M-M-M sold

Three relievers. all with the last initial M, sold to other major league teams: Adalberto Mejia to the Angels. Mike Morin to the Phillies. Matt Magill to the Mariners.

Mejia was a waiver claim, Morin and Magill traded for "cash considerations." All had been DFA'd. What is really going on: the Twins decided the roster spots were more valuable than the pitchers.

Another "M," Trevor May, threw 49 pitches Sunday. He was not particularly good either -- 49 pitches, the most since he became a reliever, of which only 25 were strikes -- and he has now allowed six runs in his last 3.2 innings.

Bottom line: The Minnesota bullpen, which spent much of the first half of the seasons bending but not breaking, has cracked.

As of this morning -- with Zach Littell optioned out after Sunday's game but no corresponding move announced -- the Twins have the following relievers:

• Taylor Rogers
• Blake Parker
• Trevor May (who, I guarantee, is not available today or tomorrow)
• Tyler Duffey
• Ryne Harper
• Kohl Stewart

The word on Twitter late Sunday was that Cody Stashak, 25-year-old righty, was getting the call. Adding him to the 40 is clearly no issue after three DFA's. He has a string of solid strikeout rates in the minors since the Twins drafted him in 2015 (13th round) and this season has been no exception.

I'm not counting on him as a savior. 

Trevor Hildenberger and a too-thin bullpen

Forty-some years ago whoever The Sporting News had as its correspondent for the then-California Angels referred constantly to that team's bullpen as "the Arson Squad." It's rare today to see a relief ace called a "fireman," but you get the idea.

Trevor Hildenberger today is more an arsonist than a fireman. Wednesday marked three straight appearances for him with a home run allowed. I won't pretend to know what the problem is; I know there's a problem.

Underlying the Hildenberger-specific problem that's leading to all the long balls is one of roster construction. The Twins have too many bullpen guys Paul Molitor doesn't want to use in game situations -- like the ninth inning of a tied game, which was the situation Wednesday when Hildenberger served up his most recent tater.

Fernando Rodney and Taylor Rogers, yes. Beyond that, with the trades of Zach Duke and Ryan Pressly ... the abyss.

Hildenberger is the favored arm of the rest of the pen partly because he has had some success, partly because he's (presumably) sound and partly because he's right handed.

Gabriel Moya is getting some work as a second lefty; essentially Rogers has moved into Duke's role as the favored lefty and Moya has moved into Rogers' old role. Fine.

Trevor May -- who did pitch Wednesday -- is in a rehab season after his Tommy John surgery. I assume Molitor wants to avoid using May on consecutive days.

Addison Reed is supposed to be a bullpen factor, but he has pitched just twice since coming off the disabled list, on July 31 and Aug 4. If he needs that much rest between outings, he probably shouldn't be active.

Matt Magill -- another guy who did pitch Wednesday -- has been pigeonholed as a long man for much of the season. Molitor has been reluctant to use him late in games, and nine of his first 25 appearances came with leads or deficits of more than four runs.

And Oliver Drake -- I haven't the slightest notion what he and his 7.31 ERA (compiled on a major league record five teams, including the Twins) is doing on this roster. I do know what he isn't doing, and that's pitching.

At least the overmatched Matt Belisle is off the active roster -- not DFA'd, but on the disabled list. This means we will probably get another dose of him next month at the latest. Oh joy.

The arson squad lights up another one

Seven losses in a row for the Twins now, three of them walk-offs. What a disastrous road trip for the Twins.

The veteran bullpen additions -- Fernando Rodney, Zach Duke and Addison Reed -- each bear a walkoff loss on their lines in this span. And yeah, Rodney had some "help" Thursday from the corner infielders (Miguel Sano and Logan Morrison) in setting up the fatal homer, but this remains true: Rodney has yet to have a 1-2-3 inning.

The Twins shuffled a bullpen roster spot repeatedly Thursday: First they filled the spot vacated by Tyler Kinley with Aaron Slegers, which gave them a long man if Kyle Gibson's start went poorly. (It didn't; it might have been the best start of Gibson's career.) During the game they announced that they had claimed David Hale on waivers; after the game they returned Slegers to Rochester. So Slegers had a prime seat for Thursday's game and got paid for watching, which isn't that bad a deal.

Claiming Hale, a 30-year-old who has pitched in the majors for Atlanta, Colorado and the Yankees without really establishing himself, feels like a return to the revolving door of mediocrity the Twins spun around in last season. I didn't expect that this season.

