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Blue Wahoos' Graterol lands on injured list

Twins No. 3 prospect shut down with shoulder impingement
Brusdar Graterol is one of five Southern League pitchers with five wins already this season. (Daniel Venn/Pensacola Blue Wahoos)
May 25, 2019

The injury bug affecting Twins prospects ultimately found Brusdar Graterol. Minnesota's No. 3 prospect has been shut down after he was diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement. Additionally, 12th-ranked Akil Baddoo will undergo Tommy John surgery and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves -- the team's No. 11 prospect -- suffered a stress reaction

The injury bug affecting Twins prospects ultimately found Brusdar Graterol
Minnesota's No. 3 prospect has been shut down after he was diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement. Additionally, 12th-ranked Akil Baddoo will undergo Tommy John surgery and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves -- the team's No. 11 prospect -- suffered a stress reaction in his pitching elbow/forearm area. 

In Spring Training, top Twins prospect Royce Lewis suffered an oblique injury and second-ranked Alex Kirilloff missed the first month of the season while dealing with a wrist issue.
Graterol was off to an exceptional start for Double-A Pensacola. In nine starts, MLB.com's No. 61 overall prospect was 5-0 with a 1.89 ERA that ranks sixth in the Southern League entering Saturday's games. He has a 1.05 WHIP and 46 strikeouts over 47 2/3 innings, with opponents batting .188 against him.

Four of the right-hander's starts have been scoreless efforts and he's yielded more than two earned runs just once this season. Facing Mississippi on May 8, Graterol exited after 5 1/3 innings for precautionary reasons with tightness in his trapezius muscle. The 20-year-old did not miss a start and made two more -- he threw five shutout frames on May 14 and allowed two earned runs in five innings last Sunday. 
When Graterfol felt more soreness following that outing, the Twins flew him to Minneapolis for further evaluation this week, when it was determined shutting him down would be in his best interest. 

"Anytime you have a shoulder injury in a young pitcher, you certainly have concern," Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey told reporters Saturday. "Elbow and shoulder are the two that pop up. I think the fact that he's felt some pain and it's more significant of late, we definitely have some concern."
The Venezuela native impressed last year, his first full season in the Minors. Between Class A Cedar Rapids and Class A Advanced Fort Myers, he was 8-4 with a 2.74 ERA over 102 innings in 19 starts. 
Gonsalves is expected to be reevaulated in three to four weeks to determine the next steps in his rehab. Meanwhile, Baddoo's season is over and the club hopes to have him back by Spring Training next year. 

Chris Bumbaca is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @BOOMbaca.