Twins' product of the week is one of the best books about the Twins and fairly appropriate these dark times: We're Gonna Win, Twins!http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=0816656215 The parting shot today is of Jeff Manship, the latest player to join the Twins from AAA Rochester: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7281786118_36c5c16726_z.jpg

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Here is this week's installment; and it is heavily influenced by the upcoming MLB Amateur Draft: This is great evidence to reinforce my position to a. not believe in "mock drafts" and b. not attempt one. That mock draft had the Twins not taking a P until their 6th pick (3rd round) and taking 3 catchers with their first 4 picks. The chance of this happening is smaller than me winning the lottery (and I do not play the lottery.) This year, like I did in 2010 and 2009, I will live-blog the Twins' draft. More details about the coverage of the Twins' 2012 Draft at The Tenth Inning Stretch will be coming later this week, but it will be a lot like the 2010 coverage. Speaking of the Twins' draft, unless they feel strongly about a particular pitcher (Appel?, Gausman? Zimmer? Wacha? - yes, Wacha, he is a "Twins' kind of a pitcher") for the number 2 spot and Houston does not pick him before them, I think that they might go with highest upside healthy guy (and I mean healthy, because I think that Lucas Giolito has the highest upside of everyone in the draft) for his position, and this would probably be Carlos Correa, the 17 year old High School Senior SS from Puerto Rico. Since they have plenty of picks in the supplemental round, they could use those to pick good arms who might fall there like Matt Smoral (because of injury) or Chris Stratton or Pat Light or Rochester's Mitch Brown. A future infield of Sano, Rosario and Correa sounds pretty interesting; but let's not put the carriage in front of the horse... Lots of possible things the Twins can do with that second pick and I can see them take any of seven players. Speaking of him, he did not make my top 22 pitchers of the MLB draft list, but this is a great story on Rochester's (MN) Mitch Brown, by Tyler Mason. And his father is a former Korean power-lifter. Good blood lines. It appears that the player who the Twins will pick at #2, will be a Boras client. No word about who that might be yet. Appel is a Boras client. And if someone does not realize why the Twins should promote the best people from the minors and should be fair about it, here is a reminder Speaking off promoting the best players and being fair, sad to read about the miss-trust that Ron Gardenhire and this organization shows to Anthony Slama. And when the Twins promoted another pitcher for their pen last Sunday, it was Jeff Manship who has been OK, but not exactly as good as Slama. The online voting for the 2012 AAA All-Star Game is open. Maybe voting early and often for Anthony Slama might open the Twins' eyes. I was not surprised with the practical release of Erik Komatsu. He was overmatched in the majors and the presense of Ben Revere lessened the need for another lighter hitting and slower lefty outfielder. Mastroianni bats right-handed. And I do not foresee the Twins making a deal with Washington to keep him (if he passes waivers.) They just have too many outfielders in the minors at this point. Also, to fill Manship's spot in the Rochester rotation, David Bromberg has been promoted from New Britain to Rochester. I suspect Aaron Thomspon who is to be able to return from his suspension today or tomorrow, will take Bromberg's spot for the Rock Cats. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Michael, the Twins' 2011 1st round draft pick, gets demoted to Beloit one of these days. Unfortunately, I think that the Twins pushed him too high for his first pro season by assigning him to Fort Myers. The problem was that Tyler Grimes (who is not playing at Beloit-level also) was assigned to Beloit and they both need playing time. The Twins' product of the week is one of the best books about the Twins and fairly appropriate these dark times: We're Gonna Win, Twins!http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=0816656215 The parting shot today is of Jeff Manship, the latest player to join the Twins from AAA Rochester: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7236/7281786118_36c5c16726_z.jpg

Florimon is interestingly ranked. I think it is probably high given his age and production combination. I think that the Twins did a dis-service to both Michael and Grimes to having them play at least a level higher than they belong. Michael should be in Beloit. Speaking of Beloit, now that I am pretty sure that he will not make your list, you might want to give a second look at Matthew Koch. I really liked what I saw in ST both as far as catching and hitting goes and he reminds me a lot of Chris Herrmann with a tad more power and less discipline and better catch and throw behind the plate. I know he is flying well under the radar, but he will not be for long if he continues like this...

