Brusdar Graterol Arrives!
The Minnesota Twins top position player prospects (Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff) are well known and highly ranked. However Their top pitching prospect is a little lesser known...
Brusdar Graterol was signed in 2015, as a 16 year old out of Venezuela. He debut for the Dominican Summer League Twins, and started 4 games for them that year. Then he missed all of 2016 due to injury, but came back in 2017 for 40 innings of Rookie League ball in the Florida Gulf Coast League and Elizabethton, TN.
2018 saw his number improve slightly over 102 innings (8-4, 2.74 ERA, 89 hits, 28 walks and 107 strikeouts) across Low A (Cedar Rapids, IA) and high A (Fort Myers, FL). Graterol's velocity recovered and his status as a top prospect was solidifying. Topps agreed and decided to include him in the Bowman sets.
Injuries have been a problem throughout Graterol's minor league career, and he missed more time in 2019. But when he was able to pitch, the numbers were still there. Starting 9 of his 12 appearances with the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Brusdar went 6-0, 1.92, with a WHIP of 1.006, striking out 50, with 21 walks in 52.2 innings. Radar guns were clocking him as high as 103.9 mph, with well above average control for his age.
After 3 relief appearances with the Wahoos, Graterol was promoted to AAA Rochester (NY) to work out of the Red Wings bullpen. On August 26, he turned all of 21. Showing even the slightest bit of success, was going to likely see a promotion to Minnesota after the roster expanded on September 1st.
With Minnesota well on it's way to taking the A.L. Central, a pure flamethrower for the late innings of playoff games is a very valuable weapon. Take a look at the role Francisco Rodriguez played in coming out of nowhere to factor in the Angels World Series run of 2002. Graterol could be that difference maker for the Twins and their incredible offense. (Breaking the single season Major League record for Home Runs yesterday -with a full month of season left to play!)
I watched the Twins play the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Minnesota was leading 8-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. Rocco Baldelli brings in Brusdar to pitch to the Tigers in the bottom of the 9th.
First pitch... Called strike, 99 mph on the inside corner. A Twins official called for the umpire to toss the ball to the dugout. Apparently, Minnesota believes Graterol is a big enough deal that they want to save his first pitched baseball. Three pitches later (all at 99 mph), he struck out Dawel Lugo.
After giving up weak hits to Brandon Dixon and Jordy Mercer, Brusdar got a brief mound visit from pitching coach Wes Johnson. His next pitch ( a 99.6 mph fastball) was grounded into a game ending double play, by Jake Rogers. Who I briefly thought was the villain in John Hughes mid 1980's classic, Sixteen Candles. But that was Jake RYAN... Either way, whatever Wes John son said, clearly worked!
Excellent debut for the 21 year old. Twins officials have made it clear that they view Graterol as a starting pitcher next season, but acknowledge his late inning potential for a post-season run. If that comes true, he's got the month of September to show that he could be the guy that takes the Twins further than I'd expect them to go.
You have that kind of arm getting vital outs in the 7th and 8th inning, combined with a lineup that has 8 players hitting more than 20 home runs each, a possible upset of the Astros or even the Yankees isn't as out of the question as it once was.
I'm doing my part in collecting your cards, and I'm firmly believing in your potential. Brusdar Graterol could be the most important addition to the roster the Twins have made since opening day.
Oh, and for the first time in quite a while, both Byron Buxton AND Willians Astudillo appeared in a game for the Twins. With a Cleveland loss, Minnesota currently has a 5.5 game lead in the Central. Great time to get healthy, and a new weapon to unleash on the league!
As I'm finishing up sorting out the boxes of Top Loaders by team, it hit me that most of these mid and high level cards aren't too likely to be written about. Most of them haven't even been scanned. Either teams or sets or players that I don't collect, they would probably be ignored as far as stories posted here go. Combining that thought with another that says I need to get some shorter stories written, so I can post more up here. (I currently have 12 lengthy stories I'm working on, as life gets busier and busier...)
I decided that I could pick a single card at random out of the boxes, then talk about just that card. How I got it, how much I like or do not like it, any interesting sidebars about what that card/player means to my collection, etc...
Brusdar Graterol was signed in 2015, as a 16 year old out of Venezuela. He debut for the Dominican Summer League Twins, and started 4 games for them that year. Then he missed all of 2016 due to injury, but came back in 2017 for 40 innings of Rookie League ball in the Florida Gulf Coast League and Elizabethton, TN.
2018 saw his number improve slightly over 102 innings (8-4, 2.74 ERA, 89 hits, 28 walks and 107 strikeouts) across Low A (Cedar Rapids, IA) and high A (Fort Myers, FL). Graterol's velocity recovered and his status as a top prospect was solidifying. Topps agreed and decided to include him in the Bowman sets.
Injuries have been a problem throughout Graterol's minor league career, and he missed more time in 2019. But when he was able to pitch, the numbers were still there. Starting 9 of his 12 appearances with the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Brusdar went 6-0, 1.92, with a WHIP of 1.006, striking out 50, with 21 walks in 52.2 innings. Radar guns were clocking him as high as 103.9 mph, with well above average control for his age.
Suddenly, Graterol was on the Twins radar for Major League bullpen help.
On August 30th, the Twins made that move official.
I watched the Twins play the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Minnesota was leading 8-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. Rocco Baldelli brings in Brusdar to pitch to the Tigers in the bottom of the 9th.
First pitch... Called strike, 99 mph on the inside corner. A Twins official called for the umpire to toss the ball to the dugout. Apparently, Minnesota believes Graterol is a big enough deal that they want to save his first pitched baseball. Three pitches later (all at 99 mph), he struck out Dawel Lugo.
After giving up weak hits to Brandon Dixon and Jordy Mercer, Brusdar got a brief mound visit from pitching coach Wes Johnson. His next pitch ( a 99.6 mph fastball) was grounded into a game ending double play, by Jake Rogers. Who I briefly thought was the villain in John Hughes mid 1980's classic, Sixteen Candles. But that was Jake RYAN... Either way, whatever Wes John son said, clearly worked!
Excellent debut for the 21 year old. Twins officials have made it clear that they view Graterol as a starting pitcher next season, but acknowledge his late inning potential for a post-season run. If that comes true, he's got the month of September to show that he could be the guy that takes the Twins further than I'd expect them to go.
You have that kind of arm getting vital outs in the 7th and 8th inning, combined with a lineup that has 8 players hitting more than 20 home runs each, a possible upset of the Astros or even the Yankees isn't as out of the question as it once was.
I'm doing my part in collecting your cards, and I'm firmly believing in your potential. Brusdar Graterol could be the most important addition to the roster the Twins have made since opening day.
Oh, and for the first time in quite a while, both Byron Buxton AND Willians Astudillo appeared in a game for the Twins. With a Cleveland loss, Minnesota currently has a 5.5 game lead in the Central. Great time to get healthy, and a new weapon to unleash on the league!
As I'm finishing up sorting out the boxes of Top Loaders by team, it hit me that most of these mid and high level cards aren't too likely to be written about. Most of them haven't even been scanned. Either teams or sets or players that I don't collect, they would probably be ignored as far as stories posted here go. Combining that thought with another that says I need to get some shorter stories written, so I can post more up here. (I currently have 12 lengthy stories I'm working on, as life gets busier and busier...)
I decided that I could pick a single card at random out of the boxes, then talk about just that card. How I got it, how much I like or do not like it, any interesting sidebars about what that card/player means to my collection, etc...
How would I pick the card to be featured?
Well, I found a use for the old Dungeons & Dragons dice!
First card coming soon!
Go Graterol!
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