Friday, September 28, 2012

Eye on 2013: Sam Deduno

SaM Deduno has stuck out 57 and walked 57 in 79
innings for the Twins this season.
It was pretty obvious Wednesday afternoon that (a) Sam Deduno couldn't see the ball coming when it was thrown back to him and that (b) that meant he had to come out of the game for his own protection.

It's also easy to understand why he was so reluctant to leave the mound. This season has been the chance Deduno's spent years waiting, working and hoping for, and it's ending on a down note. He'd had two poor starts in a row entering Wednesday's game, and he didn't last long enough against the Yankees to make any judgments. While the Twins have six games left, there's no guarantee he'll be allowed to start in the final series against Toronto.

One more start may not matter in terms of evaluating him. Deduno's 29; he's been in the Minnesota rotation since July 7. He is what he is, and is what he's always been: A guy with outstanding stuff and very little command of it. He's had 15 starts for the Twins; eight have been quality starts, and he didn't make it through five innings in five of of the other seven.

What that says to me is "back of the rotation." The Twins have plenty of guys who would be passable as fifth starters. They need some guys who are better than that. Right now, they have Scott Diamond and the Void.

John Sickels posted this piece Wednesday on Deduno's long journey to the majors and his outlook; Sickels' take on him is pretty close to mine. There MIGHT be a usable starter there, but the Twins can't afford to stake their rotation on it.

1 comment:

  1. Hopefully his eye problem turns out better than when Kirby woke up and had a black dot in his vision.

    Would it be cynical to suggest that the Twins medical staff will have him excercise the eye and then a week before the 2013 season starts we'll hear that he's having a seaons ending head replacement surgery?

    Seriously, even though he's been in pro ball for 10 years now, he signed as a teenager and lost two years to injuries. So is he more comparable to say a college pitcher drafted in the 2007/8 time frame? I think there's a possibility of some upside. So I would take him at the back of the rotation over some cheap veteran.

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