Thad Levine, the No. 2 in the Twins front office, told reporters the Twins had pursued Hale during the offseason. True or not, Hale is not really a fix for what ails this pitching staff. He's going to be used as a long man. The problems are early in games, with inconsistent starts, and late in games, where the Rodney-Reed-Duke-Trevor Hildenberger-Taylor Rogers quintent have not gotten it done.

The matter of bullpen depth

The Cleveland Indians won their 18th in a row Sunday night. Only the 2002 Oakland Athletics have had a longer win streak in my lifetime, so this is pretty darn impressive.

The Indians now have the best record in the American League. And if anything, they've been unlucky this season; by the Pythagorean Theorum, they should have six more wins and six fewer losses.

One aspect that stood out to me as I watched them beat Baltimore Sunday night is their bullpen depth. Bullpen depth has been a chronic issue all season for the Twins; Paul Molitor seldom has more than three arms he trusts in key situations, and those identities have changed repeatedly.

Terry Francona has six relievers with at least 50 innings. The worst ERA of the group belongs to workhorse Bryan Shaw: 3.19. (This includes Andrew Miller, currently sidelined with a balky knee.)

The Twins have four relievers with at least 50 innings. The best of those ERAs is Taylor Rogers, and his 3.29 is worse than Shaw's.

On Saturday, Molitor tried to get through the eighth inning of a tied game without dipping into the Rogers-Trevor Hildenberger-Matt Belisle combo. Hildenberger and Belisle had pitched three straight days, and Rogers in two of the three. But Ryan Pressly, Buddy Boshers and Tyler Duffey didn't get any outs, and Rogers wound up making a brief appearance anyway -- and the Twins lost by three.

On Sunday, Francona protected a one-run lead in the late innings without using his three preferred setup men (Miller, Shaw and Dan Otero). The combo of Joe Smith, Tyler Olson and Nick Goody got five outs without allowing a baserunner.

Winning 18 in a row is never easy. But it's far more doable when the bullpen is stacked with guys who can get outs consistently than when half the pen is of mopup quality.

Contemplatng Tyler Duffey

It was the kind of situation Tyler Duffey had excelled at for most of this season: The starting pitcher (in this case Kyle Gibson) was struggling in the fifth inning, but the Twins were still in the game, down two with a man on and no outs. The obvious notion was for Duffey to work the fifth and sixth innings and keep the Twins in the game. This, as I have repeatedly observed, is Duffey's role on the staff.

But Duffey did not excel Sunday. Single, groundout, single, double. goundout,. fly out. Not only did the inherited runner score, but so did two more runs charged to Duffey, and the Twins were down five.

Duffey's ERA, as low as 2.10 on May 28,  is now 4.81. Sunday's appearance was the fifth straight in which he allowed at least two baserunners.

My sense is that Paul Molitor in the past month or so has tried to expand Duffey's role, to not only include the middle-relief multiple inning assignment but to be the primary right-handed setup guy. He has worked back-to-back days four times now this season, the first on May 28, so the no-rest outings have gome in this rough stretch.

This is the problem with a thin bullpen, that the reliable guys get used so much that they break. Perhaps four days off will revive Duffey. But even if Duffey bounces back, the Twins still need a righty Molitor can use in the seventh or eighth innings so Duffey can settle back into that fifth and sixth inning role.

Notes, quotes and comment

The Twins ended their essentially successful West Coast marathon (6-4) with another dud of a bullpen performance on Sunday.

I wrote a lot last week about Matt Belisle specifically and the thinness of the bullpen in general -- pretty much every post from Monday through Saturday dealt with the relief corps -- so it was probably fitting that Belisle had a central role in Sunday's late inning collapse.

Belisle's ERA for the season now stands at 8.59, with almost all the damage coming in four appearances. He always figured to be an ill fit for a high-leverage role, but I don't know who else Paul Molitor can use in those situations with the current bullpen without wrecking Tyler Duffey and Brandon Kintzler with overuse. There are just too many mop-up type arms on this staff.

---

The draft begins tonight. I devoted the Monday print column to my thoughts on who and what the the Twins should do with the first overall pick. With, of course, the disclaimer that the Twins know a lot more about this than I do.

I don't expect the Twins to follow my "recommendation," and I certainly won't criticize them when they don't.

One thing I didn't get to in a slightly longer than usual column: Sports Illustrated did nobody any favors by putting Hunter Greene on its cover a few weeks ago. The people who cover the scouting and prospect world for a living say the consensus is that Greene is a lesser prospect than a couple of high school righties from the previous two draft classes.

