January 29, 2010

Top 50 Twins Prospects 2010: #23 Michael McCardell

2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects | #23 | Michael McCardell

Position | Pitcher

Bats/Throws | Right/Right

Born | April 13, 1985 (West Chester, Pennsylvania)

School
| Kutztown University

Height
| 6'5''

Weight
| 220 lbs.

2009 Ranking | 19




Breakdown
Mike McCardell was drafted by the Twins in the 6th round in 2007. He attended Division II Kutztown University where he holds the school record in saves with 21. The Twins drafted him as a starter and he's handled the full transition just fine. The summer he was drafted, McCardell split time between the Gulf Coast League and Appalachian League. Between the two teams, McCardell was 7-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts).

In 2008, McCardell continued his success with low Single-A Beloit. The 23-year-old went 9-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 22 games (21 starts). In 135 1/3 innings, McCardell made 139 batters strikeout while only surrendering 25 walks (one of which was intentional). He was slowed up by an elbow injury, which is why he didn't face any Florida State League batters that season. He was finally promoted to Advanced-A Ft. Myers in 2009 where he made 17 starts with the Miracle. The 24-year-old was later promoted to Double-A New Britain where he made another nine starts. Between the two stops, McCardell was 14-8 with a 3.96 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 142 1/3 innings.

After the 2009 season, McCardell made three starts in the Arizona Fall League. He gave up five runs in his last outing, which bloated his ERA to 7.27. McCardell has great control and shouldn't take too much more time before being promoted to Triple-A Rochester.

2009 Statistics
          Level      W     L     ERA     IP     K     BB     WHIP     FIP
          A-         9     6    3.93   94.0    78     16     1.21    3.79
AA 5 2 4.10 48.1 40 16 1.26 3.80

2010 Outlook

McCardell will start the season in Double-A New Britian but should push for a promotion at some point during the season.

Pitching Repertoire
  • Fastball (2 & 4-seam) (88-92)
  • Curveball
  • Change-up
Video


Estimated Time of Arrival
2011

2 comments:

Ian said...

Is he likely to be moved back to the pen (like Burnett) or is projected as a starter?

Steve -SHS said...

Ian, I think he will be a starter

I think the AAA Rocherster staff could look somthing like :

Manship
Duensing
Swarzak
Maroth
Fox
--
Slama
Delaney
Neshek (or Perkins or somebody)
Waldrop
Lugo
Lahey
Mullins(could be given spot starts)

with AA New Britian looking like:

McCardell
Gutierrez (think he gets another shot before being a regular in the 'pen)
Guerra
Bromberg
Robertson
---
Burnett
Van Mil
Steedley
Province(I think he could be ready to move up if he had to)
blah blah -Erickson, DeVries ?