. He also has an 88-91 mph CHANGEUP that flashes 50 grade.
Graterol’s mid-80s slider is a double-plus pitch that he can land for strikes when behind in the count or backdoor to lefthanded batters. He also uses it to expand the zone against righthanded batters. His fringe-average changeup is less seen but effective in spots. (Spring, 2020)
2019 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 11
.7% of the time; Sinker 55.6%; Change 1.9%; and Slider 30.9% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 98.9, Sinker 99.1, Change 90.8, and Slider 88.4 mph.
2020 Season Pitch Usage: 4-seam Fastball: 3.6% of the time; Sinker 66.1%; Change less than 1%; and Slider 30.1% of the time. Average velocity: 4-seam 99.1 Sinker 99.5, Change 92.1, and Slider 89.1 mph.
Brusdar underwent Tommy John surgery
. And he worked very hard at his rehab program. He completely remade his body, packing on over 50 pounds of good weight, most notably in his legs and torso.
“Some guys use the rehab process to do a lot of work on more than their arm,” Twins vice president for player personnel Mike Radcliff said. “He did good things with nutrition, with his legs, with his overall strength. He used the time to get bigger, and it’s turned him from just a system guy into a legitimate prospect.”
After missing all of 2016, the transformation—surgery, maturity and 60 pounds of muscle—has produced a pitcher who occasionally hit 100 mph at Rookie-level Elizabethton
.
“He’s one of our hardest throwers, but he’s still got a really effective breaking ball,” Radcliff said after the 2017 season. “He’s got what you would rate as top-of-the-rotation potential, but it’s very early, of course.” (Phil Miller - Baseball America - 12/08/2017)
Graterol has front-of-the-rotation potential with a chance to have four 50 grade-or-better pitches. His heater is already a 60+ pitch.
October 2018: Graterol was named MLB Pipeline's Twins Pitching Prospects of the Year.
Graterol studies video of All-Star righty Jose Berrios and patterns his approach after him, on and off the mound.
In 2019, Brusdar raked in Eastern League honors in Baseball America's Best Tools Survey of manager, coaches and evaluators. Graterol was Best Pitching Prospect, Best Fastball and Best Breaking Ball.
Graterol has the upside of a top-end starter and the floor of a power reliever. The development of his changeup and the maintenance of his body will go a long way toward determining which path he takes. (Spring, 2020)
Sergio Romo made a motion as if raising a rocket launcher to his right shoulder and made blasting noises when asked about 21-year-old teammate Brusdar Graterol.
"'The Human Bazooka.' Whatever that thing is," Romo said, gesturing to the invisible weapon on his shoulder. "I asked him what it was. And he's like, 'Bazooka! Bazooka!'"
That's how colorfully excited Romo is about the prospect of Graterol's big right arm and his triple-digit fastball moving to the bullpen alongside several of the Twins' other impact relievers, including Taylor Rogers, Trevor May, Tyler Duffey, Tyler Clippard and Romo himself.
Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson revealed on the Twins Winter Caravan that the team planned to leave Graterol in the bullpen for now instead of stretching him back out as a starter, which had been his role throughout his Minor League career. Graterol said that he could see himself as either a starter or a closer in the future and was ready to take on whatever role the team asked of him in order to remain in the Major Leagues.
"I really enjoyed it," Graterol said of pitching in relief. "I learned a lot, and if they give me the opportunity to do it again, that's what I'll do."
Not only did Graterol set a Twins record by throwing a fastball at 101.9 mph in 2019, but he also impressed Romo and other teammates with his maturity and composure on the mound in tough situations. He finished out his season with a scoreless inning of relief in Game 1 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium. (DH Park - MLB.com - Jan 25, 2020)
April 10, 2020: A successor to closer Kenley Jansen had to be at least part of the thought process when the Dodgers acquired Graterol from the Twins in February for Kenta Maeda. And the Venezuelan looked even more like a late-innings option in Spring Training with a triple-digit sinking fastball and an easy delivery. MLB Pipeline has the 21-year-old right-hander ranked as the system's No. 5 prospect.
