Minnesota Twins: Will Pitcher Samuel Deduno Make an Impact Next Season?
With the MLB regular season waning and the Twins likely to be finished in September, Bleacher Report looks at certain players on the current roster and evaluates whether or not they will have an impact on the team next season.
The skinny
Deduno is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA this season, but also has more walked batters (30) than strikeouts (28).
TOP NEWS
Playing Deadline Buyer or Seller with Every Team 🔮
All-Stars Who Could Hit Trade Block 🔄
Ranking Farm Systems After Draft 📊
In-depth
Major League Baseball has never seen a guy throw like this.
“He has a lot of movement on his pitches,” says catcher Joe Mauer. “With him I just kind sit in the middle and just tell him to aim down."
“I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life,” echoes catcher Ryan Doumit. “I set up right down the middle and just let his ball do the work.”
In short, his ball dodges, dips, ducks, dives and dodges and nobody knows where the hell it is going.
“Some will cut and some will sink,” says Mauer, “but the stuff that’s tougher to catch is probably tougher to hit too.”
“It’ll cut, it’ll sink, it’ll dart, it’ll dive, it’ll rise,” adds Doumit, laughing. “I’m back there [as] the hockey goalie, just putting down the finger just going ‘Try to hit this, guy.’”
The verdict
If he can learn to control this funky pitch he has, he, Along with Scott Diamond, will become a fixture in the Twins rotation next season.
“I hope he stays with us because I know I never want to face him,” says Doumit.
“If he learns to harness it and maybe cut down on the walks, he’s got a chance to be pretty special.”
All quotes were obtained first-hand.
Tom Schreier writes a weekly column for TheFanManifesto.com.
