Article: What Did The Twins Get In Kohl Stewart?

[Parker Hageman]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1853-What-Did-The-Twins-Get-In-Kohl-Stewart

[clutterheart]

Is he a legitimate 97 mph or will it settle into 89-90 like some other guys?

[Badsmerf]

Is he a legitimate 97 mph or will it settle into 89-90 like some other guys?

Guys that throw 97 settle in at 89-90? I guess its possible. More than likely he will site 93-95, which is still pretty good. We just need to wait until he gets into pro ball to see how those secondary pitches are developing.

[Turd Furgeson]

I haven't heard 97. Anyway, rarely does anyone sit at 97. There might be a couple starters in all of baseball that do that.

 

He's young, has a good body and a good chance to add velocity later on. From what I've heard he sits at 90-94 and maybe that mean he can touch 97.

 

Anyway, velocity provides a good basis to develop other pitches but I think people get a bit too inftuated with it. Stewart has the chance to develop a plus plus slider, I'm more interested in that.

[big dog]

Pre-draft I was worried about him wanting to play football in college but the early interviews seem to make it pretty clear that he's planning on signing. Excellent news.

[ALessKosherScott]

Is he a legitimate 97 mph or will it settle into 89-90 like some other guys?

 

Whenever a guy tops out at 97, it usually means he sits 92-94 when starting and 95 or so in relief.

 

IMO, the best thing you can say about Stewart is that he was in no way, shape or form cloned from Brad Radke. He may be our next ace. He may flame out horribly in a fire of walks from here on out. But you need pitchers in the minors whom you can at least dream about being great.

[mgraves]

Whenever a guy tops out at 97, it usually means he sits 92-94 when starting and 95 or so in relief.

 

IMO, the best thing you can say about Stewart is that he was in no way, shape or form cloned from Brad Radke. He may be our next ace. He may flame out horribly in a fire of walks from here on out. But you need pitchers in the minors whom you can at least dream about being great.

 

The Twins could very much use some Radke clones. They don't currently have any. In a lower K environment, Radke struck out about 5.5/9 and also induced weak contact (above average infield fly ratio combined with a greater number of flyballs, as well as a lower than average line drive rate, indicate an increased rate of weak contact) and possessed exceptional control. [Radke also had a career contact rate of 82% v average pitcher of 80%].

 

None of the Twins' current staff have any of those qualities. Most of them are groundball pitchers with contact rates of 90% with better than average control.

 

This is not to say anything negative about Stewart, who I am glad the Twins took. If Stewart develops as the Twins (and Twins Territory) hope he will be that Santana-type ace who can lead a rotation. A couple Radkes backing him up would make for a top of the line rotation.

 

The Twins current rotation is made up of guys who could be the 4 or 5 guys on a rotation fronted by Santana/Radke. They just don't have any Santana/Radke guys.

 

Radke has a better ERA+ than does Jack Morris (as well as greater career bWar and fWar, despite pitching fewer seasons). [i add this only to compare the alleged ace, Morris--who may get into the Hall of Fame, with Radke, who never will, and is most certainly a better pitcher in a more hitting friendly environment than Morris].

[johnnydakota]

While Brad Radke was 1 of my favorite Twins players, he was no Ace....

He was thrust into that role as most seasons we had nothing else....

[mgraves]

I don't recall saying he was an ace--although there were years he pitched like one. I merely said the alleged Radke clones drafted by the organization, are not.

 

I did imply he was better than Jack Morris, but I said that because the numbers back up the claim.

 

As an aside--one possible Radke clone, Kevin Slowey--who merely lacked Radke's mental toughness--has given up 21 runs in his last 22 1/3 innings (covering five starts). There is more to being a Radke clone than being a flyball pitcher with outstanding control.

[Bill Parker]

While Brad Radke was 1 of my favorite Twins players, he was no Ace....

He was thrust into that role as most seasons we had nothing else....

 

Brad Radke was absolutely one of the best pitchers of his relatively short time (obviously not on the Maddux/Johnson/Clemens/Martinez level, but those guys are usually once-a-generation). So incredibly underrated. I wrote a whole book chapter about this, actually...

[jimbo92107]

Just finished watching a short scouting video on Kohl Stewart

 

 

His unusual velocity comes from a very efficient, tight rotation of his forearm as he turns his shoulders.

 

As I watched the video, two other things stood out: First, he barely even flexes the knee of his drive leg. Talk about effortless, he's hardly using his thigh and calf muscles. Second, like a lot of young pitchers, Stewart is far more precise when he pitches from the stretch than from the windup. Frankly, from the windup right now he would have a terrible time walking batters, because he scatters pitches all around the zone.

 

Kohl Stewart is extremely raw, like converting a shortstop with a great arm into a pitcher. However, unlike a typical shortstop, Stewart's delivery is almost magically efficient, like Matt Moore or Matt Harvey. High release point, steep downward plane, very low expenditure of energy to launch a baseball at 95mph. This means he could potentially throw a lot of pitches before he starts losing control through fatigue.

 

So yeah, Kohl Stewart does project as an eventual starting pitcher, possibly a great one. But his greatness will come from learning how to be a pitcher in the Twins minor league system, because right now he's a thrower, and from the windup he'd walk about ten guys per game.

[mgraves]

Just finished watching a short scouting video on Kohl Stewart

 

 

His unusual velocity comes from a very efficient, tight rotation of his forearm as he turns his shoulders.

 

As I watched the video, two other things stood out: First, he barely even flexes the knee of his drive leg. Talk about effortless, he's hardly using his thigh and calf muscles. Second, like a lot of young pitchers, Stewart is far more precise when he pitches from the stretch than from the windup. Frankly, from the windup right now he would have a terrible time walking batters, because he scatters pitches all around the zone.

 

Kohl Stewart is extremely raw, like converting a shortstop with a great arm into a pitcher. However, unlike a typical shortstop, Stewart's delivery is almost magically efficient, like Matt Moore or Matt Harvey. High release point, steep downward plane, very low expenditure of energy to launch a baseball at 95mph. This means he could potentially throw a lot of pitches before he starts losing control through fatigue.

 

So yeah, Kohl Stewart does project as an eventual starting pitcher, possibly a great one. But his greatness will come from learning how to be a pitcher in the Twins minor league system, because right now he's a thrower, and from the windup he'd walk about ten guys per game.

 

The fact that he has a repeatable, efficient delivery is some of the best news about the guy. He wouldn't have been drafted fourth had he lacked the stuff, but the fact that he doesn't need his delivery fixed, or one that will lead to injuries is very reassuring.

[diehardtwinsfan]

from what I've read, he will need it tweaked, but yes, he's not the injury risk that others are.

[bird]

If you were given a dollar for every pitcher in this draft described as having a fastball that sits at between 90-94 mph with a good hard slider, you would be approximately $967 richer. All this fixation on radar guns is comical.

[darin617]

The Twins first have to get him to agree to sign before you get your hopes up. I just hope they don't have to go over slot by too much to get it done.