So you all want to bring this look back? http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6431942763_3161378a53.jpg

I think that those uniforms were pretty hideous and were actually worn when the Twins were pretty hideous as well... Maybe they are appropriate that way... Seriously, they should live them where they are now I'd rather see the alternate red back, that would be a nice change

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 19: Hunter Virant Profile/Stats: Hunter Virant is a senior at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, CA, and has committed to play for the same college, UCLA, as other pitching prospects, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito. He is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. He was born on January 24, 1994. He throws left-handed. Virant is athletic and also plays as a Center Fielder. He threw a no-hitter in April over Oxnard. Mini Scouting Report: Virant has a fastball, a curve and a changeup. His fastball is an above average pitch with good movement. It averages 92-93 and occasionally gets to 95-96. His curve is a plus pitch with a good bite, thrown at the upper 70s. His changeup at low 80s is an average pitch. Very polished and athletic player. Good mechanics and smooth Delivery. Size might be an issue but he will bulk up. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Hunter Virant pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATN22.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 19: Hunter Virant Profile/Stats: Hunter Virant is a senior at Camarillo High School in Camarillo, CA, and has committed to play for the same college, UCLA, as other pitching prospects, Max Fried and Lucas Giolito. He is listed at 6'3" and 175 lbs. He was born on January 24, 1994. He throws left-handed. Virant is athletic and also plays as a Center Fielder. He threw a no-hitter in April over Oxnard. Mini Scouting Report: Virant has a fastball, a curve and a changeup. His fastball is an above average pitch with good movement. It averages 92-93 and occasionally gets to 95-96. His curve is a plus pitch with a good bite, thrown at the upper 70s. His changeup at low 80s is an average pitch. Very polished and athletic player. Good mechanics and smooth Delivery. Size might be an issue but he will bulk up. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Hunter Virant pitching http://www.perfectgame.org/images/profilepics/11NATN22.jpg

Coco reverted to Covelli? Cool. Let's see whether Span will revert to Keiunta

Gardenhire said something to the effect of (paraphrasing) : If Komatsu gets through waivers, he does not foresee a trade worked out with the Nats to keep him. (and it makes sense. He will probably be in AA as far as the Twins' OF depth is concerned)

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 18: Marcus Stromen Profile/Stats: Marcus Stromen is a Junior at Duke University. He throws right handed. He was born on May 1st, 1991. He is from Medford, NY and went to the Patchogue-Medford High School. He is listed at 5'9" and 180 lbs. In his previous 2 seasons he was a swing man, and even served as the closer for Team USA in 2011 converting all 4 save opportunities, but this season he has been exclusively a starter. In 14 games started (98 innings) he is 6-5 with a 2.39 ERA, walking 26 and striking out 136, allowing a .231 opponents batting average. Also plays at the outfieldand second base between starts but he has no future in the pros as a position player (.252/.324/.362 career slash line in 336 Plate Appearances) He was drafted in the 18th round of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals but did not sign. Mini Scouting Report: Marcus Stromen has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up and occasionally throws a cutter. The fastball is a plus pitch, It sits in the mid 90s with bursts up to 96-97 and has excellent command and control of it. His slider is better than an average pitch sitting at the mid 80s. His changeup and cutter are works in progress. Given his statute and the fact that right now he has only 2 pitches, he is projected by some teams as a dominating reliever instead of a mid-rotation starter. There are a lot of comparisons with Tom (Flash) Gordon. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Marcus Stromen pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/HI/HIYEPBVXIERQAWH.20120124181633.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 18: Marcus Stromen Profile/Stats: Marcus Stromen is a Junior at Duke University. He throws right handed. He was born on May 1st, 1991. He is from Medford, NY and went to the Patchogue-Medford High School. He is listed at 5'9" and 180 lbs. In his previous 2 seasons he was a swing man, and even served as the closer for Team USA in 2011 converting all 4 save opportunities, but this season he has been exclusively a starter. In 14 games started (98 innings) he is 6-5 with a 2.39 ERA, walking 26 and striking out 136, allowing a .231 opponents batting average. Also plays at the outfieldand second base between starts but he has no future in the pros as a position player (.252/.324/.362 career slash line in 336 Plate Appearances) He was drafted in the 18th round of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals but did not sign. Mini Scouting Report: Marcus Stromen has three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a change up and occasionally throws a cutter. The fastball is a plus pitch, It sits in the mid 90s with bursts up to 96-97 and has excellent command and control of it. His slider is better than an average pitch sitting at the mid 80s. His changeup and cutter are works in progress. Given his statute and the fact that right now he has only 2 pitches, he is projected by some teams as a dominating reliever instead of a mid-rotation starter. There are a lot of comparisons with Tom (Flash) Gordon. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Marcus Stromen pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/HI/HIYEPBVXIERQAWH.20120124181633.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 17: Chris Stratton Profile/Stats: Christopher Lee Stratton is a Junior at Mississippi State University. He went to Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. He was born on August 8th, 1990. He is listed at 6'3" and 198 lbs. He throws right-handed. He was not previously drafted. Stratton has been a starter all 3 season in his NCAA career starting 14 games each the past 2 seasons. This season he started 9 and came from the pen in 4 (a practice common for high level prospects.) He pitched 89.1 innings, allowing 19 bases on balls and striking out 107. He has pitched a complete game shutout, his ERA is 2.22 and his WHIP 0.960. Mini Scouting Report: Stratton's fastball is his greatest weapon. It sits at 94-95 and bursts up to 96-97. He has great command and control, even though his fastball at the highest speeds occasionally flattens out. He has a hard slider that sits at 84-85 mph, which is an average pitch, and an above average 12-6 curve at high 70s, which is his out pitch. His mechanics and arm action are not consistent but will benefit by professional coaching. Here is a piece on Chris Stratton by ESPN. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Chris Stratton pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/CA/CAXKFQKXLVUSJQE.20120203134438.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be doing about one a day and I will finish before the June 4th draft day. You can find all the profiles (in reverse alphabetical order) as they are presented here. I will start with RJ Alvarez and end with Kyle Zimmer. Each profile with contain a bit of background information and statistics, a mini scouting report and videos and photos. Profile 17: Chris Stratton Profile/Stats: Christopher Lee Stratton is a Junior at Mississippi State University. He went to Tupelo High School in Tupelo, MS. He was born on August 8th, 1990. He is listed at 6'3" and 198 lbs. He throws right-handed. He was not previously drafted. Stratton has been a starter all 3 season in his NCAA career starting 14 games each the past 2 seasons. This season he started 9 and came from the pen in 4 (a practice common for high level prospects.) He pitched 89.1 innings, allowing 19 bases on balls and striking out 107. He has pitched a complete game shutout, his ERA is 2.22 and his WHIP 0.960. Mini Scouting Report: Stratton's fastball is his greatest weapon. It sits at 94-95 and bursts up to 96-97. He has great command and control, even though his fastball at the highest speeds occasionally flattens out. He has a hard slider that sits at 84-85 mph, which is an average pitch, and an above average 12-6 curve at high 70s, which is his out pitch. His mechanics and arm action are not consistent but will benefit by professional coaching. Here is a piece on Chris Stratton by ESPN. Videos/Photos: Due to the difficulties in embedding videos here, please go to the original post to see videos of Chris Stratton pitching http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics32/200/CA/CAXKFQKXLVUSJQE.20120203134438.jpg

I think that Revere and Komatsu are interchangable (Mastoianni somewhat, but he hits right-handed.) Komatsu has not shown much and the Twins can find a replacement level OF for their 2013 bench any place. So it makes zero sense to keep him; I still have no idea why they claimed him anyways... So if someone should go, that should be Komatsu, with Valencia coming back (remember him?)

Smartest thing the Twins did all season. Move him back to the rotation, hope he catches lightning in a bottle, makes a few good starts in a row and trade him.