Stephen Gonsalves

Gonsalves got his first taste of the majors last season after posting a 2.96 ERA and 8.5 K/9 at Triple-A. However, he struggled in seven major-league appearances with a 6.57 ERA. Lacking high-end stuff (89.8 mph fastball) and with significant command/control issues in the minors last year (65 walks in 120.2 innings), Gonsalves looks hard pressed to have much success in a major-league rotation. He will have to reduce his walks, generate more groundballs (39.5 GB% at Triple-A) and limit the hard contact. He has had promising groundball and infield flyball rates at times in the minors. Unfortunately his deceptive style in the minors, where he relied on getting whiffs on high fastballs, just doesn't seem likely to translate against big-league hitters. He will head back to Triple-A and will likely get another look in the majors at some point, just don't expect the results to be much better.

Gonsalves’ pitching style seems to have finally met its match in the form of Triple-A hitters. He missed the first six weeks of the season with a shoulder injury, but finished in the top 10 in the Southern League in FIP (2.88), WHIP (1.03) and K-BB% (20.7). Always labeled as a pitcher whose minor-league numbers oversell the quality of his stuff, Gonsalves may not possess a plus pitch in his arsenal, although his changeup is close. He gets by with a low-90s fastball that he features at the top of the zone, which helped him lead all Southern League pitchers with a whopping 31.1 percent infield flyball rate. When he got to Triple-A, his IFFB% dipped to 24.1 percent while his line-drive rate and HR/FB spiked. In other words, more advanced hitters forced him to bring his average fastball down and then did damage. He will return to Triple-A, but it’s hard to envision which adjustments he could make that will allow for him to profile as anything better than a No. 4 starter.

Gonsalves could be Minnesota's top pitching prospect after a dominant season at High-A and Double-A. He pitched a combined 140 innings, good for a 2.06 ERA and 9.9 K/9 between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Chattanooga. Gonsalves sits in the low-90s with his fastball, but it plays as an above-average pitch due to his extension, high spin rate and a low arm slot that causes deception. His changeup is his best pitch, a potentially plus offering with good sink, while his slurvy breaking ball lags behind as a clear third pitch. He struggled with his fastball command and control at Double-A (4.5 BB/9), and he will need to improve his command in order to profile as more than a No. 4 starter. A fast start at Double-A could put him on track for a late-2017 big league debut.

Gonsalves has become one of Minnesota's top pitching prospects after going 13-3 with a 2.01 ERA and 8.9 K/9 between Low-A and High-A. The 2013 fourth round pick offers ideal size at 6-foot-5 to go along with a low-90s fastball and an advanced mix of secondary offerings. He mowed down the competition at Low-A, and though he wasn't as dominant at High-A he was also just 20 years old. A strong showing at Double-A this season could put him on the fast track for the majors as a potential back-end starter.