Although he's already had Tommy John surgery (2016) and a shoulder impingement last year, Graterol recovered to make a stretch impact for the Twins and had an overpowering inning in his only postseason appearance in Yankee Stadium, no easy assignment for a 21-year-old. In addition to the health issues, Graterol will need to watch his weight. But you can't teach 100 mph, so he's definitely closer material. (K Gurnick - MLB.com - April 10, 2020)
Dodgers fans enamored with reliever Brusdar and his triple-digit fastball have only scratched the surface of what the 21-year-old rookie has brought to the Dodgers.
Let manager Dave Roberts pull back the curtain a little on what Graterol brings when he’s not on the mound. “We didn’t know a lot about Brusdar,” said Roberts. “The one thing I see, he shags three groups a day. For a reliever, to just be out there and just be grateful he’s a big league ballplayer out on a big league field running balls down, serving his teammates, I love seeing that.
“He’s got this crazy big truck that he used to honk the horn when he would leave Summer Camp 2020, and we would all know he was leaving. He’s in the ‘pen and he’s sort of like a cheerleader. When a guy hits a home run or makes a great play, he’s like re-enacting it. Guys have really gravitated toward him. So I think for me, it’s just that youthful enthusiasm component that’s certainly refreshing.”
Graterol came to the Dodgers in the unusual trade that sent Kenta Maeda (with the Dodgers paying his $10 million salary) and Minor Leaguer Jair Camargo to the Twins for Graterol and outfielder Luke Raley, after Graterol failed a Red Sox physical that nixed a trade to Boston in the original Mookie Betts deal.
In 10 appearances with the Dodgers, Graterol has allowed four runs in 9 2/3 innings, with seven strikeouts, one walk and no homers. Graterol’s sinker is averaging 98.9 mph and he’s throwing it more this year than he did last year. While his strikeout percentage is down slightly from last year (25% to 20%), his walk percentage is down significantly (5.0% to 2.9%). (Gurnick - mlb.com - 8/20/2020)
2020 Season: Lost in the craziness of the massive Mookie Betts trade, the Dodgers also acquired RHP Brusdar Graterol from the Twins in exchange for Kenta Maeda.
The 22-year-old quickly won over the hearts of Dodgers fans thanks to his smile and energy in the bullpen and on the mound. He appeared in 23 games for LA, including two brief starts. He posted a 3.09 ERA and 3.41 FIP, but posted an incredible WHIP of 0.90.
Graterol’s damage came against righthanded hitters in 2020
. They hit only .164 off of him, compared to lefties who hit .360. Nearly 85 percent of his strikeouts came against righties too.
He was nicknamed the “Bazooka”, and for good reason. Graterol had electric stuff and was must-see television every time he took the mound. His sinker averaged 99.3 mph, with his fastball averaging 98.8 mph. Oh, don’t worry, he threw off-speed stuff too. His changeup only averaged 92.1 mph. Graterol has the stuff to make him an elite closer in the game. We’ve seen it at times, and he looks practically un-hittable out there. For him, he just needs to work on getting more swings and misses with his stuff.
His strikeout percentage was only 14.8 percentage and he averaged only 5.0 strikeouts per nine innings. If he’s going to take that next step and become a dominant reliever, he’s going to need to get those strikeout numbers up significantly.
After a shaky seven-game start to his Dodgers career, Graterol really settled down and gained confidence as the season went on. Over his final 16 games he posted an ERA of 2.16. However, the strikeouts were low. In 16.2 innings, he struck out only seven.
During LA’s postseason run, Graterol was used nine times. With the exception of his three-run outing in Game 4 of the NLCS, he was great for the Dodgers. In his other eight appearances, Graterol threw 6.2 innings of scoreless ball. He allowed only three hits and struck out four. (BlakeHarris@BlakeHarrisTBLA - Dec 11, 2020)
At the beginning of the 2021 season, Brusdar had a record of 2-3 with an ERA of 3.55. He had given up 2 home runs and 28 hits in 33 innings.
