Article: Seth's Preliminary Top 50 Twins Prospects: Part 6 (11-15)

[Han Joelo]

For no reason whatsoever, evidence wise, I feel like Jorge is going to have a long, productive MLB career. Not the same as prospect rankings, I guess, but I'd buy stock in the guy.

[sthpstm]

 

Stewart in the top 10;( He is dead to me.

I think the Stewart is washed up crowd forgets that he may very well be a late bloomer in honing his craft.  He didn't focus on baseball as much as most top draft picks do and so, as I recall, patience was preached. But everyone seems to have forgotten it.

There are examples of pitchers with low strikeout rates in the minors becoming productive major league starters who improve their strikeout rates over time. I know it's neither typical nor what we would like but it happens. With his stuff, Stewart seems as likely a candidate to turn it around as Keuchel, or anyone before him who has.

[Shane Wahl]

 

You make me wonder if Wade could be fast-tracked to the majors.  

 

Hopefully not fast-tracked. My only issue with his progress is that he didn't get moved to Cedar Rapids quickly in 2015, as maybe he would have 250-275 A+ plate appearances now. All things being equal, I would prefer a 2017 where he ends the second 1/2 or 2/3 of the season in AA. Then something similar in 2018 in AAA. I prefer moving people up quicker and then having them spend time in both AA and AAA.

[Shane Wahl]

Also, Wade has strangely really smacked lefties in both his professional seasons. That coupled with that BB/K rate makes me put him in my top 10. Compare that to Rosario.

[gil4]

 

I can neither confirm nor deny this...

We now you can...just won't.

 

It's a long off-season.  We can wait a couple of days.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

I think the Stewart is washed up crowd forgets that he may very well be a late bloomer in honing his craft.  He didn't focus on baseball as much as most top draft picks do and so, as I recall, patience was preached. But everyone seems to have forgotten it.

There are examples of pitchers with low strikeout rates in the minors becoming productive major league starters who improve their strikeout rates over time. I know it's neither typical nor what we would like but it happens. With his stuff, Stewart seems as likely a candidate to turn it around as Keuchel, or anyone before him who has.

I wish I could buy into this line of thinking on him, but I cannot do it. He has been focussing specifically on baseball alone for 3 years, and was not just dabbling around with pitching before that either. His narrative is similar to many other HS kids drafted.

 

It is not like he was this electric arm that throws 100+, bud had no idea how to harness it. No, he was a pitcher, and was said to have a good slider, which one does not 'just have', unless time is spent learning how to pitch well. He came in and succeeded, and has for the most part been mediocre when compared to the league he is paling in. He has had decent ERA's, but when you look at the numbers of others ERA's he was pitching in, well it kind of takes away from it. 

 

I DO believe that he possesses the POTENTIAL to reclaim/gain/harness good 'stuff' at some point, if he uses more breaking stuff and it is good, but I cannot get too excited about a GB contact reliant pitcher as a prospect. Unless he starts raising his K%, he will likely never amount to a 'quality' big league starter. 

 

 

Happy end thought though....I have convinced myself that Falvey is a pitching genius and that he is responsible for every single creative and successful pitching philosophy, routine, and outcome in Cleveland. We are about to see the Twins change from contact reliant and predictable...to changed routines, velocity upticks, and pitching backwards more often and better overall game calling, benefiting from better framing, and better defensive players and placements. So, Stewart could become a beast under the boy genius shaking his magic wand over his head.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

 

I wish I could buy into this line of thinking on him, but I cannot do it. He has been focussing specifically on baseball alone for 3 years, and was not just dabbling around with pitching before that either. His narrative is similar to many other HS kids drafted.

 

It is not like he was this electric arm that throws 100+, bud had no idea how to harness it. No, he was a pitcher, and was said to have a good slider, which one does not 'just have', unless time is spent learning how to pitch well. He came in and succeeded, and has for the most part been mediocre when compared to the league he is paling in. He has had decent ERA's, but when you look at the numbers of others ERA's he was pitching in, well it kind of takes away from it. 

 

I DO believe that he possesses the POTENTIAL to reclaim/gain/harness good 'stuff' at some point, if he uses more breaking stuff and it is good, but I cannot get too excited about a GB contact reliant pitcher as a prospect. Unless he starts raising his K%, he will likely never amount to a 'quality' big league starter. 

 

 

Happy end thought though....I have convinced myself that Falvey is a pitching genius and that he is responsible for every single creative and successful pitching philosophy, routine, and outcome in Cleveland. We are about to see the Twins change from contact reliant and predictable...to changed routines, velocity upticks, and pitching backwards more often and better overall game calling, benefiting from better framing, and better defensive players and placements. So, Stewart could become a beast under the boy genius shaking his magic wand over his head.

Adding to this. I quick did a curious FG search of numbers in AA Southern League. Of the 60 pitchers who threw at least 70 innings there, Gonsalves was #1 in K%...unfortunately, Jorge was second worst and Stewart was fourth worst:( K% is generally not something that can be excused away with age/league, that is for more 'overall' success, but not K%.