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Published on November 2, 2016 under Southern League (SL1)
Chattanooga Lookouts News Release


During the 2016 regular season, Twins left-handed pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves did just about everything a Minor League starter could do. He led the organization in ERA, strikeouts, wins and batting average against. He earned a midseason promotion to Double-A in the process, pitching even better up a level than he did before he was bumped up. For his efforts, he was named MLBPipeline.com's left-handed pitching prospect of the year.

The 22-year-old made 24 starts and threw 140 innings. It would make sense for him to want to shut it down and get ready for 2017. Instead, the southpaw is getting more mound time with the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. Those 140 innings might seem like a nice plateau for a Minor League season. To Gonsalves, it's merely a stepping stone.

"I want to get my work in, get those innings in," Gonsalves said. "I only threw 140 innings; I'd like to get about 20 in here. Just building that arm strength to hopefully, in the end, being able to throw 200 innings a year. That's the goal."

That attitude speaks volumes about the Twins' No. 3 prospect (https://t.e2ma.net/click/8g99v/odx28x/km185g) (No. 85 on the overall Top 100 (https://t.e2ma.net/click/8g99v/odx28x/0e285g)) and the maturity he brings to the mound. He has plenty of stuff and at 6-foot-5, still has some projection, with a fastball, curve, newly added slider and changeup that missed a ton of bats. But as dominant as he was in 2016, Gonsalves knows his meal ticket is his advanced feel for pitching.

"It's all about deception out there," Gonsalves said. "You have to keep them guessing. I have four pitches I like to say I can throw for strikes most of the time. Being able to mix it up, kind of surprise guys, but in the end being able to throw everything for a strike, keeping them guessing, keep them off-balance and hopefully get a couple of groundouts."

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Southern League Stories from November 2, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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