Twins second round draft pick Nick Burdi has been leaving quite the impression through his first two months in the minors.
With a fastball that tops out near 100 mph and a slider that can touch the low 90’s, what’s not to like about him?
Burdi helped Ft. Myers lock up the Florida State League championship for the first time in 22 years as a Twins affiliate when he recorded a seven-out save to get the Miracle within a game of the championship, then sent down all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings on Monday night.
The Miracle won the championship in 11 innings.
Per farm director Brad Steil, Nick Burdi was hitting 98-99 mph on gun during FSL playoffs. Zach Jones was touching 98 for @MiracleBaseball.
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) September 9, 2014
His performance left an impression on Twins general manager Terry Ryan.
“There’s a reason he was a high pick,” Ryan told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday. “Certainly, he’s got size, he’s got arm strength. He can spin the ball with that slider. He threw it over for the most part. He’s competitive. He meshed in with the club well. He certainly wanted to show that he belonged.”
The Twins selected the 6-foot-5 215-pound hard-throwing righty with the 46th overall pick in June and signed him to a $1.2 million deal.
Over the last month he has been equally tough. The Star Tribune’s LaValle E. Neal highlighted Burdi’s performance on a list of the top Twins relievers of August.
In his last 10 games Burdi hasn’t given up a run in 10 1/3 innings while striking out 17.
“He was promoted to Ft. Myers at the end of July, and he is yet to give up a run. He has plenty of strikeouts, but it’s more encouraging to see his walks decreasing. Burdi is a guy who will likely fly through the Twins farm system and could certainly be in Minnesota in 2015.”
Can't wait until a year from now, when Nick Burdi, Mike Cederoth and Jake Reed could be in the bullpen. And maybe Zack Jones
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) September 6, 2014
Burdi is bound for the Arizona Fall League. He is one of four Twins pitching prospects headed for the league.
