David Dorsey of News Press in Fort Myers has a nice bio piece on Kohl Stewart.

 

http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2015/08/12/kohl-stewart-shuns-spotlight/31558345/

Great start for him tonight too.

Good read.

 

Stewart is the most polarizing prospect in our minors. Every start seems to generate at least one thread about his K rate. Mike Bernardino tweeted this earlier today:

 

"Official word on Stewart's low K rate is h's been focused on commanding his heavy 2-seamer. Ground ball machine."

 

I love this from Stewart:

"I think those bad starts, I've learned more from them than the good ones. I'm trying to take all of that in in order to be the best I can be. It's been up and down. There's about a month left. I'm trying to put together all of the things that I've learned and have a strong last month. I definitely feel I have a lot more composure, both on the field and outside the lines."

 

The minors are for development. Let's not write the kid off already.

Man, does that sound like a high character kid. Twins are lucky to have him in the system. I feel like I'd like to shake his hand and tell him he's going to be a great one.

He came up in Kiley's prospect chat yesterday, might as well share it here rather than a new thread.

 

Comment From Andrew: Kiley, I’m interested in your thoughts on Kohl Stewart. Has has stuff taken a step backward in light of the lower K/9 rate? Where do you project him now in a rotation?

 

Kiley McDaniel: It has. Backend stuff now. Often, when the stuff downgrades, it doesn’t come back.

 

Was hoping for a more encouraging answer, he seems to be putting it together a bit lately. 

Edited August 13, 201511 yr by kvothe

He came up in Kiley's prospect chat yesterday, might as well share it here rather than a new thread.

 

Comment From Andrew: Kiley, I’m interested in your thoughts on Kohl Stewart. Has has stuff taken a step backward in light of the lower K/9 rate? Where do you project him now in a rotation?

 

Kiley McDaniel: It has. Backend stuff now. Often, when the stuff downgrades, it doesn’t come back.

 

Was hoping for a more encouraging answer, he seems to be putting it together a bit lately.

 

 

 

Has this guy seen him pitch? Seems ridiculous to make these comments if he hasn't.

Easy to cheer for a guy like that.  I'm looking forward to applauding him at Target Field.

Anybody know anything about his velocity?  I seem to remember that he threw very hard as a high schooler.

Has this guy seen him pitch? Seems ridiculous to make these comments if he hasn't.

I don't know for a fact, but I don't think Kiley would have said it if he hadn't seen him in person or at least heard the same thing from multiple scouts.

 

Kiley is one of the best in the business, IMO.

I don't quite understand why his GO:AO ratio on the MiLB page is different from the game log, but looking at the game-by-game GO:AO ratios show how UN-normal Kohl Stewart is:

GO:AO

9:1

12:3

11:5

7:0

7:1

9:6

8:2

7:4

7:4

8:1

8:4

10:3

9:3

10:4

7:5

9:1

7:3

8:5

9:2

 

By my count, that is 161 GO and 57 AO, which is a 2.82 ratio (not 1.96 as indicated). I can't think of another Twins prospect with that dominant of GB tendency.

 

 

Anybody know anything about his velocity?  I seem to remember that he threw very hard as a high schooler.

From the article link posted:  "He touched 95-96 regularly his senior year with an 88-mile an hour slider,".

 

That, and with the heavy 2-seamer, I'd just keep pounding the strikezone.

Good read.

 

Stewart is the most polarizing prospect in our minors.

I dont know about that. Try posting something on Walker. Lots of folks use ALL CAPS to voice their opinions on that guy.

Damn, not the type of comment you like to read; but also not surprising. His results lately have been good. There are plenty of guys that excel despite skepticism from scouts. I'm not creating a 'stick a fork in him' thread because scouts don't view him as a top of the rotation guy anymore.

 

Every start seems to generate at least one thread about his K rate. Mike Bernardino tweeted this earlier today:

"Official word on Stewart's low K rate is h's been focused on commanding his heavy 2-seamer. Ground ball machine."
 

 

Uggh, this again. It continues to pop up again and again, and has been since he was drafted. Claims that he was not throwing his breaking stuff because he was working on his fastball command. I thought this was thoroughly debunked. I was assured over and over again that that was not true, or very very overstated. But yet here it is again. Bernandino would do well to say who "official[ly]" gave him this "word." Otherwise I will continue to assume it is a load of bull****.

Edited August 13, 201511 yr by nytwinsfan

"Ground ball machine"

 

Ugh.

Not a scout. Never seen the kid pitch. But I will refer to comments Seth, and other, have made in the past; Stewart is still very young, young even for his level. He still throws hard, he's working on everything from control to different pitches individually, and different situations. Until I see his numbers and results tumble, I'm not going to label the kid or panic. 

 

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him begin next season at High A again before an eventual promotion to AA simply due to his youth.

 

He came up in Kiley's prospect chat yesterday, might as well share it here rather than a new thread.

