Twins Minor League Report (5/10): Kepler, Buxton Rock Rochester

We need to move some of Fort Myers starters to Chatanooga.  Seem to have 6 in the rotation and Chatanooga needs starting help as most of their starters seem to be orginization filler.

Travis Harrison is hitting .432 in the month of May (9 games) and has raised his average from .230 to .297.

Unfortunately the other numbers during this stretch aren't all that impressive. Only 1 extra base hit, 2 BBs, and 10 Ks.

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

I know Stuart Turner is the guy most are looking at to fill the Twins catching void, but I think Mitch Garver is going to be the guy. 

Who told him to ditch the leg kick in the first place?

I don't know if anyone told him to ditch the kick or if Buxton just did it himself.  If I were to guess, I'd say the 2nd, but probably not intentionally.  Just kinda drifted away from it.

Sounds a little self-congratulatory and of course, begs the question:

 

"Why didn't Bruno tell this to Buxton himself when he was up here?"

He did in Spring Training, if memory serves.  I don't know why Buxton stopped.

Smalley was saying yesterday that the MiLB staff was told to get Buxton to use the leg kick again

and that the leg kick was the suggestion of Brunansky

and that is a prime reason for his hitting success in AAA. 

Hopefully that helps him make better contact, but that would only be half the equation with Buxton. His primary hurdle to another call-up is still going to be pitch recognition and handling breaking balls. K-rate and BB-rate are the key metrics for him to demonstrate MLB readiness. But it's fun to see him hitting again, that's for sure.

Bruno is paid to know why.

and hence the discussion with the MiLB staff  [ Chad Allen? ] to get him back on the program.

Kohl Stewart Scouting Report  (Reposted from another thread)

Watched Stewart's start tonight v. Bradenton

Fastball:  His fastball is probably a major league level pitch right now. In the first and second inning it was sitting (via Hammond Stadium radar gun) at 93/94.  Innings 3-4-5 it was more like 92/93 but he actually improved his velocity in the 6 and his short stint in the 7th. 

A+ hitters rarely pulled the ball against his fastball.

His control on the fastball was impeccable.  Stewart did not walk a batter in 6.1 innings, I think only had a couple of 3 ball counts and no 3-0 counts.  He often was sitting in the 1-2 pitchers advantage.

Slider: His slider is in the speed range of 86-88, with 86 being the most common velocity.  This is his problem pitch and the reason why Stewart does not generate a lot of strikeouts.  His slider is too much in the plane and his release point is too high, leaving the pitch up in the zone way too often. Sometimes he seemed to let up on the slider when he was ahead in the count and even when he had the ball-strike count to his advantage his slider was hit way too hard.

Curve:  I believe it was a curveball but I could not see the break.  Early in the game he threw his curve for strikes and the batters reaction seemed to indicate a well thrown curve.  These pitches were clocked at 79 mph and for the first 3 innings it seemed that every pitch in this speed zone were thrown for called strikes.  Later in the game the 78-79 mph pitch was not as consistently in the strike zone.

Stewart is a tremendous athlete for a baseball pitcher.  On a sacrifice bunt play the hitter bunted between him and the 3rd baseman (who should have got the ball).  The ball rolled past the mound.  Stewart recovered from charging the bunt, fielded the ball, and threw the baserunner out at 2nd base.  I have never seen a pitcher make a play like that. 

Stewart also had very quick feet on his pickoff turn.  HIs pickoff throws were very accurate.

Stewart was a very emotional player in the dugout.  If runners reached base during the inning it impacted him.  His discussions with pitching coach Henry Bonilla did not always look pleasant and I think Kohl likes to vent a bit judging from the smiles that Gonslaves gave after Stewart cooled down.

Overall:  While this might sound like an overstatement for a pitcher with a 2.02 ERA, the slider is a major problem.  Stewart can use change of speeds to keep hitters off balance but very few hitters did not make contact against him and while some of the 7 hits against him were pretty weak, some of the outs were very well hit, particularly since he was so consistently ahead in the count.  A pitcher with his velocity and command should not be hit as hard on 0-2, 1-2, and 2-2 counts like he was tonight. 

If the slider can be given some grip and he can keep it down in the strike zone Stewart can project to a high level major league pitcher because of his tremendous control.  One issue might be that he throws from too much of a 3/4 angle and to make it to the top part of the rotation they might need to move his arm position up 5 degrees.  This would help his slider and his fastball and generate more movement and less contact.  However, I think they are reluctant to do this to prevent injury.

Interesting report. A good fastball with great command can go a long way. What happened to the advertised wipe out slider? At this point i think his floor is raised, with ceiling remaining high. I'd rather have a guy with a great fastball and improving secondary stuff than the other way around ( Meyer).

No matter how terrible, disappointing or gut - wrenching this season has been, I still keep envisioning an Aug. 1st lineup with Buxton in CF, Kepler in RF, Sano at 3B, Arcia/Rosario in LF, Polanco in the middle infield, Murphy as the primary C after his AAA success and promotion, and Berrios starting the game.

Buxton struck out once.  Clearly he's a bust.

I think Mitch Garver is strongly making his case.

How is his defense?