Get To Know: Kernels LHP Cam Booser

[Seth Stohs]

I watched three games in Cedar Rapids last week, and Cameron Booser was the man on the mound to close out two of the Kernels wins. The left-hander has a big fastball, hitting 96 mph with regularity and even touching 99 mph. He threw a sharp slider and tested out a changeup that could be very good. Booser looked every bit the part of potential, dominant closer.

Things haven’t been easy for the 22-year-old. He’s accumulated injuries but is finally healthy and pitching well. He not only has an interesting story, but he has become one of the more intriguing pitching prospects in the Twins organization.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs

Cam Booser was born in 1992 and grew up in Tacoma, Washington. He enjoyed baseball, but it wasn’t his favorite sport. On the football field, he played linebacker. He played a little receiver, tight end, but spent most of his time on the defensive side of the ball.

“Football was a passion growing up, but injuries just kind of took me out of it really. My dad was my biggest coach.”

The injuries were not insignificant either. ““I had knee surgery in high school. I broke my back in high school.”

Injuries, unfortunately would become a theme for Booser. He turned his attention from the gridiron to the baseball diamond. However, it wasn’t on the pitcher’s mound initially.

“I got into baseball, and really liked it, fell in love with it a little bit. Grew up as a hitter. Went to college as a hitter.” He continued, “I actually didn’t start pitching until I got to college. My first few starts, I had a little elbow soreness and thought that was just a normal thing for a pitcher to have. Ended up being a tear in my elbow, in my UCL.”

Booser had Tommy John surgery after his freshman year at Oregon State and missed his entire sophomore season as well. He transferred to Central Arizona where he threw 19.2 innings in 2013. He went undrafted, but the Twins signed him late that year.

“I signed about the second-to-last week of August in 2013. I really just went down to Ft. Myers to check out the facility, meet a few people, the coaches, and kind of see how everything works.”

At the end of his first spring training (2014), Booser experienced some elbow tendinitis. His season was delayed by about six weeks. When healthy, there wasn’t space on the Cedar Rapids roster for him, so he went to Elizabethton and pitched well. He struck out 42 batters in 31.1 innings. He walked 14 and was really still just learning how to pitch.

Following the season, he went to the Twins Florida Instructional League. He became one of the better stories of the fall. It was reported that he was throwing very hard, touching 99 mph at times. However, following Instructs, it was back to the operating table for Booser.

“I just had a scope surgery back in November, in the elbow. They took out some bone fragments. They just cleaned it out a little bit, got some debris out of it.”

After seemingly every athlete’s surgery, we read the same thing. The player had “successful surgery.” For Booser, his Tommy John surgery did not go well, or at least did not go as it should have.

“The Tommy John didn’t exactly go as planned. There have been some setbacks ever since Tommy John. We always thought it was tendinitis or some inflammation. Then after getting MRIs and x-rays, found that there was quite a bit of debris in there, bone fragments and bone chips. It really shouldn’t have been there from the Tommy John, but it was. Surgery didn’t exactly go as planned, but it happened. I got the scope. Dr. Steubs up in Minnesota did it, and it feels fantastic.”

He had the scope in early November and was back to throwing by about February 1^st. Now he is excited to get to learn how to pitch. Booser said that because of all of the injuries, he “never really had that time to learn that much. You can learn as much as you want watching videos, but you’ve got to do it in a game.”

Booser is already 22, but he knows that he is still young enough to learn. He is just learning from anyone and everyone. Of course, a lot of the instruction comes from Kernels pitching coach Henry Bonilla, who was also his pitching coach last year in Elizabethton.

“I worked with Henry Bonilla last year and I learned an incredible amount. Now I can translate everything that he taught me, now that I’m healthy, and work on those things and take time every day to work on those things. He knows how to relate his job to every single guy, and he doesn’t just have one way of thinking. He can look at a guy, look at how they throw, watch them in a game and the next day have answers for you on what to do better or what he thought about. He’s incredibly knowledgeable. He’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with.”