What makes Greene unique is that he's a viable first-round pick as both a pitcher and a shortstop. But I can't imagine that anybody is going to let him throw a few dozen high-velocity fastballs on Tuesday and play shortstop on Wednesday. He's going to do one or the other.

---

Catching up on the Twins roster moves: Randy Rosario was indeed shipped back to the minors (to Triple-A Rochester rather than Double A Chattanooga, from whence he was called up) to make room for Nik Turley, the Sunday starter, on the 25-man roster, To make room on the 40-man roster, Dan Rucinski was designated for assignment.

Turley wasn't great Sunday -- four innings, eight hits, four runs -- but he didn't walk anybody and struck out four and threw 46 strikes in his 73 pitches. I expect he'll get more starts; Phil Hughes hasn't thrown since going on the DL, so he's not close to returning, and Hector Santiago doesn't have a timeline to return either.

Jorge Polanco is to rejoin the team from his breavement leave today, so another move is coming.

A reliever with upside

Another game against the Houston Astros, another bullpen meltdown, and another round of musical chairs on the roster.

But there's a subtle difference in the moves this time.

Gone are Ryan Pressly (optioned) and Jason Wheeler (designated for assignment). Pressly's struggles -- he carries a 9.50 ERA to Rochester -- probably deserve a deeper examination than I care to attempt this morning. He was expected to be a key piece of the bullpen this year, and he undoubtably failed, and yet there are some markers in his 2017 stats that are actually positive.

Randy Rosario has
a 2.66 ERA in
Double A Chattanooga
this season.

As for Wheeler -- I doubt anybody's going to claim him on waivers. But he's been outrighted before, and as I understand the rules, he'll have the right to take free agency rather than report to Rochester if he clears waivers. I doubt the Twins are worried about losing him.

Added to the battered bullpen corps are Alex Wimmers and Randy Rosario. Wimmers we saw last year;  he is, like Drew Rucinski and Matt Belisle and Buddy Boshers and Wheeler and seemingly everybody the Twins have cycled through their bullpen this season, a replacement level arm best suited to mop-up duties. He's not a solution.

Randy Rosario (no relation to outfielder Eddie Rosario)  is different. R. Rosario is -- finally --  one of the higher octane arms the Twins have been hoarding in their farm system. Left-handed, turned 23 about two weeks ago, survivor of Tommy John surgery. I saw him pitch in Cedar Rapids in 2015 and posted this report. The Twins moved him to the bullpen late last summer after trying to develop him as a started.

He has all of 14 games above A ball on his resume, and I presume that the Twins were reluctant to expose him to the majors with so little experience. But unlike Wimmers -- or Rucinski and the rest of the recycles -- there's an obvious out pitch in Rosario, there's some velocity, there's the makings of swing-and-miss stuff.

I won't guarantee it will work any better with Rosario than with the others, but it might. And at least it's something different. I would have expected Mason Melotakis over Rosario on the basis of experience, but I'm not complaining.

Perkins to the disabled list

Glen Perkins went on the disabled list Wednesday with what was described as a "strain" in the back of his throwing shoulder.

I wish this was a surprise, but one could see it coming pretty much all spring. Perkins never displayed his usual velocity during training camp, and everybody kept shrugging it off. Joe Nathan never had his velocity during spring training, and he was always fine once the season started.

And then the season started for Perkins, and the fastball stayed in the low 90s, and that's not enough for a two-pitch reliever.

I won't pretend to know what Perkins' outlook is now. Shoulders are tricky things, all these fragile little muscles that give the human arm such remarkable range of motion and make it possible for well-trained and talented hurlers to throw baseballs upwards of 100 mph. And when something gives way in the shoulder, surgery is seldom a useful option.

So much of the Twins bullpen plan was based on Perkins being Perkins once again as the endgame. Now presumably Kevin Jepsen and Trevor May and Casey Fien move up one notch apiece in the late inning corps, and none of them have been anying resembling useful so far this season.

The Twins are, of course, 0-8, and the obvious big issue is the hitting. The Twins have scored just 13 runs in those eight games. But the late inning guys in the bullpen have been a problem as well. It is, by definition, a small sample size, but it's difficult to be patient with anybody, even a short reliever, when you're 0-8.

The overworked bullpen

Today's off day is well-timed for the Twins bullpen. Trevor May and Kevin Jepsen pitched Sunday for the third day in a row, Glen Perkins worked an inning two days ahead of "schedule," Casey Fien had been ruled off limits and Tommy Milone, Friday's starter, wound up getting the save.

