Moving to the Bullpen Won't Fix Brandon Sproat

[wallus]

Sproat seems like a guy that throws as hard as he can every single pitch. It isn't working and he needs to be effective at 94-95 with some control versus 99 and no idea.

[AdvantageSchneider]

If Priester and Woody aren't hurt for all or most of the year is Sproat in the majors?  Would he have been better served with another year of development or at least half a year of development in the minors?

 

 

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

6 hours ago, AdvantageSchneider said:

If Priester and Woody aren't hurt for all or most of the year is Sproat in the majors?  Would he have been better served with another year of development or at least half a year of development in the minors?

 

 

I don't think he would have been.  He was pretty much on the roster because we were desperate for arms early in the year.  Henderson was also out for awhile.   If I had to rank our SP coming into the season (assuming everyone was healthy) it likely would have been:

1)  Woodruff
2) Priester
3) Miz
4) Henderson
5) Patrick

- Harrison, Drohan, Gasser, Sproat, Crow

The fact that our Top 2 barely pitched this season, #4 was hurt for the first half, and #5 end up primarily in the bullpen, yet we still have the best record in baseball is crazy.

Looking ahead to 2027, it would seem that Miz and Henderson are the only locks for the rotation, with Harrison, Priester, Drohan, Gasser, Sproat, and Crow in the mix for the other 3 spots, and maybe Patrick.

April/May Harrison would be a lock, but June-September Harrison is JAG.  I keep reminding myself how young that group is, so if we have a season, expecting some continued improvement/composure is definitely possible

[HarryDoyle]

6 hours ago, AdvantageSchneider said:

If Priester and Woody aren't hurt for all or most of the year is Sproat in the majors?  Would he have been better served with another year of development or at least half a year of development in the minors?

 

 

I've been saying this all season. We acquired him as a prospect. Why did we treat him like a seasoned major leaguer?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

1 hour ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

Looking ahead to 2027, it would seem that Miz and Henderson are the only locks for the rotation, with Harrison, Priester, Drohan, Gasser, Sproat, and Crow in the mix for the other 3 spots, and maybe Patrick.

I would hope that Priester, if 100% healthy, is about as close to a rotation lock as you're going to get. We forget how great he was last season. Getting him back at 100% health would be a boon to the rotation. He wasn't doing it with smoke and mirrors last year. That stuff is legit.

[Samurai Bucky]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

I've been saying this all season. We acquired him as a prospect. Why did we treat him like a seasoned major leaguer?

I'm thinking it was out of necessity.  Sproat's story is tragic so far.  I hope he turns it around.

[adambr2]

4 hours ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I would hope that Priester, if 100% healthy, is about as close to a rotation lock as you're going to get. We forget how great he was last season. Getting him back at 100% health would be a boon to the rotation. He wasn't doing it with smoke and mirrors last year. That stuff is legit.

I’d caution people to expect that even if we do eventually get 2025 Priester back, it may take some time to rebuild the workload and command in 2027.