The Twins Have (Already) Found Matt Wisler 2.0

The similarities between Sparkman’s and Wisler’s career paths are superficial, but not meaningless. Both were, for a considerable time in the minors and some in the majors, starters. Both joined the Twins sporting bloated, hideous ERAs for their big-league careers, though in both cases, part of that could be ascribed to having pitched for bad teams. Both also had sliders that regularly induced swings and misses by opposing hitters, and both had increased their usage of that pitch substantially in the year prior to the Twins scooping them up. Both had three years of team control left when Minnesota got them.

Sparkman’s first outing with the Twins this spring was inauspicious, but there was a hint of things to come even there. He threw 24 pitches against the Red Sox that day, and 15 of them were sliders. When he pitched Sunday against the Rays, though, a full-fledged Wislerization was on display. Of 17 total pitches, 13 were sliders. Sparkman showed the ability to throw the pitch as a chase offering in the dirt; to land it for a strike with a more curveball-like shape; and to tilt it to work up in the zone, giving hitters another look off of his high, mid-90s fastball.

Wisler’s emergence with the Twins was not purely about cranking up his slider usage to a historic number. The team also helped him make a notable mechanical adjustment, improving his command. Sparkman has long struggled with control problems, himself, and has had funky mechanics over the years. He moved from the third- to the first-base side of the pitching rubber in 2019, which helped, but he still threw too few strikes. The problems are multivariate: a collapsing glove side, leading to poor posture and little stability into release; chaotic timing in his leg kick and the break of his hands; and a very sloppy push off of his back foot.

Most of those undesirable markers are still there, so far this spring. They’re all incrementally improved, though, and that’s really all Sparkman needed to do. With merely below-average command of a nasty slider-fastball combination, he can expect to have results very similar to the ones Wisler enjoyed in 2020.

Unlike Wisler, Sparkman has never had top prospect status, and he didn’t pinball to a half-dozen teams before Minnesota. He’s been a Royals fixture over the last few years, which tells much of what there is to tell about his career to date.

Sparkman is actually a few months older than Wisler, and will turn 29 in May. Because he went to college and signed at 21, though, his arc through pro baseball has been quite different. Unlike Wisler, therefore, he has yet to exhaust his minor-league options. Whereas the Twins had to carry Wisler all year in 2020, it’s likely that Sparkman will start the season at the alternate site, and that even if and when he reaches the parent club, he’ll be shuttled back to St. Paul a time or two during the balance of the campaign.

If this works — and neither his minor mechanical improvements nor the willingness to throw his slider with Wisleresque frequency guarantees that; it’s just an encouraging start — then Sparkman could have more staying power in the organization. Once added to the 40-man roster, he will have to win a constant battle to stay on it, but there won’t be any pressure to remain perpetually available out of the pen. He’s a hard-throwing, slider-slinging right-hander who offers the team all of Wisler’s upside, plus bonus flexibility. At this point, only disastrous control trouble or an injury is likely to prevent Sparkman from at least getting a chance to audition for a lasting role in the bullpen with his retooled repertoire and cleaned-up delivery — even if he has to wait until mid-May or so to get it.

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