The rosters expand in about a week, and the bullpen can use some reinforcement. Blaine Boyer went on the disabled list 10 days ago and therefore isn't eligible to return yet, but he did some throwing during the weekend. My guess is that he will be activated sometime after Sept. 1.

Who else is likely? Jose Berrios isn't on the 40-man roster, and the addition of Neal Cotts filled the 40, so they'd have to make room for him. Ditto the Nick Burdi-Zach Jones-J.T. Chargois group of power arms lower in the system, none of whom have the results this year to match the scouting report.

On the 40, right-handers A.J. Achter and Michael Tonkin, each of whom has had some big-league time this year, are likely to come up, although Achter might have to wait a little bit because he was optioned to make room for Cotts. Alex Meyer's big arm is an intriguing possibility. And there are a couple of lefties, Logan Darnell or Aaron Thompson, who could either be called up or designated for assignment to make room for Barrios.

Boyer is somebody Paul Molitor would use in a game situation. I have my doubts about the others. I don't think there's a K-Rod circa 2003 in that bunch.

In terms of meaningful bullpen help, the Twins have the deadline trade for Kevin Jepsen, the shift of Trevor May from the rotation, and the addition of Cotts on waivers. That's not insignificant. It also may not be enough, but I don't know how likely it is that somebody else is going to slip far enough through waivers to reach the Twins.

The bedraggled bullpen

Eight relief pitchers on the roster, and nobody reliable to use.

That was the situation Tuesday night when Paul Molitor asked a lefty specialist (Ryan O'Roarke) to bridge an inning and a Rule 5 pickup (J.R. Graham) to face Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded.

Neither could handle the task, and the Twins' 4-1 lead turned into an 8-4 defeat.

The normal bullpen roles didn't apply Tuesday because  ,,,

• Brian Duensing, Kevin Jepsen, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins had each worked three straight days;
• Trevor May started three days earlier;
• and Perkins was headed back to the Twin Cities to get an MRI on his neck.

That latter piece of news wasn't known until after the game, but the idea that Perkins had something physically wrong is hardly a shocker. He's been pitching of late as if something were awry.

Presumably May could have pitched Tuesday, but not three-plus innings. And the Twins needed 3.6 innings from the bullpen to win that game.

Molitor really needed seven innings (at least) from Mike Pelfrey, and Pelfrey couldn't finish six. Eleven outs was too many to ask from from the likes of O'Roarke, Graham and A.J. Achter, and despite Dick Bremer's play-by-play call, the resulting implosion was completely believable.

Terry Ryan wasn't at Yankee Stadium to see it. He was with the Chattanooga Lookouts watching another piece of the bullpen design struggle. Nick Burdi, the 2014 second-rounder who I really expected would be in Minnesota by now, got the ball Tuesday night and ...

AA RHP Nick Burdi got to pitch on Terry Ryan's first night in Pensacola. Gave up 3 hits, 2 walks and a 2-run homer to the No. 9 hitter.

— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) August 19, 2015

Burdi. J.T. Chargois. Zach Jones. Jake Reed. Even Alex Meyer. The Twins have a handful of high-velocity, high-draft-pick arms in the minors, and none of them are performing.

It's a mess. And with Perkins sidelined for however long, it isn't going to get better.

Bullpen strikeout rates and Trevor May

Trevor May had the best strikeout rate of the Twins
starters. Now he works out of the bullpen.

On Friday I cited the strikeout rates of the most-used Twins relief pitchers.

There is, of course, another arm in the bullpen worth mentioning in that connection: Trevor May.

May has, for the season, a K/9 rate of 7.7. It was 8.0 as a starter, easily the best among the seven Twins with more than one start. It's only 5.1 in his five relief outings.

Normally, pitchers have more velocity pitching relief, and normally they get more strikeouts. Normal hasn't set in for May as a relief pitcher yet, and I suppose he'd rather it never does. I thought, and still do, that he should have remained in the rotation when Ervin Santana was activated, but the decision makers had a different idea.

It may be that that idea was: Let's see if May can be the strikeout arm we need in the pen right now. There is a logic to that notion. He's more likely, certainly, to get strikeouts in any role than is Mike Pelfrey.

But in the longer term, May belongs in the rotation. And in the longer term, one expects that some of those minor league high-velocity arms will emerge for a bullpen badly in need of some guys with swing-and-miss stuff.