 

Comment From Andrew: Kiley, I’m interested in your thoughts on Kohl Stewart. Has has stuff taken a step backward in light of the lower K/9 rate? Where do you project him now in a rotation?

 

Kiley McDaniel: It has. Backend stuff now. Often, when the stuff downgrades, it doesn’t come back.

 

Was hoping for a more encouraging answer, he seems to be putting it together a bit lately. 

 

 

Kiley basically nailed it. Stewart- as far as I'm concerned is a non-prospect at this point. It frankly doesn't matter how many ground balls he gets. What matters for success in the high minors and majors is strikeouts and limiting walks. Stewart has done neither so far. And when Kiley says, "when stuff downgrades, it doesn't come back," he means that if a pitcher can't miss bats in A-ball he's not going to suddenly learn how to miss bats at the next level. 

 

Let me put this in perspective- Kohl Stewart has a K/BB ratio so far this year in A+ of 1.66 and a K/9 of 5.1 in 110.2 innings. Nick Blackburn had a K/BB ratio of 3.30 in 131 innings in A+ and a K/9 of 5.2. Kohl Stewart is sub-Blackburnian. Food for thought. 

 

Kiley basically nailed it. Stewart- as far as I'm concerned is a non-prospect at this point. It frankly doesn't matter how many ground balls he gets. What matters for success in the high minors and majors is strikeouts and limiting walks. Stewart has done neither so far. And when Kiley says, "when stuff downgrades, it doesn't come back," he means that if a pitcher can't miss bats in A-ball he's not going to suddenly learn how to miss bats at the next level. 

 

Let me put this in perspective- Kohl Stewart has a K/BB ratio so far this year in A+ of 1.66 and a K/9 of 5.1 in 110.2 innings. Nick Blackburn had a K/BB ratio of 3.30 in 131 innings in A+ and a K/9 of 5.2. Kohl Stewart is sub-Blackburnian. Food for thought. 

 

That's fair and unfair.

 

Numbers are numbers, but Blackburn was a 22-23 yo polished college guy pitching at about league average age while Stewart is a 20 yo high school arm that is more raw pitching at 3 years younger than the average age.

 

There is still some upside for Stewart.

I don't necessarily disagree with Stewart being downgraded as a prospect but he's a peculiar case. He didn't focus on baseball during his prep years, though he played it. He was/is rough around the edges and everybody knew that on draft day.

 

Until I actually see hard numbers on his pitch selection, I will not get too down on the kid.

 

If he's throwing all fastballs and still working on development, there's a lot of upside in that arm and banging away at his K/9 rate is premature and more than a little irrational.

 

If he's throwing his entire repertoire and still not missing bats, that's a big problem.

 

The minor leagues are for development and not all players develop at the same rate. Like I've said in the past, Kohl Stewart could spend four more years in the minor leagues and still debut as a 24 year old.

 

And comparing him to Blackburn is just... ugh. Nick Blackburn was a 90-91 mph guy who played in A+ ball as a 22 year old after being drafted out of college. Stewart, when healthy, is a 93-95 mph guy playing in A+ ball as a 20 year old. They could end up at the same point but that still makes the comp a bad one.

 

Uggh, this again. It continues to pop up again and again, and has been since he was drafted. Claims that he was not throwing his breaking stuff because he was working on his fastball command. I thought this was thoroughly debunked. I was assured over and over again that that was not true, or very very overstated. But yet here it is again. Bernandino would do well to say who "official[ly]" gave him this "word." Otherwise I will continue to assume it is a load of bull****.

 

It's possible he is throwing his breaking stuff AND working on his sinker.  Lot's of guys throw a sinking fastball, but I wouldn't call all of them sinkerball pitchers.  Personally, I'd leave that distincion for the guys who use their sinker for thier "out" pitch.  Lot's of sinkerballers don't have a better option to get guys out, hence the high number of balls put into play, but allegedly, Stewart has/had a tremendous slider.  If his slider is still a plus pitch, but he's instead using the sinker to put guys away (and by that I mean making the infielders do all the work) I'd be pretty disappointed.

 

Keep the sinker, just don't be a sinkerball pitcher.

 

It's possible he is throwing his breaking stuff AND working on his sinker.  Lot's of guys throw a sinking fastball, but I wouldn't call all of them sinkerball pitchers.  Personally, I'd leave that distincion for the guys who use their sinker for thier "out" pitch.  Lot's of sinkerballers don't have a better option to get guys out, hence the high number of balls put into play, but allegedly, Stewart has/had a tremendous slider.  If his slider is still a plus pitch, but he's instead using the sinker to put guys away (and by that I mean making the infielders do all the work) I'd be pretty disappointed.

 

Keep the sinker, just don't be a sinkerball pitcher.

Yes, all of this.

 

What I would give for a real, in-depth scouting report of 2015 Kohl Stewart.

 

Until we get that report from somebody who has watched him pitch multiple times, we're just guessing and the statistics may be meaningless.

