Stephen Gonsalves will likely begin the 2017 season at Triple-A Rochester.
photo by Tim Evearitt
Friday, MLBPipeline.com has announced that Lookouts left hander Stephen Gonsalves has been named to the 2016 MLB Pipeline Team of the Year. In 2016 Gonsalves split the year between the Fort Myers Miracle and the Chattanooga Lookouts and was 13-5 with a 2.06 ERA in a combined 24 starts.
Joining the Lookouts on June 25, the Twins number three overall prospect had a stellar first year in Double-A. In 13 games the southpaw struck out six or more batters 10 times including a season-high 11 on 7/12 against Tennessee. Gonsalves ended up fanning 89 batters, which was tied for the fifth most in all of Minor League Baseball during that span.
Along with posting dominant strikeout numbers the staff ace also kept opponents off the base paths. In his 74.1 innings he held opponents to a .171 average which was the second lowest average against in all of Double-A Baseball in that time frame.
Gonsalves’ great first year was buoyed by a fantastic month of August. In that month the lefty only allowed one earned run in 32.2 innings. He also compiled four wins and 37 strikeouts in his five August starts. Of his five outings his best came on August 11 when he faced off against the Montgomery Biscuits and did not surrender a hit in six innings. He also struck out nine batters on his way to his sixth win of the year
Gonsalves could be a mid-season callup for the Twins next year.
photo by Tim Evearitt