The Twins have selected righthander J.R. Graham in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Graham once was the Braves top pitching prospect but had shoulder problems in 2013 that has stunted his growth. He still has a good fastball and could stick in the bullpen.
Graham, 24, was 1-5 with a 5.55 ERA at Class AA Mississippi last season.
This is the third time the Twins have selected a Braves pitcher in the Rule 5 in recent years, following Scott Diamond and Sean Gilmartin.
Gilmartin, by the way, was selected by the Mets later in the first round of the Rule 5 draft.Â
The Twins selected RHP Greg Peavey in the minor league phase of the draft.Â
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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