DJ Baxendale

 

Drafted in the 10th round of the 2012 MLB June Draft out of the University of Arkansas.

 

2012 Season: Split time between Elizabethton (Rk) and Beloit (Low-A). Threw a combined 18 2/3 innings with a 31:2 K:BB ratio while allowing 13 hits. Appeared in 17 games, all in relief.

 

2013 Stats: (Ft. Myers-High A)

 

2 GP

1-0 W-L

10.1 IP

0.87 ERA

11 K

3 BB

6 H

On Thursday night, Baxendale improved to 3-0, though his ERA increased to 1.54. He gave up 2 ER in six innings for the Miracle.

Baxendale leads the Miracle with 20 K's on the season. (T-15th in FSL)

 

He is 1st among Miracle starters with 6.2 H/9 (5th among starters in FSL)

 

He is 2nd among Miracle starters with 1.7 BB/9 (T-13th among starters in FSL)

 

Next scheduled start: Tuesday, April 30th at Clearwater.

Baxendale ends April with a perfect 4-0 record while sporting a 1.84 ERA in 29.1 IP. He holds a 25:6 K/BB ratio and has allowed just 21 hits.

 

As a result, I would like to congratulate DJ on being named the Twins Minor League pitcher of the month for April!

 

Read the summary by the Twins HERE, or Seth's summary of all candidates HERE.

Didn't realize it had been so long since I've updated, but I have good reason to brag about D.J.'s recent success! Since being named Minor League pitcher of the month for April, he has been the definition of consistent. In three starts, he has:

 

Thrown 7 IP in each.

Given up 3 H in each.

Allowed 0 ER in each.

 

He struck out a season high 10 batters in a victory over the Tampa Yankees on 5/6.

He has gone 21 innings without allowing an earned run while putting up a 19:3 strikeout to walk ratio.

 

His 1.07 ERA ranks #1 in the FSL.

His 0.77 WHIP ranks #1 in the FSL.

His 6 wins rank #1 in the FSL.

His 44 K's rank #8 in the FSL.

Baxendale's latest outing (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 K) must have been the tipping point for the Twins to promote him to AA New Britain.

 

DJ has dominated the lower levels of the organization over his two seasons of service.

 

Here are his career stats to date:

76 IP

79 K/13 BB (6.08 K/BB)

47 H (5.6 H/9)

1.07 ERA

0.79 WHIP

 

According to Andrew Walter (@mnfanfromafar) It looks like he will be taking BJ Hermsen's spot in the rotation, which if the rotation holds, would have him make his Rockcats debut tomorrow (5/29) vs Richmond.

Unfortunate debut for Baxendale. Chalk it up to travel/nerves.

Nice to see him bounce back in his second start at AA.

 

At the rate he's been moving, I wonder if we could see him on the opening day roster next year.

Nice to see him bounce back in his second start at AA.

 

At the rate he's been moving, I wonder if we could see him on the opening day roster next year.

 

****...with the sorry state of the Twins rotation we could see him as the opening day starter next year

****...with the sorry state of the Twins rotation we could see him as the opening day starter next year

 

Bit cheeky! - ...funny though

The AA level seems to be where Bax is meeting his match. He was placed on the DL with shoulder issues mid-June, but has bounced back quite nicely in three starts since then. The strikeout numbers aren't what they have been, but he was very efficient in his return (55 pitches in 5 IP) and beat a division-leading Harrisburg team last night 4-3. Here are his stats in three starts since returning from the DL:

 

2-1

15.1 IP

4 ER (2.38 ERA)

17 H

2 BB

5 K

Ha, yeah with the Twins, he'd fit right in with those K numbers. Nice pitcher though. Let's hope he can start missing a few bats.

Does anyone know Baxendale's groundball/flyball profile?

 

I'm wondering because while his ERA was great in Ft Myers his strikeout rate was kind of meh. Not bad but not great. So was he getting a lot of groundballs or was he the beneficiary of the dimensions of Hammond Stadium?

 

If his K numbers eventually drop off from 7+ per 9 in A+ ball to 5ish per 9 in the majors he'll probably need to get a lot of groundballs, even in a pitcher's park like Target field.

Minor league baseball's website has GB/FB ratio. Baxendale is a flyball pitcher, so he's pretty much doomed unless he starts getting more strikeouts, or more groundballs, or preferably both.

Minor league baseball's website has GB/FB ratio. Baxendale is a flyball pitcher, so he's pretty much doomed unless he starts getting more strikeouts, or more groundballs, or preferably both.

 

Yeah, I actually found it in BBref's game logs now also.

 

His splits in A+:

33.8% GB, 55% FB, 11.3% LD

and in AA:

34.4% GB, 48.4% FB, 17.2% LD

 

The biggest difference was a 2.4% HR/FB in A+ and an 8.4% HR/FB in AA. I think the AA results are more indicative of what to expect.

 

Only a few pitchers have started regularly in the majors over the past 4 years with a K/9 less than 7 and a GB rate less than 35%: Kevin Slowey, Bruce Chen, and Travis Wood.

 

I'll definitely be watching his GB and K rates next year.