But just as much as learning from his pitching coach, Booser learns a lot by observing his teammates as well.

“I’m working with guys on the team, guys like (Stephen) Gonsalves who is two years younger than I am but knows a lot more than I do. He’s very knowledgeable about how to pitch. He’s a guy who is 20 years old and giving me insight on how to do it. He’s one of my good buddies so I talk about him a lot. He’s 20 years old and he’s logged 500 innings in his life, and I’m barely breaking 100 so far.”

As it relates to working out of the bullpen, he added, “I’m kind of tweaking my mechanics a little bit, but then also, watching how some guys like (Randy) LeBlanc, or (C.K.) Irby, or (Trevor) Hildenberger, how they attack certain guys.”

Booser has really taken to the bullpen role. His competitive fire – maybe from his football days – is allowed to come out.

“Closer is the role they would like me to throw, I think, from conversations we’ve had. It’s a role I like, pressure situations, late in the game. It’s what I would want to be doing. After surgery, I just kind of stayed in the bullpen, felt more comfortable out there. I kind of felt more comfortable throwing every day rather than every fifth day. Personally, everybody’s a competitor, but I really like to compete so being able to come into that pressure situation late in the game is what I thrive on.”

Booser is blessed with a big arm. He throws the upper-90s fastball and has a good slider that can be devastating to left-handed hitters. He’s also working on developing a third pitch, a changeup.

“I’ve been working on it for quite some time, but with injuries, it’s hard to go up on the mound every day and work on pitches. Last year, it was hard to develop pitches and work on mechanics when it hurt to throw a baseball. So now this year in the offseason I really worked on developing a changeup to the best that I could. But primarily fastball, slider. As a reliever, you can kind of get away with having just two pitches.”

As you would expect, his number one goal for 2015 is to remain healthy. However, when asked about his goals, Booser returns to his baseball and pitching education.

“Everybody wants to be a dominant pitcher, but learning how to stay down in the zone, learning when to throw what pitches, just learning how to be a good pitcher. Yeah, it’s nice to throw hard, but everybody can catch up to 95, 96, 97 if you throw it every single pitch. So knowing when to throw it, or knowing when to throw a slider or a changeup. Everybody wants to get promoted. If you do your job, it will take care of itself.”

He expanded upon his thoughts, “You might be able to get away with getting guys with fastballs, but if you get to High-A Ft. Myers, those guys are grown men. They’ve seen it all before. You can’t get away with that. No one is Aroldis Chapman. No one throws 105. So you can’t get away with that every single pitch. For me, the adrenaline gets doing a little bit, and you overdo it a little bit, and then you leave fastballs up. You do that every pitch and that’s not going to go well. They’re straight and they’re in their wheelhouse as hitters. Learning to get the ball down.”

For right now, he’s enjoying the process, and he’s enjoying being a part of this year’s Cedar Rapids Kernels team.

“I would say probably 85 or 90 percent of this team is last year’s E-Town team. Aside from the returners in (Zack) Larson and (Zach) Granite. (Max) Murphy was there. Gonsalves was in E-Town. We’ve got a lot of guys that are really close together, and it’s a great group of guys, and there’s a lot of talent here too.”

Booser has gone from a relative unknown, signed as an undrafted free agent, to one of the more intriguing pitching prospects in the entire Twins system. He’s got a big fastball, a humility to know that he has a lot to learn, and a willingness to work very hard to get there. Hopefully he will be able to stay healthy, and if so, he will have a chance to move up quickly.

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[roger]

These are great stories, Seth,

 

Both on the field as to where Booser has come from, and for your bringing them to us.

 

Thanks!

[clutterheart]

Fun read. But it looks like he turns 23 in a few weeks. Hope he can get to FM soon.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Fun read. But it looks like he turns 23 in a few weeks. Hope he can get to FM soon.