Bullpen strikeout rates and the farm system

Tyler Duffey, college
reliever and minor
league starter, might
be next on the bullpen
list.

I alluded the other day to the low strikeout rates in the Twins bullpen. Going down the list of Minnesota relievers with more than 20 appearances by games pitched, and remembering that the average relief pitcher in the American League strikes out more than eight men per nine innings:

• Blaine Boyer: 4.1 strikeouts per nine innings
• Aaron Thompson (demoted): 4.7
• Glen Perkins: 8.5
• Brian Duensing: 5.3
• Casey Fien: 4.9
• Ryan Pressly (disabled list): 7.2
• J.R. Graham: 7.1

Perkins is barely above league average and even his K rate has been in decline over the years. Nobody else is within one strikeout of the average.

Mike Berardino tweeted Thursday that the Twins were cool on the notion of trading for Miami's Steve Cishek, citing his declining strikeout rate. This, he added in another tweet, is an indication that the front office is taking K/9 seriously.

I had expected that by this time some of the collegiate relievers the Twins have been drafting of late in their emphasis on power arms would be ready to emerge. But they have largely been injured or ineffective.

Nick Burdi, the 2014 second rounder who wowed me last season when I saw him pitch for Cedar Rapids, opened the year at Double A and stunk (5.93 ERA with 22 walks in 30.1 innings). He was moved down to High A and has pitched well there (no walks in 13 innings), and I expect he'll be moved back up to Chattanooga soon, but he shouldn't be viewed as a 2015 answer.

J.T. Chargois, a 2012 second rounder who was seen at the time as a possible quick riser, was derailed by injury, He has a 4.93 ERA at Chattanooga with 16 walks in 13 innings but has better numbers at Fort Myers. Again, not a 2015 answer.

Jake Reed, a 2014 draftee who opened eyes by allowing just two earned runs at three levels last year (Appy League, Midwest League, Arizona Fall League), has spent the whole season at Double A and has compiled a 5.71 ERA.

Zach Jones has a 6.00 ERA at Double A. Lefty Mason Melotakis had Tommy John surgery, Luke Bard is finally pitching at Cedar Rapids after multiple surgeries. We saw Alex Meyer's frightening two-game audition.

OK, that all looks grim. Here's an interesting one: Tyler Duffey.

Duffey is another member of the 2012 draft (which brought in Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, Bard, Melotakis and Chargois as well.) He shared the closer duties at Rice with Chargois, but the Twins made him a starter and he took well to the role.

Now 24, Duffey has a 2.29 ERA at Triple A Rochester. Given the current depth in starters on the roster and the rising Berrios, I don't see him getting a rotation shot anytime soon, But given his college background in the bullpen, he might be next to get a call to shore up a bullpen that can use a power arm.

Contemplating the bullpen situation

Blaine Boyer entered
Tuesday leading
the American League
in games pitched.

We arrive in this series, finally, to the area of the Twins roster most in need of an upgrade -- and probably the one easiest to upgrade without long-term damage to the organization: The bullpen.

Specifically, the bullpen in front of Glen Perkins. There's nothing wrong with Perkins. There's a lot wrong with the six others.

The Twins are slightly better than AL average in terms of relief pitching ERA. No team in the league has blown fewer leads. But the average relief pitcher in the American league strikes out 8.3 men per nine innings. Perkins is a bit over that average. Other than Ryan O'Rourke, who has faced all of 11 hitters since his callup (entering Tuesday's game) and starter-in-waiting Trevor May, nobody in the current bullpen is within 1 K/9 of the league average.

Good bullpens have power arms. The Twins don't have that. And that is the single biggest difference between the Twins and the Kansas City Royals. The Royals can stack swing-and-miss pitchers from the sixth inning on; the Twins have none until the ninth.

I have a specific idea to address that. His name is Jonathan Papelbon.

J.R. Graham's ERA
jumped from 2.85 to
3.58 on Sunday.

The All-Star closer is vocally unhappy in Philadelphia, and has been demanding a trade to a contender for weeks. His too-large contract expires at the end of the season unless he finishes 23 more games (more on that later), so given the frequent professions of payroll leeway, I think the Twins can absorb his deal for the remainder of the year. The Phillies are officially, if belatedly, in rebuild mode.

