The return of Tim Stauffer

Thursday's post hadn't been up long when this news broke:

The Twins are activating reliever Tim Stauffer from the 15-day DL and optioning infielder Doug Bernier to Triple-A Rochester

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 21, 2015

Ugh.

A few points:

• Bernier is irrelevant. There really isn't a good argument to be made for having him on a major league roster either. 
• Also irrelevant is the fact that the Twins used all seven relievers in Wednesday's extra-inning game. Thursday was an off-day, and J.R. Graham was the only reliever who worked more than an inning.
• Stauffer was awful before going on the disabled list, and he wasn't any better in Rochester on the rehab assignment. His velocity in his most recent outing reportedly topped out at 87 mph, per the Pioneer Press's Mike Berardino.

The Twins are now carrying a 13-man pitching staff, at least two of whom (Stauffer and Graham) Paul Molitor can't be eager to use in a meaningful situation. Maybe three, with Brian Duensing as the third. Maybe four with Ryan Pressly struggling to find the strike zone. A surplus of lousy pitchers is a shortage of usable ones.

Meanwhile: A train of starting pitchers moved up the ladder in the Twins system Thursday, headed by Tyler Duffey going from Double A Chattanooga to Triple A Rochester. That's where the train ended, so somebody from the Red Wing rotation figures to get dislodged one way or another. Speculation has Alex Meyer getting pulled; another possibility is that something is going to give with Tommy Milone, who has yet to allow a run in three starts in the International Leagu and has a walk-to-strikeout ratio of 2 to 33 in 23 innings.

(The caboose in that train is of note: Luke Bard, a supplemental first-round pick from the draft that netted the Twins Byron Buxton and J.O. Berrios, is joining the Cedar Rapids staff; Bard has had a string of injuries and hasn't pitched in two years.)