Part of the solution, or part of the problem?

Not to many K

Not too many IP so far this year

Nothing jumps out to say he is a solution

Nothing really says he can't be a mop up guy rather than someone else.

Too early to tell.

He throws reasonably hard but still doesn't miss bats.  Sometimes guys figure it out later in the pen, but often not.  Maybe he has a ceiling of a Jon Rauch or Matt Capps, though those kinds of pitchers, even when pitching well, are always walking a tightrope hovering just above utter disaster. 

Edited August 19, 201412 yr by nicksaviking

He seems like a long reliever/mop-up guy to me, like Swarzak. There's some value in that, but those kinds of pitchers can and should be replaced when they get more expensive.

Pressly's performance in AAA makes me optimistic that he can be a quality reliever.

 

In 60.1 IP, he posted 9.4 K/9 (24.6%) and 3.1 BB/9 (8.2%) for a 3.0 K/BB ratio.  Good, but not spectacular numbers, but there are two additional reasons for my optimism.  However, Pressly's numbers improved significantly over the course of the season.  After a mediocre April, in which he posted 10 K's against 10 BB's in 12.1 IP, Pressly recorded 53 K's (9.9 K/9) against 11BB's (2.1 BB/9) in 48 IP, for a K:BB ratio of nearly 5.  While some might accuse me of "cherry picking" my sample, I don't think dropping the first month is the end of the world.  However, if you're looking for further evidence of his improvement, consider his numbers over 3 rolling two month periods: 

 

Period             IP      K/9      BB/9    K:BB
April + May      30      7.8      3.3        2.4
May + June     34      9.5       2.4       4.0
June + July     30.1   11.0     3.0        3.7

 

Hopefully Pressly can figure things out over the next month and a half and begin to translate his success in AAA to the major league level.  If he does, he should be a solid, and cheap, reliever for the next few years.

I don't think he's a solution or a problem. He's just another average bullpen pitcher to me.

I think I'd like to see the Twins sign one good bullpen arm this offseason. I also want to see more Tonkin and more of those young bullpen arms in AAA.

I'd go with C) none of the above.

 

I think he's a piece to the bullpen, but as others have suggested I don't see his ceiling being much more than a Swarzak, or "mop up" guy. But, that's a useful element to have in any bullpen. His presence doesn't really swing the team in either direction (good or bad), so long as he's reliable and cheap, he's simply "part of the 'pen"