http://i.imgur.com/1aOtRaH.jpg

Personal Information:
Name: Brandon Poulson
Birth date: ? (24 years old)
Position: RP
Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 240
Bats: R
Throws: R
High School: Piner High School
College: Academy of Art University

 

History/Stats:
Poulson is a 24 year old who went undrafted in June due to keeping a low profile. Until last fall he spent most of his time working for his father's excavation business, and only pitched on Sunday nights in a local men's league called the Wine Country league.

 

Beginning last fall, Poulson and pitching coach Caleb Balbuena re-tooled Poulson's mechanics and he is now reported to throw as hard as 100 mph. Poulson joined the the Prune Packers of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League this summer, and proceeded to strike out 31 of the 58 batters he faced, while walking 15, allowing 6 singles and 2 ER in 12.1 innings. He had a 58.6% first pitch strike percentage.

 

While closing for the Packers, Poulson was spotted by Twins scout Elliott Strankman, who believes Poulson has the best arm strength he has ever seen. "He's a physical specimen," Strankman said. "We're cautiously optimistic because we don't want to put a bunch of pressure on the kid. He could be pretty good. This is uncharted territory for us."

 

The A's, Giants, Mariners, and Phillies also expressed interest in Poulson but the Twins were able to offer a $250,000 bonus because of the large balance remaining on their draft pool.

 

"It's a great story," Twins West Coast scouting supervisor Sean Johnson said Tuesday. "This kid came out of nowhere."

 

Scouting Report:

 

Not a lot we know about Poulson yet except he throws hard and is considered extremely athletic. He was clocked running a 6.6 60 yard dash and has a 40 inch vertical leap, in addition to the 96-100 mph fastball.

 

Poulson will travel to Tennessee where he will finalize his agreement and join the E-Town Twins. He could make his first appearance as early as this weekend.

Edited July 30, 201412 yr by Willihammer

Dang it, I was gonna do that Willi!!

Here's a great article...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-100-mph-throwing-art-school-kid--an-incredible-story-of-a-twins--scouting-find-052923193.html

Poulson's DOB is 02-16-1990

 

He is no. 51 for the Elizabethton Twins.

Poulson made his first appearance tonight, pitching the 8th for the E-town Twins. He walked the first batter he faced, then got a GIDP. The 3rd batter popped out.

 

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2014_08_08_dnvrok_elirok_1&t=g_box&sid=milb

Poulson took the mound in the 6th last night, walked the first batter, allowed the next to single, got the 3rd batter out via fly ball, got the 4th out via strikeout (swining), walked the 5th guy, and then Poulson was pulled. He also allowed 3 stolen bases. His final line:

 

0.2, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K, 0HR

Poulson fared a little better in his third appearance, going 2.0 with 1 hit and 2 walks, a HBP, and striking out 2. Both strikeouts were looking, and the other 4 outs were either pop ups or fly outs.

 

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2014_08_17_prirok_elirok_1&t=g_log&sid=milb

Poulson threw an inning on 8/21 against the Pulaski Mariners. He gave up a HR to 38th round pick Taylor Zeutenhorst (his first in 140 PAs), but struck out the side and didn't walk any.

 

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=g_box&did=milb&gid=2014_08_21_elirok_pulrok_1

Edited August 24, 201412 yr by Willihammer

Poulson got the start on Friday night for the E-Town Twins and it went horribly. In the first inning, he issued 4 walks but limited the damage to 2 runs. In the 2nd, Poulson began with a strikeout, then allowed 3 straight baserunners and was pulled. All the baserunners would score, giving Poulson more ER than outs recorded. He continued to show a tremendous ability to allow stolen bases (2), and threw a wild pitch for good measure.

 

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2014_08_29_kptrok_elirok_1&t=g_log&sid=milb

We knew he was going to be raw.  He's very much a 2 year developmental project, and even then, who knows.  The upside is there.  We'll see what happens with a full season of professional coaching

Edited September 1, 201412 yr by Secondary User