Moses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker is credited as the first African-American to play major league baseball. A catcher, he appeared in forty-two games for the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association in 1884, until rival owners and players demanded that he be removed from the roster. In those forty-two games, he batted .263/.325/.316.
Right-hander Kohl Robert Stewart made his Twins debut in 2018. Born and raised in Houston, he was drafted by Minnesota with the fourth pick of the 2013 draft. He pitched quite well in the low minors, reaching low-A in 2014, high-A in 2015, and AA in 2016. He started to have control issues, however, and they got worse when he repeated AA in 2017. He seemed to overcome them in 2018 in AA, made seven appearances in AAA, and then reached the majors in mid-August. He made four August starts and did not do very well, but did much better in four "primary pitcher" appearances in September. The control issues returned in 2019, however, as he pitched poorly in nine major league appearances and not much better in nineteen starts in Rochester. The Twins allowed him to become a free agent and he signed with Baltimore. He was on the Orioles' sixty-man roster but did not pitch for them. He turns twenty-six today, and having a lost year certainly didn't help him. If he can throw strikes Kohl Stewart could still have a good major league career, but he'd better start doing it pretty soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment