Kohl Stewart - 2014

[zakprior]

Kohl Stewart is a right hander who was drafted by the Twins with the 4th pick in the 1st round of the 2013 amateur draft. He was drafted out of St. Pius X High School in Houston, TX, where he has also received a scholarship to attend Texas A+M as a Quarterback in Football. He choose to sign for the Twins for a £4,544,400. He stands at 6’ 3” and weighs anywhere between 190lbs and 210lbs dependent on which reports you read. He is considered, by most prospect rankings, to be the Twins second best pitching prospect after Alex Meyer.

 

Stewart’s pitching repertoire is based around his fastball which comfortably sits in the mid 90s and can hit the upper 90s. His best pitch, however, is considered to be his slider, often quoted as being a “wipeout” pitch. He also has a changeup, a curveball and has been playing around with a sinker. These pitches have not been as effective as the other two at this point, but the Twins will look to expand on these to ensure he is able to remain a starter and not head to the bullpen. With these pitches Stewart has the potential to be a special player at big league level, there is of course a long way to go though. His ability to play both Baseball and Football show both his intellect and athleticism.

 

Following his entrance to the Twins’ farm system in 2013 he played for both Rookie League affiliates. He started with the Gulf Coast Twins playing in 6 games, starting 3 with a 1.69 ERA striking out 16 in this time. He moved up toward the end of the year to start one game in Elizabethton completing 4 innings giving up 0 runs while striking out 8. Overall in 2013 through 20 innings. Stewart did not allow a home run while walking 4 batters.

 

To start 2014 Stewart has been sent to low Class A playing for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, where he will have the chance to start.

 

Apologies about this being a tad late. I have missed Stewart’s two starts, but following this I will update after each start. I will update about these first two starts soon.

[twinsfan34]

An interview of Kohl after his first start for those interested...link below with video clip.

 

Pitching in front of his mother and father, he showed a smooth, repeatable delivery, a fastball that topped out at 94 miles per hour and a solid changeup. His breaking ball was inconsistent.

 

“Exactly,” he said, when offered the theory his outing was a solid foundation from which to build this season. “I just want to keep pounding the zone. Hopefully I can get better and better.”

 

“For a young kid like that, he’s got pretty good command,” Mauer said. “He’s got a big arm. We’ve got to clean up some of the other things, some of the small things around it, but he was very impressive. His first start here was a good one, no doubt about it.”

Read more: http://www.kcrg.com/sports/local/Stewart-Survives-Line-Drive-To-The-Leg-Wins-Kernels-Debut---254132551.html#ixzz2ym18QFDJ

[zakprior]

At this moment in time Kohl Stewart has made four starts in Cedar Rapids. All of which are yielding slow improvement.

 

His first game he gave up 2 ER in 5 IP. The next he gave up 3 ER in 4 IP. Following that he have up his first loss of the season by giving up 2 ER in 5 IP. His best start of the year came in his last start. Against Clinton he went for 6 innings giving up 1 run, it was however not earned.

 

Overall Kohl has a good 3.15 ERA in a total of 20IP. What has been disappointing are his strikeout totals, only accumulating 13 so far. Although in his latest start he did K6 in 6IP. So hopefully a slow start with more K's to come. Walks so far have been excellent with only 4 on the year, 1 in each outing. While his average that he is giving up is down at .164. As such the signs have been there that he should be able to push his ERA down a little bit and his K's up to show the high upside that he has as a prospect.

 

What seems to be coming out of the Twins at the moment is that Kohl will be staying at Low A all year unless he starts absolutely dominating the batters in the Midwest League. Chances are that at the age of 19 this is nothing but a good thing. Although if the quality from the latest outing continues I would consider him to go up for the last couple of months to Ft Myers to see how he handles it.

[Shane Wahl]

No one is updating this? Really?

[naobermiller]

No one is updating this? Really?

 

Challenge Accepted:

 

Kohl Stewart currently is on the 7-day disabled list after experiencing shoulder tightness in July.  MRIs came back negative, and the organization still expects Stewart to return to Cedar Rapids' starting rotation in early August. 

 

Stewart has pitched very well at A ball, though you wouldn't tell it by his wins and losses.  Stewart has pitched to a 2.42 ERA and a 1.127 WHIP, but only has a 3-5 record in 17 starts to show for it.  This is mostly due to the fact that Stewart has been very closely monitored during his first full year of professional baseball since being drafted out of St. Pius X HS in Texas.  He has thrown a total of 81.2 so far this year.  If he returns from the DL quickly, he should still be on pace to be around the same 100 IP that fellow high school pitching prospect Jose Berrios threw last year in Cedar Rapids.  Stewart has also had a great ground ball to fly ball ration of 1.273.

 

The only real knock on Stewart this year has been his less than stellar strike out numbers.  He has posted a lack luster 6.4 K/9 rate, which has some people concerned.  On it's own, this would be concerning, but an in depth look sheds some light on the situation.  Due to being a two way athlete in high school (he turned down a scholarship to play QB at Texas A&M), Stewart still has a lot of nuance to learn as far as being a pitcher.  That, coupled with most organizations desire to focus on fastball command in the lower levels, has meant that Kohl hasn't used his slider very much this year.  His slider is widely considered to be his best pitch, and possibly even the best in the Twins organization, so losing the use of his primary strike out pitch is bound to hurt his K/9.

 

All in all, this has been a very promising year for Kohl, and with a quick return fromt the DL, he can look to finish strong heading into 2015.

[Pius Jefferson]

I admit to being a little worried about the low K rate. Not to the point of thinking Stewart is going to flame out, but whether he's ever going to be a true number one starter.

[Steven Buhr]

Just want to pass along that I'm hearing rumblings that Stewart may be activated in the next few days. He's done bullpen work lately and I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the mound when the Kernels go to Beloit for a mid-week series next week.

[Steven Buhr]

Just want to mention that after the game Wednesday night, Stewart was standing inside the doorway behind home plate having a conversation with family members visiting from Texas and, while doing so, patiently signed autographs and stood for pictures with a steady stream of fans who approached him while he was chatting.

 

Minor leaguers are generally more patient with things like this than big leaguers, but I'm still happy to see Kernels players show that kind of patience with fans.