In my mind, the only question here is if Papelbon is willing to step down from his accustomed ninth-inning role to set up Perkins. I don't know what, if any, no-trade protection he has. Taking the eighth-inning role could be expensive for him; in that role, there's no way he's finishing enough games to vest his $13 million option of 2016 (he needs 55 this year and entered Tuesday with 32). And while he remains a quality relief pitcher, few if any teams today would give any reliever $13 million a year. He says he's unhappy in Philly because they're not in contention. But losing out on that 2016 option (which he might not attain even if he remains a closer) might also make him unhappy.

That aside, Papelbon figures to be a rent-a-player. A good rent-a-player in exactly the role the Twins need to upgrade.

I've no idea what the Phillies are demanding for Papelbon. but I would be in favor of giving them their choice of Oswaldo Arcia or Adam Brett Walker, two young outfielders with big power and other holes in their games. In return, the Twins take all the Papelbon contract risk.

The Phillies may be waiting for more than that. But it might be a doable deal in the next few days.

Bullpen issues, broken record

Paul Molitor did something Tuesday night we know Ron Gardenhire wouldn't have done: He brought in his closer in the eighth inning of a tied game.

It didn't work. Mike Moustakas singled home the winning run.

Really, the issue wasn't bringing in Perkins for (Molitor hoped) four outs. The real issue was the inability of the bullpen in front of Perkins to keep things under control.

First came Blaine Boyer, who entered in the sixth with a man on first and two outs. He immediately gave up a double that plated the runner. For the second day in a row, Boyer has a linescore that says he gave up no runs but ignores his role in the runs charged to the previous pitcher. But those inherited runners count, and that one made it a one-run game.

Aaron Thompson followed, but he couldn't get through the seventh without being relieved by Casey Fien. Fien in turn couldn't get though the eighth.

Boyer, Thompson, Fien and Perkins -- they are the bullpen core, the guys Molitor relies on. They combined for 2.1 innings, two runs allowed and an inherited run allowed.

For all the chatter about how Molitor and new pitching coach Neil Allen want to get multi-inning outings from their relief pitchers, the fact remains: They aren't good enough to get that many outs.

One other item of note, and this isn't completely on the bullpen: The Twins pitchers racked up one strikeout Tuesday. One. That came from starter Tommy Milone. You won't win many games in the 21st Century with one strikeout.

A bullpen based on March

The last seven men
to face Blaine Boyer
all got hits.

The Blaine Boyer Experience this weekend wasn't pretty.

On Saturday he entered the ninth inning of a tied game with one out and nobody on. He got his first batter out, then: single (misplayed by shortstop Santana), double, single, one run in and the third out at the plate.

On Sunday he faced four batters in the eighth inning of a one-run game: single, stolen base, single, home run, single. Added to Sunday's misery: It was all against right-handed hitters, and if Boyer offers a bullpen anything of value, it's facing right-handed hitters.

That's a fairly substantial if. Boyer is 33, has a lengthy track record -- Sunday was his 269th major league appearance over nine full or partial seasons -- and is what he has always been: A fringe reliever, the 12th or 13th pitcher on a 12-man staff.

So why is he suddenly getting key innings for the Twins? Three reasons:

• Casey Fien has a balky shoulder;
• Boyer had a strong spring training;
• Tim Stauffer was awful in spring training

I see two groups of relievers on this roster. The first are the secure veterans: Glen Perkins, Fien, Brian Duensing, Stauffer. They entered camp knowing they would be on the roster; the first three knew what their specific roles would be.

The second group got roster spots on the strength of what they did in Florida last month: Boyer, J.R. Graham, Aaron Thompson. Graham is in a unique position as a Rule 5 draftee; he either sticks on the roster or goes back to the Atlanta Braves, and there's too much there to consider giving him up.

One week into the season, and the bullpen is a mess. I have no basis to judge if Fien should be on the disabled list or not, but if he can't take the mound and Stauffer and Boyer can't get outs, the right-handed portion of the relief corps is down to Graham, and there isn't enough of him for that.

Something must be did, and the likeliest candidate to do it to is Boyer. Stauffer's contract may be digestable, but December's decision to give him a major-league contract suggests the front office will wait until at least mid-May before admitting the mistake.

Deduno in the bullpen

It was an ugly way for the Twins to lose Wednesday: the stoppers at the back end of the bullpen combined to surrender a three-run lead, and the long reliever threw two wild pitches and committed a balk in the bottom of the 11th.

Ron Gardenhire grumped some after the game about the lengthy review in the top of the seventh, but I'm not buying the notion that had the game flowed at its usual pace that Kevin Correia was going to pitch into the eighth. Gardy would probably have gone to Jared Burton in the eighth, and certainly would have brought Glen Perkins in for the save in the ninth. It's what Gardy does. It didn't work Wednesday.

