Biographical

Portrait of Brian Duensing

Brian Duensing PCubs

Cubs Player Cards | Cubs Team Audit | Cubs Depth Chart

2019 Projections (Preseason PECOTA - seasonal age 36)
IP ERA WHIP SO W L SV WARP
Login or Subscribe today for access to projections!
Birth Date2-22-1983
Height6' 0"
Weight200 lbs
Age41 years, 2 months, 4 days
BatsL
ThrowsL
-0.52015
-0.22016
0.82017
-1.02018
-0.32019
proj
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA- WARP
2009 MIN MLB 24 9 84.0 5 2 0 84 31 53 7 105 9.0 3.3 0.8 5.7 0% .291 1.37 4.17 3.64 109 5.30 113.8 0.1
2010 MIN MLB 53 13 130.7 10 3 0 122 35 78 11 110 8.4 2.4 0.8 5.4 0% .272 1.20 3.82 2.62 104 4.52 102.1 0.9
2011 MIN MLB 32 28 161.7 9 14 0 193 52 115 21 103 10.7 2.9 1.2 6.4 0% .330 1.52 4.31 5.23 109 5.41 125.8 -0.7
2012 MIN MLB 55 11 109.0 4 12 0 126 27 69 10 103 10.4 2.2 0.8 5.7 0% .319 1.40 3.76 5.12 109 4.56 104.6 0.5
2013 MIN MLB 73 0 61.0 6 2 1 68 22 56 4 100 10.0 3.2 0.6 8.3 0% .348 1.48 3.27 3.98 106 4.51 108.0 0.1
2014 MIN MLB 62 0 54.3 3 3 0 52 20 33 6 106 8.6 3.3 1.0 5.5 0% .272 1.33 4.54 3.31 122 6.00 147.2 -1.0
2015 MIN MLB 55 0 48.7 4 1 1 46 21 24 5 108 8.5 3.9 0.9 4.4 0% .265 1.38 4.99 4.25 118 5.57 130.1 -0.5
2016 BAL MLB 14 0 13.3 1 0 0 13 3 10 2 116 8.8 2.0 1.4 6.8 26% .275 1.20 4.23 4.05 120 6.32 139.9 -0.2
2017 CHN MLB 68 0 62.3 1 1 0 58 18 61 6 8.4 2.6 0.9 8.8 49% .306 1.22 3.43 2.74 91 4.04 85.9 0.8
2018 CHN MLB 48 0 37.7 3 0 1 42 29 24 6 97 10.0 6.9 1.4 5.7 43% .298 1.88 6.30 7.65 129 7.34 163.9 -1.0
CareerMLB48461762.74638380425852378969.53.00.96.247%.3051.394.134.191095.10116.6-1.0

