Minnesota Twins: team makes odd decision to call up Kohl Stewart

The Minnesota Twins will see the major league debut of Kohl Stewart today. Why is that an odd decision?

Typically, a major league debut is an exciting time for an organization and its fan base, but today’s debut of Kohl Stewart for the Minnesota Twins has left many Twins fans befuddled.

The 2018 season has not gone anywhere near the way the Minnesota Twins had hoped after a Wild Card appearance in 2017 with a young club that seemed primed to grow even further in 2018. Instead, injuries, suspensions, and poor play from key players have led to the Twins to a point where they are 8 games under .500 presently, having recently sold off a large amount of players at the trade deadline.

This figured to lead to a number of young players getting their chance with the Minnesota Twins in the final two months of the season. Specifically, the Twins had a number of excellent young pitchers in the upper minors who should be getting a chance to start.

When the announcement was made that Kohl Stewart would make the start on Sunday for the Minnesota Twins, many Twins fans and even those close to the team were blown away.

Stewart has put together what could be seen as one of his worst and best seasons in 2018. He has a 4.47 ERA combined between AA/AAA with a 1.49 WHIP and a 33/101 BB/K. Since being the 4th overall selection in 2013, Stewart has never posted a full-season ERA that high. However, he’s also not had a strikeout rate over 20% since his short stint his draft season, typically working under 16% rather than the 21% rate he’s had in 2018.

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The primary person that most assumed would get the opportunity ahead of Stewart was lefty Stephen Gonsalves, also drafted in the 2013 draft, but selected in the 4th round. He was considered a top 100 prospect coming into the season. The lefty has been tremendous with AA/AAA in 2018, posting a combined 2.90 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, with a 63/115 BB/K ratio.

Now, if there were a significant amount of strong right-handed hitters that Sunday’s opponents, the Detroit Tigers, would be utilizing. The strongest hitters in the Tigers lineup are certainly right-handed, but the Tigers are also one of the weakest lineups in the league, with just Nick Castellanos posting a 100+ OPS+ on the season.

The Minnesota Twins will have the chance to see a number of young players over the next two months, with likely call-ups of Gonsalves, Zack Littell, and return of Fernando Romero to the rotation along with top prospects Nick Gordon, LaMonte Wade, and possibly even Brent Rooker.