 

Like so many, I just don't think Age matters with him. He's pitched so little that they simply have to do what is right for him. As he acknowledges, he's still learning how to pitch. Does it really matter if he gets to the big leagues as a 24 year old or a 26 year old? If he's able to stay healthy and can maintain his upper-90s fastball while improving that slider and changeup, he can be a huge asset out of the bullpen. 

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Between Booser and Poulson, the Twins scouting department has unearthed some real (potential) gems.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Great article Seth. I hope he makes his way to Fort Myers--but the important thing is that he stays healthy...

[Seth Stohs]

 

Great article Seth. I hope he makes his way to Fort Myers--but the important thing is that he stays healthy...

 

I agree with this. I think the most important thing is for him to get through a complete season healthy and then enjoy a regular offseason program rather than rehab and such. 

[Dman]

 

Between Booser and Poulson, the Twins scouting department has unearthed some real (potential) gems.

I agree with you.  I wonder what made the Twins think he would be something given his history and lack of pitching experience?  At the time they grabbed him he seemed like an extreme longshot to do much of anything .  

 

I guess if someone can throw hard you just take a chance?

[Hrbowski]

Booser was always a favorite of mine, thanks for the article.

[bluechipper]

I'll definitely be following Booser's season. Anybody that can throw upper 90's from the left side is very intriguing, especially if he's developing a decent slider to go along with it.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I agree with you.  I wonder what made the Twins think he would be something given his history and lack of pitching experience?  At the time they grabbed him he seemed like an extreme longshot to do much of anything .  

 

I guess if someone can throw hard you just take a chance?

 

Jeremy might have some better insight into this, what the scouts saw, etc...

 

However, if you look at the Twins drafts in recent years, they have gone for velocity. They definitely do not seem to look at stats in the college level much. You'll see them drafting guys that threw 45 innings, walked 32 and struck out 60 with a 6.48 ERA (making up numbers). Mechanics (sometimes) can be taught, but you can't teach velocity. I'm guessing they saw a guy in Booser who did throw hard, left-handed and you take a chance.

 

[Thrylos]

 

Between Booser and Poulson, the Twins scouting department has unearthed some real (potential) gems.

 

Yeah.  But they are both very raw.  IIRC Poulson walked twice as many as he struck out as a 24-year old in E-town last season.

 

Ricky.Vaughn.

[brvama]

Like so many, I just don't think Age matters with him. He's pitched so little that they simply have to do what is right for him. As he acknowledges, he's still learning how to pitch. Does it really matter if he gets to the big leagues as a 24 year old or a 26 year old? If he's able to stay healthy and can maintain his upper-90s fastball while improving that slider and changeup, he can be a huge asset out of the bullpen.

 

Seth, that's exactly what I was thinking as I read this great story. Cam is a guy that we can forget about the age. Here's hoping for his success. It will be fun to follow him.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Seth, that's exactly what I was thinking as I read this great story. Cam is a guy that we can forget about the age. Here's hoping for his success. It will be fun to follow him.

 

And Poulson fits that Who Cares What Age He Is category too. It's about getting them ready when they're ready. Its not about letting age dictate where they should be. Arms are too important.

[curt1965]

Tremendous article, Seth. You have the innate ability to tell a story, and bring us these interesting players that are experiencing life for the first time in the fast lane of the minor leagues. You have a true gift!

[DocBauer]

I agree with a comment Seth made in another thread, I think it's possible he pitches at three levels this year. That would put him on pace for AA to begin '16, and a chance to reach the majors at some time that season.

 

He and a healthy, recovered Melotakis could bode very well for the port side DH the pen in the near future. (Though there are others as well such as Darnell and Thielbar)

 

I also think we get too wrapped up in ages as well. For every kid we reached the majors at 21-22-23 and has a nice to great career, there are just as many who quickly flame out or never develop fully. I really don't think there is any sort of formula to follow.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Tremendous article, Seth. You have the innate ability to tell a story, and bring us these interesting players that are experiencing life for the first time in the fast lane of the minor leagues. You have a true gift!

 

Very kind of you to say. thank you!