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA-
2005 ELZ Rk APL 12 9 50.3 4 3 0 49 16 55 4 39 8.8 2.9 0.7 9.8 0% -.600 1.29 3.58 2.33 90 4.11 81.1
2006 BLT A MDW 11 11 70.0 2 3 0 68 14 55 3 8.7 1.8 0.4 7.1 0% .298 1.17 2.93 2.96 0 0.00 0.0
2006 FTM A+ FSL 7 7 40.2 2 5 0 47 8 33 4 84 10.5 1.8 0.9 7.4 0% .344 1.37 3.49 4.25 91 5.59 117.4
2006 NBR AA EAS 10 9 49.1 1 2 0 51 18 30 6 61 9.3 3.3 1.1 5.5 0% .288 1.41 4.60 3.67 111 4.90 102.9
2007 NBR AA EAS 9 9 50.7 4 1 0 47 7 38 2 106 8.3 1.2 0.4 6.7 0% .285 1.07 2.74 2.66 78 3.38 69.3
2007 ROC AAA INT 19 19 116.7 11 5 0 115 30 86 13 95 8.9 2.3 1.0 6.6 0% .292 1.24 4.04 3.24 101 4.24 87.0
2007 ust Wnt AFL 2 1 6.0 0 0 0 6 0 3 0 9.0 0.0 0.0 4.5 0% .300 1.00 2.53 1.50 0 0.00 0.0
2008 ROC AAA INT 25 24 138.7 5 11 0 150 34 77 16 89 9.7 2.2 1.0 5.0 0% .293 1.33 4.55 4.28 110 5.06 103.6
2009 MIN MLB AL 24 9 84.0 5 2 0 84 31 53 7 105 9.0 3.3 0.8 5.7 0% .291 1.37 4.17 3.64 109 5.30 113.8
2009 ROC AAA INT 13 13 75.3 4 6 0 87 19 44 2 111 10.4 2.3 0.2 5.3 0% .335 1.41 3.16 4.66 95 4.85 102.0
2010 MIN MLB AL 53 13 130.7 10 3 0 122 35 78 11 110 8.4 2.4 0.8 5.4 0% .272 1.20 3.82 2.62 104 4.52 102.1
2011 MIN MLB AL 32 28 161.7 9 14 0 193 52 115 21 103 10.7 2.9 1.2 6.4 0% .330 1.52 4.31 5.23 109 5.41 125.8
2012 MIN MLB AL 55 11 109.0 4 12 0 126 27 69 10 103 10.4 2.2 0.8 5.7 0% .319 1.40 3.76 5.12 109 4.56 104.6
2013 MIN MLB AL 73 0 61.0 6 2 1 68 22 56 4 100 10.0 3.2 0.6 8.3 0% .348 1.48 3.27 3.98 106 4.51 108.0
2014 MIN MLB AL 62 0 54.3 3 3 0 52 20 33 6 106 8.6 3.3 1.0 5.5 0% .272 1.33 4.54 3.31 122 6.00 147.2
2015 MIN MLB AL 55 0 48.7 4 1 1 46 21 24 5 108 8.5 3.9 0.9 4.4 0% .265 1.38 4.99 4.25 118 5.57 130.1
2016 BAL MLB AL 14 0 13.3 1 0 0 13 3 10 2 116 8.8 2.0 1.4 6.8 26% .275 1.20 4.23 4.05 120 6.32 139.9
2016 BOW AA EAS 3 0 7.0 0 0 0 5 1 7 0 6.4 1.3 0.0 9.0 53% .263 0.86 2.21 1.29 84 2.95 65.2
2016 NOR AAA INT 3 0 3.0 0 0 0 4 0 6 0 12.0 0.0 0.0 18.0 29% .571 1.33 -0.83 0.00 43 3.09 68.2
2016 OMA AAA PCL 12 0 20.3 1 0 2 16 5 19 0 7.1 2.2 0.0 8.4 50% .276 1.03 2.59 3.10 86 3.18 70.1
2016 ORI Rk GCL 2 0 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 9.0 0.0 0.0 9.0 60% .400 1.00 1.30 0.00 91 4.78 105.5
2017 CHN MLB NL 68 0 62.3 1 1 0 58 18 61 6 8.4 2.6 0.9 8.8 49% .306 1.22 3.43 2.74 91 4.04 85.9
2017 IOW AAA PCL 2 0 3.0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 3.0 0.0 0.0 15.0 100% .200 0.33 0.39 0.00 51 1.79 38.1
2018 CHN MLB NL 48 0 37.7 3 0 1 42 29 24 6 97 10.0 6.9 1.4 5.7 43% .298 1.88 6.30 7.65 129 7.34 163.9
2018 TEN AA SOU 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 67% .000 0.00 3.36 0.00 107 4.22 89.2
2018 IOW AAA PCL 5 0 5.7 0 1 0 7 2 2 1 11.1 3.2 1.6 3.2 35% .316 1.59 6.39 6.35 124 6.25 132.1
2019 IOW AAA PCL 12 0 13.0 1 1 1 21 5 5 3 14.5 3.5 2.1 3.5 54% .367 2.00 7.18 6.92 117 7.76 159.8

