The Twins drafted Casey Legumina in 2019 an elbow injury that turned into a Tommy John surgery kept him off of the mound much of the college season and he didn’t pitch after being selected in the draft. With the 2020 season cancelled he had a long wait until he made his professional debut in 2021 when Minnesota sent him to Single-A Fort Myers before making one appearance with High-A Cedar Rapids to end his season. Between those two stops he posted a 3.28 ERA as he made nine starts and six relief appearances.
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When the 2022 season began Minnesota sent the right-handed pitcher back to High-A Cedar Rapids. His first outing was a struggle as Quad Cities put up four runs in 3.2 innings against him. But he rebounded well, striking out 11 batters and giving up just two runs in his next two starts that covered 9.2 innings. Those would be his only three starts with the Kernals as the Twins pushed him up to Double-A Wichita for the start of May.
The transition to Double-A didn’t go smoothly. In his first two starts he walked 10 batters in 4.0 innings, gave up two home runs, and seven runs total. His next outing came out of the bullpen where he was charged with an unearned run in 3.1 innings while walking no one and striking out five batters. That led to his return to the rotation the next time out and he once again struggled as he was charged with seven runs in 3.1 innings and had three walks with just two strikeouts.
Legumina settled in a bit over the next month, making six starts and posting a 4.03 ERA in 29.0 innings where he walked just six batters and picked up 26 strikeouts for Wichita. He would miss two weeks in July with an elbow contusion before returning to the mound in the middle of the month. Over the next three weeks he made five starts but threw just 15.2 innings with seven walks and 11 strikeouts.
On August 11th he headed to the Wichita bullpen. He allowed four runs in his first three appearances – all within a week of the transition to the bullpen – covering 5.0 innings. From that point forward he pitched in 12 more games and allowed just one run (0.71 ERA) while striking out 20 batters in 12.2 innings. He didn’t allow an extra-base hit in that span, either.
Two months after the 2022 season ended the Twins traded Casey Legumina to Cincinnati for infielder Kyle Farmer.
For all 2022 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Casey Legumina Scouting Report
Position: Right-handed pitcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 195 lbs | Acquired: 8th Round, 2019 Draft (Trade, Twins – 2022)
Born: June 19, 1997
Fastball | As a reliever he was sitting 96-97 MPH in 2022.
Slider | He has an above-average slider that works in the low-to-mid 80’s.
Change Up | His change up is a below-average offering that will flash a little better at times.
The transition to the bullpen led to the stuff for Casey Legumina taking a step forward. After sitting in the 93-95 MPH range as a starter his velocity bumped up to 96-97. His fastball also spent more time up in the zone as a reliever than it had as a starter.
He’s coupling that above-average fastball with an above-average slider that will occasionally flash plus. The pitch can be inconsistent at times, both in terms of it’s velocity as well as his ability to throw it for strikes. When it’s working for him he looks every bit of a late-inning reliever. His change up is a clear third offering and in a full time move to the bullpen is a pitch he may scrap.
He’s going to need to tighten up his control a little bit to reach his upside as a reliever, but he’s got the pieces to be a quality relief arm in short order. While he’s been a starter at times in the past, he doesn’t profile as a starter. With that background, though, he could potentially be a multi-inning reliever if the team wants to explore that option.
Interesting Stat on Casey Legumina
He was much better against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .228/.320/.345 line on the season. Lefties hit .285/.347/.483 against him.
The other day when Derek Johnson was asked what pitchers were standing out early his answer was Phillips and Legumina.
I think Legumina could wellbe a pleasant, off the radar surprise like Diaz was last year. His acquisition for Farmer didn’t gather as many likes in RML world as the very high profile trades of Castillo and Mahle, as well as of Geno and Winker. But this guy may surprise, especially with the gaping holes in the bullpen.
I’ve been thinking the same thing.
Despite the grit Farmer showed and the love it garnered him here, he realistically had minimal trading value.
I’ve been a regular critic of the Bull here, but this might turn out to be a good trade.
The Reds appeared to do nothing to really attend to the appalling bullpen.
I’m hoping this really pans out. Leguizamo already is interesting.
Sometimes it’s the little deals or acquisitions that stand out later. Farmer as a throw in. Geno Suarez for Alfredo Simon. Brandon Phillips for Jeff Stevens.
But, also, the timing just seems it might be right for Legumino to take off. Big arm, fastball/slider guys.
My criticism of Krall has generally been about his leadership, either skill or ability, in being out front as (one of the) faces of the org. However, he seems to make solid and sometimes shrewd decisions.