 

It's possible he is throwing his breaking stuff AND working on his sinker.  Lot's of guys throw a sinking fastball, but I wouldn't call all of them sinkerball pitchers.  Personally, I'd leave that distincion for the guys who use their sinker for thier "out" pitch.  Lot's of sinkerballers don't have a better option to get guys out, hence the high number of balls put into play, but allegedly, Stewart has/had a tremendous slider.  If his slider is still a plus pitch, but he's instead using the sinker to put guys away (and by that I mean making the infielders do all the work) I'd be pretty disappointed.

 

Keep the sinker, just don't be a sinkerball pitcher.

 

Yeah, but the point is that we keep hearing conflicting things, and I don't understand why. Something doesn't make sense about this.

 

It's possible he is throwing his breaking stuff AND working on his sinker.  Lot's of guys throw a sinking fastball, but I wouldn't call all of them sinkerball pitchers.  Personally, I'd leave that distincion for the guys who use their sinker for thier "out" pitch.  Lot's of sinkerballers don't have a better option to get guys out, hence the high number of balls put into play, but allegedly, Stewart has/had a tremendous slider.  If his slider is still a plus pitch, but he's instead using the sinker to put guys away (and by that I mean making the infielders do all the work) I'd be pretty disappointed.

 

Keep the sinker, just don't be a sinkerball pitcher.

 

This... many times over.  Get ahead in the count, but when you get 2 strikes, that's when the wipe out pitch comes.

It sounds like he shelved his slider to work on other pitches. I'm wondering if he's still concerned about his shoulder or elbow problem he had last year, thus reason for not throwing the slider, as that was his wipeout pitch. Going down to Florida next couple of weeks, hopefully able to see him pitch.

 

I don't necessarily disagree with Stewart being downgraded as a prospect but he's a peculiar case. He didn't focus on baseball during his prep years, though he played it. He was/is rough around the edges and everybody knew that on draft day.

I may be mis-remembering, but I got the impression leading up to the draft that Stewart's relative limited focus on baseball wasn't seen as negative but rather a positive. As in, "he is so good right now. Just think how good he'll be and how quickly he'll move once he focuses on baseball fulltime." For example, BA predicted Stewart to be the first HS pitcher to reach the majors. This contrasted with how scouts and analysts talked about fellow top-pick Trey Ball, who was constantly referred to as a long-term project. Does anyone else remember things that way?

Anybody know anything about his velocity? I seem to remember that he threw very hard as a high schooler.

 

Tweets had him topping out at 95 yesterday.

 

I don't necessarily disagree with Stewart being downgraded as a prospect but he's a peculiar case. He didn't focus on baseball during his prep years, though he played it. He was/is rough around the edges and everybody knew that on draft day.

Stewart pitched on the varsity team beginning as a sophomore, at a suburban southern private school with an elite baseball program:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/kohl-stewart/9fqJ1PTpEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/baseball-stats.htm

 

http://www.stpiusx.org/page.cfm?p=1607&teamID=129

 

He participated in 8 "Perfect Game" events (basically a combine for the top HS talent in the country), as early as age 16, 2 years before he was drafted:

http://www.perfectgame.org/Players/Playerprofile.aspx?ID=281876

 

He may have been a potential college QB too but he wasn't a sandlot player from the backwoods.  He wasn't Nick Gordon in his amateur baseball experience, but I'm not sure he was any more raw/inexperienced than your average top high school draft talents.

 

Let me put this in perspective- Kohl Stewart has a K/BB ratio so far this year in A+ of 1.66 and a K/9 of 5.1 in 110.2 innings. Nick Blackburn had a K/BB ratio of 3.30 in 131 innings in A+ and a K/9 of 5.2. Kohl Stewart is sub-Blackburnian. Food for thought. 

 

You could also point out that Greg Maddux as a 20-year-old had a K/BB ratio of 2.33 and K/9 of 4.9.

 

Let's try to relax everyone.  

 

 

He may have been a potential college QB too but he wasn't a sandlot player from the backwoods.  He wasn't Nick Gordon in his amateur baseball experience, but I'm not sure he was any more raw/inexperienced than your average top high school draft talents.

 

Agreed. At what point is he not raw? He wasn't as raw as some people make him out to be and this is his third year in pro ball. I'd like to give him and the Twins the benefit of the doubt, but at this point he's fighting history. 

 

And if he really hasn't been throwing his slider for two years, at what point will the kid-gloves come off? I have a hard time believing shelving a plus pitch for two years, and then suddenly picking it back up the pitch will still be plus. I can't imagine the shelf life of quality breaking pitches is too terribly long.

 

You could also point out that Greg Maddux as a 20-year-old had a K/BB ratio of 2.33 and K/9 of 4.9.

 

Let's try to relax everyone.  

 

A. He did that at a higher level, and B. he was doing that 29 years ago. To put that into perspective I'm expecting my first child in February and I wasn't even born in 1986. The game is completely different now, especially pitching.