Grading the 2019 Twins: Best (and worst) of the rest

Welcome to the final article in the “Grading the 2019 Twins” series. Finally, all previous articles are linked below.

Most of the rest of the roster consists of cameos of no more than a single-digit number of games, but there are a handful of players here who made significant contributions to the 2019 Twins.

No plusses or minuses here, as all players will be ranked according to their letter grade tier. Within the tier, players are listed alphabetically.

Let’s finish this.

F tier

• Austin Adams: Two appearances: two shutout innings, then five runs in two-thirds of an inning.
• Tyler Austin: Five plate appearances, one double, one walk, three strikeouts.
• Chase De Jong: One appearance, one inning, three walks, three hits, four earned runs... but the Twins still won because it was 14-4 at the time.
• Sam Dyson: 7.15 ERA, late-inning collapses, undisclosed injuries, DFA’d... a disaster of a trade.
• Trevor Hildenberger: First 11 appearances – zero earned runs. Last 11 appearances – 19 earned runs. Rooting for him to do better in Boston.
• Adalberto Mejia: At least three earned runs allowed in four of 13 appearances; 8.80 ERA.
• Sean Poppen: Seven earned runs in 8.1 IP over four appearances; 1.800 WHIP. Upside: that’s a small sample size.
• Fernando Romero: After move to bullpen, allowed multiple runs in five of 15 appearances; 7.07 ERA; 2.143 WHIP.
• Kohl Stewart: Allowed eight earned runs in two starts, then 10 in seven relief outings.
• Ronald Torreyes: .188/.235/.188 slash line, but at least had that walkoff bases-loaded HBP.
• Andrew Vasquez: One appearance, four batters, zero outs, infinite ERA.

D tier

• Ian Miller: .176/.176/.235 slash line in 12 games, but mostly used as defensive replacement (successfully) and pinch runner.

C tier

• Ryan Eades: Two appearances before being waived, but allowed no runs over 3.2 innings, posted a 1.636 WHIP with a 2.12 FIP, and became the first MLB player to wear #80.
• Ryan LaMarre: .217/.308/.478 slash line, two bombas, and the return of LaMagic.
• Matt Magill: Pitched a shutout in May, but some three multi-ER outings in June and a six-run (all unearned) inning in July knocked him out of the Twins’ plans.
• Lewis Thorpe: 6.18 ERA and 1.735 WHIP but 3.47 FIP and a lot of hope for an early shot at a rotation spot in 2020.
• LaMonte Wade Jr.: Unorthodox hitless/walks-a-plenty streak to start career ends in .196/.348/.375 slash line; negative defensive grades but an excellent eye at the plate.

B tier

• Jorge Alcala: Faced seven batters over two appearances; allowed two inherited runs to score but no earned runs of his own and a 1.200 WHIP.
• Brusdar Graterol: 4.66 ERA soiled by one bad outing against Cleveland; 3.42 FIP and 1.241 WHIP look much nicer. Insane velocity with movement. What team he will be on when this is published... I have no idea.

A tier

• Mike Morin: Before his trade to the Phillies, posted a 3.18 ERA and 0.927 WHIP (two walks in 22.2 innings!); his four-ER inning against Oakland immediately preceding the trade matched his total earned runs allowed the rest of the season.
• Devin Smeltzer: 3.86 ERA, 1.265 WHIP, but his 11 appearances were overshadowed by the emergence of Randy Dobnak.
• Cody Stashak: 3.24 ERA, 1.200 WHIP, and an insane 25/1 K/BB ratio.

Here’s to 2020.