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr%
2009 1315 0.4920 0.4745 0.8125 0.6167 0.3368 0.8772 0.6978 0.1875
2010 1865 0.5271 0.4509 0.8121 0.5880 0.2982 0.8962 0.6274 0.1879
2011 2651 0.4957 0.4572 0.8069 0.6294 0.2880 0.8561 0.7013 0.1931
2012 1694 0.5148 0.4776 0.8171 0.6273 0.3187 0.8885 0.6679 0.1829
2013 980 0.4867 0.4806 0.7601 0.6436 0.3260 0.8632 0.5671 0.2399
2014 862 0.4988 0.4780 0.8131 0.6581 0.2986 0.8763 0.6744 0.1869
2015 763 0.4548 0.4744 0.8177 0.6715 0.3101 0.8970 0.6744 0.1823
2016 205 0.5171 0.4829 0.7980 0.6604 0.2929 0.9000 0.5517 0.2020
2017 1031 0.4355 0.4423 0.7456 0.6169 0.3076 0.8592 0.5698 0.2544
2018 718 0.4359 0.4485 0.7888 0.6805 0.2691 0.8310 0.7064 0.2112
Career120840.49140.46410.80060.62970.30510.87320.65690.1994

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2013-04-21 2013-04-25 DTD 4 3 - General Medical Illness - -
2012-07-05 2012-07-15 DTD 10 6 Left Lower Leg Contusion Batted Ball - -
2011-09-04 2011-09-14 DTD 10 9 Right Abdomen Strain Oblique - -
2010-04-13 2010-04-16 DTD 3 2 General Medical Illness GI -
2010-03-01 2010-03-01 Camp 0 0 Left Foot Contusion Batted Ball Off Heel -
2004-02-20 2004-05-30 Coll 100 0 Left Elbow Surgery Tommy John Surgery 2004-03-31

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2019 CHN $846,774
2018 CHN $3,500,000
2017 CHN $2,000,000
2016 KCA $
2015 MIN $2,700,000
2014 MIN $2,000,000
2013 MIN $1,300,000
2012 MIN $515,000
2011 MIN $462,500
2010 MIN $417,500
2009 MIN $400,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
10 yrPrevious$14,141,774
10 yrTotal$14,141,774

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
9 y 55 dCAA Sports2 years/$7M (2018-19)

Details
  • 2 years/$7M (2018-19). Re-signed by Chicago Cubs as a free agent 1/22/18. 18:$3.5M, 19:$3.5M. 2019 salary increases based on 2018 pitching appearances: $0.25M for 50 appearances, $333,333 each for 55, 60 appearances and $333,334 for 65 appearances. DFA by Chicago Cubs 3/24/19 (due 45 days' salary, $846,774).
  • 1 year/$2M (2017). Signed by Chicago Cubs as a free agent 12/2/16.
  • 1 year (2016). Signed by Kansas City as a free agent 2/18/16 (minor-league contract). Salary of $2M in majors. Released by Kansas City after exercising opt-out clause 3/28/16. Re-signed by Kansas City as a free agent 4/1/16 (minor-league contract). May opt out of contract 5/15/16 if not on Major League roster. Exercised right to opt out of contract 5/15/16. Signed by Baltimore as a free agent 5/23/16 (minor-league contract). Contract selected by Baltimore 6/2/16.
  • 1 year/$2.7M (2015). Re-signed by Minnesota 1/24/15 (avoided arbitration, $3.1M-$2.4M).
  • 1 year/$2M (2014). Re-signed by Minnesota 1/17/14 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$1.3M (2013). Re-signed by Minnesota 1/18/13 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$0.515M (2012). Re-signed by Minnesota 3/3/12.
  • 1 year/$0.4625M (2011). Re-signed by Minnesota 3/11. Sent outright to Triple-A by Minnesota 10/20/11.
  • 1 year/$0.4175M (2010). Re-signed by Minnesota 3/7/10.
  • 1 year (2009). Contract purchased by Minnesota 11/19/08. Re-signed by Minnesota 3/8/09. Recalled 7/3/09.
  • Drafted by Minnesota 2005 (3-84) (Nebraska). $0.4M signing bonus.

