A new pitcher and better fastball has Paulshawn Pasqualotto off to fine start with C.R. Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS - Last season was a devil for Paulshawn Pasqualotto. His earned run average proved it.

In more ways than one.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels relief pitcher finished at 6.66 with low-Class A Fort Myers. That’s some seriously bad juju.

But the 23-year-old right-hander from the University of California has nails in the very early going this season. He went two scoreless innings Thursday night in C.R.’s 8-7 home loss to Beloit.

Combine that with two shutout innings last weekend against Wisconsin in an outing that earned him a save, and Pasqualotto has been heavenly.

“Night and day. Saw it in spring training, and it has continued,” said Kernels Manager Brian Meyer. “The velo’s up, the slider is good, and he’s having fun playing the game. That wasn’t the case last season. He was dealing with a lot of things, like a lot of guys do in low-A their first year of affiliated baseball. Moving from starter to the bullpen. So it’s like (teammate) Ross Dunn, the same thing. It’s good to see those guys going out there and competing and not worrying about all the other stuff.”

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Pasqualotto was a 12th-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins in 2023. He began his pro career in 2024, pitching in 24 games, eight of them starts.

The Twins have had him work on a slider to go with his fastball and changeup. That fastball sat 93 miles per hour a year ago, but it has been 95 to 96 this season.

Thus Pasqualotto have given up just one hit in his four innings. He allowed a .300 opponents batting average a season ago.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I was working on the slider a lot in the offseason and all spring training to get that third pitch, because last year, I was more just fastball-changeup. Just working on that, doing that helped me a lot. I was hyper focused on that all spring training, and I feel like that’s made a big impact.

“Kind of just clean up my mechanics, try and be in the zone as much as possible. I hate giving hitters free bases, don’t like walking guys, that’s how you get hurt. I would prefer that they earn it.”

Pasquolotto said he has zero problem working strictly out of the bullpen after being a starter in college and partially in his rookie professional season.

“I was more of a two-pitch guy, so it’s hard to be a starter,” he said. “They wanted me to add that third pitch and focus on that. Then when I did go to the pen, my velo ticked up, and that helped me out. I don’t mind it at all. I love what I do, and I’ve had a lot of fun doing it. Whatever gets me to the big leagues. Whatever they feel is best for me. They do a great job of developing pitchers, so I’m just super excited to be part of this organization.”

The Kernels went into Friday night’s game with a 3-3 record. They’d lost two of three games in a six-game series against Beloit that continues Saturday and Sunday afternoons (2:05 p.m.).

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