Triple-Digit Shoes to Fill

Edwar Colina reached AAA Rochester last season at the age of 22. Some may not have heard of the Venezuelan righty before, as despite his strong showing in the minors throughout his career, he’s never approached the top of the Twins prospect lists. He did appear in a televised game in spring training this year however.

https://twitter.com/TFTwins/status/1235011284632055808

As you see, Colina is more than capable of bringing the heat. He regularly sits 96-97 and has no issue reaching triple digits when needed. If this doesn’t have you raising an eyebrow, consider that Colina has done this consistently as a starting pitcher throughout his career. It’s easy to imagine regular triple digit heat from the bullpen.

Colina also features a formidable slider. As Thad Levine has remarked in the past, it’s one of the best in the entire Twins system. As we saw with Graterol briefly in 2019, 100 mph paired with even a competent slider can be devastating in short stints out of the bullpen. This bullpen talk is all speculation at this point, however.

Colina has advanced through the minor leagues as a starting pitcher and he’s been impressive almost every step of the way. Throwing aside his 4.2 innings for Rochester in 2019, his worst season of ball ended in a 3.97 ERA. His strike out ability wasn’t fantastic throughout his career, that is until he arrived at AA in 2019 and posted a near 30% strikeout rate. His home run rate has also never exceeded 1 per 9 innings in any significant sample size. While he made a few relief appearances at AA and only relieved in his first two outings at AAA in 2019, there’s no official word that he’s made the transition to a full-time reliever quite yet.

That being said, Colina has some obstacles in his way. His height coming in at 5’11 may indicate that while his skills have been up to the task, his physical ability to withstand a full season’s workload may be an issue. He also lacks a decent third pitch, which would lead to trouble at the major league level. His competitors for a future starting role may be difficult to overcome as well. While I agree with the premise that there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect, his peers such as Balazovic and Duran have become the more likely up and coming candidates for rotation spots. Sprinkle in guys like Thorpe, Dobnak, Smeltzer and all of the veterans for the foreseeable future, and Colina’s chances may be low to be making starts at Target field.

Edwar Colina is not nearly the prospect that Brusdar Graterol was, but they share some similarities. Their 100 mph fastballs and sliders with a world of potential give them a strong base to retire major league hitters. Colina’s future role is in question just as Graterol’s was. However, his height being the issue is a preferable to an extensive injury history. Colina will not be on the Twins roster when baseball is next played, he’s not even on their 40 man at this point. I’d like to point out that this was also the case for Graterol in 2019. The moral of the story is if our Twins need another jolt of energy in the form of triple digit heat, they won’t have traded away their only option. Prepare to let yourselves love again, Twins fans. Edwar Colina is yet another exciting and powerful young arm.

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