Minnesota Twins: Road to the Show, Randy Rosario Edition
By Carl Vagle
The Twins have called up left-handed pitcher Randy Rosario from Double-A Chattanooga.
Randy Rosario was signed by the Minnesota Twins in August of 2010 as a non-drafted free agent for $85,000. The 6’1″ 200 lb. southpaw started his professional career at the age of seventeen. Since the Arizona Fall League Rosario has only worked out of the bullpen after starting to begin his minor league career.
Following elbow surgery in 2014 Rosario has gotten back to the hard throwing pitcher he was beforehand. He reaches the upper 90’s on the radar gun with his fastball; Randy will add some strikeouts and velocity to a bullpen that ranks last in the MLB.
Depressing Twins bullpen stats:
— Phil Mackey 🎙 (@PhilMackey) June 1, 2017
Last in ERA
Last in strikeouts
Last in HRs (or, 1st!)
Last in velocity
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln...
Rosario is only 23 years old and was signed a year after Miguel Sano. He has yet to pitch in Triple-A and is making the jump from Double-A Chattanooga. In his career at Chattanooga he has a total of 29.2 innings pitched.
Rosario had a stellar May for Chattanooga.
This season he has 23.2 innings pitched in Double-A with a 1.90 ERA and with 20 strikeouts to just six walks. Rosario is also averaging 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings with a 0.85 WHIP. Furthermore, he has completely dominated Double-A hitting this season especially in May.
Randy Rosario pitched in 6 games for the Lookouts in May. In 13.2 innings, 0.66 ERA, 0.44 WHIP, 4 H, 2 BB, 18 K. Opponents: .087/.143/.130.
— Seth Stohs (@SethTweets) June 1, 2017
From his time in the Dominican Rookie League to Double-A he has held his own. In his seven seasons in the minor leagues he has a 3.13 ERA in over 300 innings with 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Rosario will be able to bring energy to a bullpen that is feeling down after their last series against Houston.
Rosario is being called up along with Alex Wimmers, the Twins 2010 first round pick. To make room for them the Twins DFA’d Jason Wheeler and sent down Ryan Pressly. The bullpen needs fresh arms and faces as the current pen has struggled to hold onto games.
Next: Twins: Road To The Show, Jason Wheeler Edition
In conclusion, Randy will be making his MLB debut sometime in the next week and will look to provide the velocity and strikeouts the bullpen has lacked. He may not have played above Double-A yet but can bring something new to the Twins roster. Congrats Randy Rosario on making it to the Show.