Hildenberger Preparing for Another Heavy Workload

I hope they don't give him too big of a workload because I'm concerned for him. He wasn't an MLB-caliber reliever for most of 2018 and I'm not sure if counting on him to be part of your 2019 rotation for the full season is a good idea. I thought he might start 2019 in AAA, but that seems far from the case... hopefully he'll rebound.

I believe HIldenberger will have a long career as a reliever. I am convinced he was misused by the Manager and the former manager's downfall was related to mismanagement of young players and the relievers.

I hope that Baldelli and Johnson have a much better game plan on handling the pitchers this year then we've seen the past few. Hildi proved capable of handling key spots when he wasn't worn out. It might help to let a few more starters work their way out of problems instead  of going to the bullpen automatically in the 3rd inning.

For a 22nd round draft pick, his 2018 is probably closer to reality than his 2017.

It's also true that he was not playing well at all in the second half. Whether he was over-used or whether he was unhappy about the trade deadline moves is impossible to know. I suspect he was over-used.

Hildy's sample size is so small it's just really hard to know what we will get in 2019, but he certainly has earned a fair chance. Let's hope the Twins are patient and let him play should he have a slow start. It took him a couple of weeks to get going in 2018.

I don't see it . He was terrible in September. Once " cute relievers" are caught up with, they generally don't bounce back.

Something tells me they'll take an intensely granular look at his arsenal this spring. They'll make a call based on whether they think he has a variety of pitches that he can execute consistently and that are good enough to produce outs in MLB. He's got lots of competition for a spot so he's going to have to be effective during spring training.

The problem is not Hildenberg, it is the amazing demand that teams are putting on relievers - not the inning, the appearances.  Every appearance demands many warm up pitches in the Bullpen and 8 on the mound even if they just throw one pitch to one batter.  This is the new major leagues.  Look at the Yankees who just signed Ottovino to go with Britton to go with Betances to go with Chapman and two other really good relievers.  They are set so that they can rotate the appearances if they want.  When teams average 3 - 4 relievers a game we are going to wear them out.  It is not just team strategy, the entire league has not caught up with the demand. 

I would be mildly surprised if HIldenberger is on the short leash some are predicting. I think he gets the year to sort things out, barring a 9.00 ERA after a few months of course.

But hey, I don't understand anything about this team anymore, so....

I don't see it . He was terrible in September. Once " cute relievers" are caught up with, they generally don't bounce back.

Pat Neshek might disagree with you.

It seems like HIldenberger has had enough success that he should get a chance to come north with the team unless he has a horrific spring training. That's particularly true when you factor in the quality of the other options (relatively low) and the possibility that his poor second half was the result of overuse by Molitor in the previous 1.5 seasons (relatively high).

 

Having said that, he's another guy that has to prove himself a quality MLB player and do it early in the season or he should be sent down for the next guy in line. He is not an established MLB player who gets even half a season to "figure it out". He's just like Kepler, Cave, Cron, Austin, etc. - they either perform or the go to AAA (or waivers if they don't have options) and figure it out there, or not. No scholarship players.

 

The good news from this article is it sounds like Hlldenberger knows that his MLB career is in flux and is really working hard to give himself the best chance to succeed. That's great to hear. I'm rooting for him.

 

I can see where signs point to workload but as well as Hildy did up until the wheels came off you have to admit he was moving from one team and one league to another. This means no one had time to figure him out. I would look at what pitch he threw the bulk of the time he got tee's off on. If it was the change up he's got big problems. That means they were sitting on his changeup and letting the fastball go by. That would suggest to me he needs to live more off of his fastball and throw the change up less to they don't sit on it but I'm not sure his fastball is good enough to live on it .. We shall see. It really disappoints me when we have players that kill it all the way through the minors and then can't hack it in the majors. I pray Gonsalves doesn't do the same, however I've noticed that every time they moved him up a level in the minors he initially got hit but figured it out after about five games and then was lights out. I could see a little of that with his major league debut last year. I'm betting he's going to have a great 2019 ..

Hildy's command degraded in the second half, plus guys figured out his overhand fastball. Accurate assessment that he needs another pitch. Also true that the Twins need more relief options, so they don't wear out guys like Hildy. 

To that topic, what the hell's been happening to all the relievers in the minors? Seems like only a couple have made it, the rest are washing out for one reason or another. If winning is 60 percent pitching, the Twins are missing 50 percent of 60 percent. 

I feel that Hildenberger is just another example of a young dude with a live arm who would have benefitted from the experience of having someone like Rodney around. The feeling is that he has closer stuff. Having a veteran closer around him would be so clutch same as it would for Rodgers, Moya, Magill, and even Reed. Its too bad the genius Falvine's dropped the ball AGAIN.

I don’t think anyone thinks that Hildenberger is anything but a solid middle reliever. No one thinks he’s a closer or even an elite level set up man.

Rodney was around for most of the season. Trevor's ERA was 4.50 when Rodney got traded; he had had 3 consecutive bad games, so apparently Rodney wan't able to nip that in the bud while he was still there.

 

Teams have coaches, for the purposes you described. Veteran leadership on the roster is useful but a bit overrated.

Hilde's change up is almost unhittable when he's on. Very few pitchers have a pitch like that. I'd give up on the adding new pitches and deliveries, and work on placement and rest. His MiLB record and MLB success suggests closer upside. We screwed up Duffey having him develop another pitch. How about throw your good pitches more often, to start.