Minnesota Twins: Thad Levine says a decision on a Brusdar Graterol promotion “has not been made”

The Minnesota Twins general manager pumped the brakes on the prospect’s hype train as the team has not made a decision on a potential call-up.

Over the past couple of months, the hype train for Minnesota Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol has been gaining steam. After dominating his competition at Double-A Pensacola, Graterol made his way to Triple-A Rochester over the weekend.

With the Twins needing bullpen help at the major league level, the possibility of bringing up the hard-throwing right-hander has become a definite possibility as the Twins make their push for the postseason. However, as Thad Levine told Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, seeing Graterol in a Twins jersey isn’t set in stone yet.

"“That idea may have been a little overstated,” Levine said. “We’re not going to force anything. We would only promote someone if we thought he could genuinely contribute, [and that decision] has certainly not been made.”"

Twins fans may be digging through the internet to find a Pinocchio GIF in response to this comment because Graterol’s trajectory has been straight upward after returning from a shoulder injury in late July.

After using him as a starter in the first couple months of the season, the Twins have been using him like a reliever in the past couple of weeks, with shorter starts with the GCL Twins and even using him as a closer in Pensacola. Now with the 20-year old in Rochester, it’s possible that the Twins could be making the call at any moment.

On the other side of the argument, the Twins could be trying to protect their young arm from any further damage in 2019. Graterol’s start to the season as a starting pitcher was a great one as he posted a 5-0 record and a 1.89 ERA in nine starts.

However, the Twins could definitely use help in the bullpen even after adding Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson at the trade deadline. With a fastball that has been recorded at 103 MPH, adding Graterol to this bullpen could be a game-changer late in games.

With others such as Francisco Rodriguez and David Price appearing as postseason relievers during the early days of their career, it’s possible that Graterol could be the next in line…if the Twins want to go through with it.