(MLB blamed the delay on two simultaneous challenges, but I sat through a couple of way-too-long replay review delays at Fort Myers last month. When the second one began, the fans started booing. I expect longer delays when an out call is overturned and the umps have to figure out where to put the baserunners.)

And then there was slingin' Sam Deduno unloading a couple of wild pitches in the bottom of the 11th. Deduno is wild. He's difficult to catch. That's who he is and what he does. Letting him pitch with the winning run on third base is a baseball version of Russian roulette; sooner or later the gun's going to fire.

In retrospect, I don't think the Twins were ever particularly serious about Deduno as a contender for the rotation this spring. As far as the public knew, Deduno was competing with Scott Diamond, Vance Worley and Kyle Gibson for the fifth starter job. Gibson won, as he should have -- he has the highest ceiling of the four -- but while Deduno pitched quite well during exhibition play, he never actually started, and frequently got his innings after the established hitters in the opposing lineup had been removed. The others all got multiple starts.

I now think the Twins -- quite aware that Deduno had had shoulder surgery at the end of the 2013 season and Tommy John surgery years before he came to the organization, and also mindful of the difficulty he has had going even six innings -- wanted him in the bullpen more than as a starter. Perhaps Deduno would have gotten the job had Gibson struggled as much as Diamond and Worley did, but it was only going to happen as a last resort.

The problem is that a reliever with his lack of command is likely to have trouble pitching out of other people's jams. I kept hearing the announcers this spring talking about Deduno being the guy brought in to get a strikeout, but the truth is (a) he doesn't have a good strikeout rate despite his movement and (b) he's a real risk for a wild pitch.

He wasn't asked to clean up somebody else's mess Wednesday. He created his own, and didn't get out of it cleanly. That's something a starter can get away with. A reliever, not so much.

Making room for Michael Tonkin

Michael Tonkin:
Four batters, four outs.

Michael Tonkin, who tore through the Twins farm system the past year-and-a-half, made his major league debut in fine fashion Thursday. He came in after Josh Roenicke laid an egg in the seventh inning to strike out Evan Longoria, then followed that with a perfect eighth inning.

Tonkin is up right now because fellow rookie Caleb Thielbar is back in Minnesota for his grandmother's funeral. But when Tonkin was brought up, he was told he may stick. Thursday's outing certainly gives the Twins no reason to ship him back to Rochester.

But if they keep Tonkin in the majors, somebody else has to go. The bullpen has been probably the strongest part of a weak team, but it's getting bedraggled from overwork. There's no real shortage of slumping relievers, but there is a shortage of relievers easily sent to the minors.

Roenicke is an example. His ERA has risen from 2.81 after his appearance on June 19 to 3.76 now — nine appearances, 6.1 innings, six runs. For the season, Roenicke has struck out 25 — and walked 21, a lousy ratio. But Roenicke is out of options; as with P.J. Walters, he would have to clear waivers and removed from the 40-man roster to be sent to the minors.

Ryan Pressly's ERA over the past 28 days is 6.39. But as a Rule 5 guy, he has roster restrictions — and at age 24, he has more of a future than the 30-year-old Roenicke. I'd hate to see the Twins give up on Pressly.

Brian Duensing, who lost the job as lefty set-up man to Thielbar, has seen his ERA soar to 4.86. I'm not sure of his option status, but even if the Twins are at liberty to send him down, I don't know how eager they are to pay his $1.3 million salary to pitch at Rochester.

The other guys in the bullpen — Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Anthony Swarzak, Casey Fien, Theilbar  — are not serious candidates to lose their jobs.

My conclusion: If Tonkin stays (and he probably should), the guy he should replace is Roenicke.

The decline of Jared Burton

Jared Burton, Ron Gardenhire's first choice for eighth innings, had another poor performance Monday night.

He entered with a 4-3 lead, faced four batters, surrendered three hits and was charged with three runs and his sixth loss of the season.

He didn't walk anybody, but a quick look at his statistics suggests that control, or lack of same, is a significant part of his problem. Last year, in 62 innings, Burton walked 16 men; he's already walked that many this season, in 35.2 innings.

It should be noted that his walk rate this year (4 BB/9 innings) is about what he had for his career other than 2012, suggesting that last year was a bit of a fluke.

Burton was very good in April and May, but June was not kind to him (7.45 ERA) and obviously July is off to a bad start.

Which raises the question: If it's time to switch to somebody else for the main setup role, who would it be?

