Could Brusdar Graterol Be The Twins' David Price?

I think he’s getting the call, and it will either be Tuesday, Aug 27 in Chicago or Friday, August 30 against Detroit. He didn’t pitch Sunday, and only has two appearances for Rochester, so I imagine they would like to see him get 1-2 more chances before the call-up.

 

Price is a bit of an odd comp for him, but I get the premise. I think we should temper expectations for him a bit.

I expect he'll be called up in September along with a gaggle of other players. Let's see if the buzz is real. The 103 fastball is nice, but can he really rely on other pitches to keep hitters off balance? And, call-ups have to throw strikes. It is much easier to fire strikes in the minors...just ask Vasquez and Romero. Don't get me wrong. I want to see that blazing fastball bury some hitters, but it's a big adjustment for many pitchers.

 

 

No

Brusdar Graterol? Yes, by all means bring him up. But forget September. Either call him up this next week so he's eligible for the post-season or don't even bother. At this point I'd also consider giving him starts too, unless the rest of the starters turn it around and start putting up blanks.

I expect he will be used in enough low leverage situations, to be ready to make the staff next season out of ST.

I'm all for winning, but there are costs to this strategy. If I remember correctly, he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man this winter, so he would displace someone who would be lost to the organization. Granted, the lost player would be a lot less valuable than Graterol, but Graterol would not be lost if not added this fall.

 

I think that the FO would have to be pretty confident that he would make a big contribution to take the risk.

The Twins definitely need something like this to happen, but I'm not going to bank on it.  I'll be happy to see him called up, but I'm not going to get giddy about some possible Price or K-Rod-esque playoff performance.  

 

Asking for a 5-1 homestand against Chicago and Detroit seemed much more reasonable, and we can't even have something nice like that.

 

If I start wishing for a Graterol-led miracle, he'll probably come up and blow out his elbow two pitches in.  

 

This is all my fault.  I went to the one game that they lost to Detroit, and I lost Sale, Tatis, Lowe, Anderson and now probably Peralta to season ending injures in basically one week of fantasy baseball.  

 

Maybe I should start wearing palehose and pinstripes and putting feathers in my hair .... Then the Twins can start winning and all the rivals and other playoff chasers can get some of this evil mojo.

Edited August 26, 2019 by MMMordabito

  On 8/26/2019 at 6:31 PM, gocgo said:

Have we not learned anything over the past umpteen years? Think about how many minor league prospects were touted as the next great <fill in the blank>. Now, how many of those reached the expectations that you had for them?

 

Comparing Graterol to David Price is just <fill in the blank>.

I think you’re missing the point, I think the article is trying to say that his 2019 could go similarly to Price’s rookie year. I don’t think it was the point to say that Graterol will be the next Price.

 

  On 8/26/2019 at 6:53 PM, Riverbrian said:

Why does it have to be "Graterol-led miracle". Do we have to have our expectations so high that we automatically hate life afterwards. 

 

Wouldn't it make sense to just see if he can simply improve a roster spot.

 

Make us a little bit better... If he makes a lot better... Bonus!!!  

 

I agree, but the title of the article was definitely leaning toward the very high expectation.  I'm not going to do that, especially with my current string of luck.

MMMordabito:  << Maybe I should start wearing palehose and pinstripes and putting feathers in my hair .... Then the Twins can start winning and all the rivals and other playoff chasers can get some of this evil mojo. >>

 

We want pictures.

 

  On 8/26/2019 at 3:34 PM, PDX Twin said:

I'm all for winning, but there are costs to this strategy. If I remember correctly, he doesn't need to be added to the 40-man this winter, so he would displace someone who would be lost to the organization. Granted, the lost player would be a lot less valuable than Graterol, but Graterol would not be lost if not added this fall.

 

I think that the FO would have to be pretty confident that he would make a big contribution to take the risk.

If he can make a difference then the player we lose from the 40 is not what we should be concerned with.  We already have a number of players who will be lost unless there are a lot of trades ready to be made, but a chance for the post season is not a guarantee so we have to move when the chance comes.

 

I don't know what Graterol will do this year. I assume he will pitch for the Twins at some point. I hope he pitches well enough to help them win some games down the stretch. If he makes the post season roster, I hope he has some big moments (good ones) in the playoffs.However, I expect him to have some rookie moments and won't be particularly disappointed if he does.

 

But what I would really like is for him to be the #2 starter behind Berrios by the end of next year and be part of the continued long term rebuild of the rotation.

I read the article so much differently than some poking at the comparisons.

 

The opening sentence is about whether a minor league call up can impact the team in September and the playoffs and ends with that question about Graterol. Seems like a fair question. It has happened before with Price and K-Rod. They are very different pitchers but both had significant late season impact for their teams.