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT W L SV G GS IP H BB SO HR BABIP WHIP ERA DRA VORP WARP
90o 0 1.9 1.1 60 0 58.1 48 24 45 7 .247 1.24 3.94 4.25 -8.0 -0.9
80o 0 1.6 0.9 54 0 52.1 46 23 40 7 .261 1.33 4.35 4.69 -9.6 -1.0
70o 0 1.4 0.8 50 0 47.9 45 23 37 6 .271 1.41 4.65 5.02 -10.5 -1.1
60o 0 1.2 0.7 46 0 44.4 43 22 34 6 .280 1.47 4.91 5.3 -11.1 -1.2
50o 0 1.1 0.6 43 0 41.2 42 21 32 6 .288 1.53 5.15 5.57 -11.5 -1.2
40o 0 0.9 0.5 40 0 38.1 40 20 29 6 .296 1.59 5.41 5.84 -11.7 -1.3
30o 0 0.8 0.5 36 0 34.8 38 20 27 6 .305 1.66 5.68 6.13 -11.8 -1.3
20o 0 0.7 0.4 32 0 31.1 36 18 24 5 .316 1.75 6.01 6.49 -11.7 -1.3
10o 0 0.5 0.3 27 0 26.2 32 16 20 5 .330 1.87 6.47 6.99 -11.2 -1.2
Weighted Mean01.10.642040.54121316.2861.525.125.53-11.1-1.2

The rest of this card is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber? Click here for a free card so you can see what's missing.

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

BP Annual Player Comments

The rest of this card is restricted to Baseball Prospectus Subscribers.

Not a subscriber? Click here for a free card so you can see what's missing.

Click here for more information on Baseball Prospectus subscriptions or to subscribe and get instant access to the best baseball content on the web.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Brian Duensing

BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2012-01-12 13:00:00 (link to chat)Thoughts on the Twins' organizational phobia against strikeout pitchers?
(PepeShady from St Paul)		On the whole, it doesn't help them. But they do a very good job of making the most of what they do, so I can't fault them on that account. I like guys like Brian Duensing, or going back farther, Brad Radke, but they always live on the edge between success and getting pummeled. It's a tough way to make a long career. (Mike Fast)
2011-09-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)One last question and I know it may be early for this one... Any hitters or pitchers you like a breakout candidates next year?
(Jquinton82 from NY)		Hm, I like the look of Jerome Williams in a small sample this year. I think Fister and McCarthy may be the real deal, though they're not exactly breakout candidates any more. I like Brian Duensing coming into this season, and still do.

Dave Robertson and Kenley Jansen are two names that will surprise no one, but they could end up in bigger roles. In that vein, Greg Holland for the Royals, Vinnie Pestano for the Indians. And in the this-guys-stuff-intrigues-me-but-his-wildness-scares-me category, plus he has a cool name: Fautino de los Santos. (Mike Fast)
2011-05-23 13:00:00 (link to chat)What numbers do you expect from Hosmer for the balance of the season? Does he move into elite 1B territory as soon as next year? Also, tell me anything worth hearing about my Twins.
(Patrick from DE)		The PECOTA projection was for .272/.326/.439, but PECOTA isn't told about his struggles with eyesight in 2009, so I expect better. I am hopeful for elite 1B territory at some point. Hmm, next year...as a Royals fan it's incredibly tempting to say yes. I'm not sure the evidence is there yet, though, if I try to be objective. I really want to say yes, though.

Something worth hearing about your Twins? Ouch. Let's see...Jeremy Greenhouse found Carl Pavano had the straightest fastball in the Hardball Times Annual last fall...no wait, that's probably not the kind of thing you wanted to hear.

How 'bout this: I really like Brian Duensing. He seems to be an under-the-radar guy who has decent stuff and good control. I like Scott Baker, too. (Mike Fast)
2010-08-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)OK, so this Brian Duensing thing is just a mirage, right? It wasn't a great outing last night, but a tough enough matchup that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
(ChuckR from Addison, IL)		The ERA is definitely a mirage, but he had very low walk rates in the minors that allowed him to get away with the below-average whiff rate. As long as he has his control he's league average or a little better, but his ERA should be two runs higher than it is right now. (Marc Normandin)


BP Roundtables

No BP Roundtables have mentioned this guy.

 

PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC


Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Brian Duensing threw 12,317 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2009 and 2018, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2018, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (92mph) and Sinker (91mph), also mixing in a Slider (81mph), Change (86mph) and Curve (72mph).