Burton himself has been worked at a harder pace this year than last, and he's not the only hard-used reliever in the Minnesota bullpen. Five Twins are among the top 40 in the league in relief innings, with Anthony Swarzak leading the list with 52.2 innings. Rookie Ryan Pressly, who I think will eventually take a significant late inning role, is perhaps showing some signs of wear; he's given up runs in each of his last four outings, and his ERA has more than doubled during that stretch.

Too many bad starts, too many bullpen innings. It's not a good recipe.

On second thought ...

Twins LOOGY Tyler Robertson stands on the mound
as Baltimore's Chris Davis runs his grand slam home in
the eighth inning Friday.

It's one of the hazards of posting an opinion pretty much every day: Occasionally (at best) one winds up with an assertion that is swiftly disproven.

So it is with Friday's claim that the Twins starting pitching has protected the bullpen. And that Casey Fien has been too effective to consider demoting. And that Tyler Robertson's Thursday strikeout of Prince Fielder demonstrated his value.

That was written after the Twins used six relievers on Thursday when Mike Pelfrey went just 5.1 innings. On Friday, Liam Hendriks went just 4.2 innings, and Ron Gardenhire burned through four relievers to get though that game. Brian Duensing, Ryan Pressly, Fien and Robertson all worked back-to-back games, and the first three are likely to be unavailable today. Seven pitchers are too many; 12 are not enough.

Fien, who struck out four of the first five men he faced this season, was touched for four runs in the eight inning Friday.

And Robertson gave up a grand slam — to a left-handed hitter — on his second-best pitch.

This is deadly for a Left-handed One Out GuY such as Robertson. He is on the roster to wipe left-handed hitters out. But he has now surrendered three home runs in his brief major league career to lefties — Fielder, Adam Dunn and Chris Davis. These are all potent power hitters, to be sure — but they are all noticeably less effective against left-handed pitching (Davis' career platoon differential is less extreme than the others'). Such hitters are the reason LOOGYs dot rosters.

Robertson has to get them out. He certainly can't give up bombs to lefties, no matter how good they are. His job is to dominate small sample sizes.

One bad inning — and the Fien-Robertson eighth inning on Friday was a bad one indeed — turned around the entire short-term outlook. Two consecutive short starts have exposed the lack of a legitimate long man on this staff.

Circumstances can change, I said at the end of Friday's post. Yes they can. And yes they have.

Misplaced blame

Another Twins game, another Twins loss, another Twins
injury: Jason Repko left Sunday's game after being hit
in the head by a Justin Masterson pitch.

The Twins found a fresh way Sunday to extend their losing streak (now at eight games). Instead of having their starting pitcher get shelled early, they took a 3-0 lead into the seventh and then imploded.

I got some sour amusement out of listening to Dick Bremer try to put the six-run seventh off to bad luck. On the assumption that most of you were watching the Vikings, here's how it went down:

Shelley Duncan homered. 3-1 Twins.
Lonnie Chisenhall reached on an error by first baseman Chris Parmalee.
Jason Donald flied to right.
Ezequiel Carerra grounded into a force play (Twins unable to get two on a grounder back to the mound).
Lou Marson singled; first and third,
Kosuke Fukodome walked. Bases loaded.
Jose Mijares relieved Carl Pavano.
Jason Kipnis walked; Carrera scored; 3-2 Twins.
Alex Burnett relieved Mijares.
Carlos Santana walks; Marson scored; tied at 3.
Glen Perkins relieved Burnett.
Jim Thome broke his bat, beat out an infield single, Fukodome scored. 4-3, Cleveland.
Duncan doubled to left;  Kipnis and Santana scored, 6-3 Cleveland.
Chisenhall grounded to second.

You go through that mess, and what at-bats jump out at you? Parmalee's error; the failed DP ball; the bases loaded walks by Mijares and Burnett, the bullpen's one-out specialists.

What jumped out at Bremer? Thome's broken-bat infield hit.

Look, that was just bad luck. Perkins did his job; the infielders were playing Thome where they're supposed to play him. The error, the uncompleted DP, the bases loaded walks — those were bad plays. By the time Thome came up the lead was gone. Had the Twins made the plays in the field, Pavano finishes the seventh with a 3-1 lead. Had Mijares or Burnett performed their speciality jobs, the inning ends before Thome's at-bat with the Twins in the lead.

To call Thome's fluke hit the key at-bat of the inning, as Bremer did repeatedly, is to twist the actual event beyond recognition.