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| Mookie Betts enjoys the moment after hitting a three-run ninth inning homer Tursday in Milwaukee. |
This just in: Mookie Betts is a helluva baseball player.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Pic of the Week
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Reshaping the rotation
The Twins made the Jose Berrios callup official after Friday's game and optioned Nick Tepesch back to Triple A.
Tepesch was called up April 25. He sat around until May 6 -- 11 days if I count correctly -- started, didn't get out of the second inning, and hasn't pitched since.
Three weeks, roughly speaking, on the active roster with one appearance. We'll see how long Adam Wilk sits around now.
So ... Berrios starts today. Presumably Hector Santiago starts Sunday, then the Twins are off Monday, and that give Phil Hughes four days of rest going into Tuesday. Ervin Santana Wednesday, Berrios Thursday, Santiago Friday ... so the Twins will need a fifth starter a week from today.
If I had to guess who that will be, I'll predict Kyle Gibson, mainly because I expect the Twins want him back sooner rather than later. That comes with no guarantee, however.
Tepesch was called up April 25. He sat around until May 6 -- 11 days if I count correctly -- started, didn't get out of the second inning, and hasn't pitched since.
Three weeks, roughly speaking, on the active roster with one appearance. We'll see how long Adam Wilk sits around now.
So ... Berrios starts today. Presumably Hector Santiago starts Sunday, then the Twins are off Monday, and that give Phil Hughes four days of rest going into Tuesday. Ervin Santana Wednesday, Berrios Thursday, Santiago Friday ... so the Twins will need a fifth starter a week from today.
If I had to guess who that will be, I'll predict Kyle Gibson, mainly because I expect the Twins want him back sooner rather than later. That comes with no guarantee, however.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Shoulda seen this coming
Jose Berrios to start Saturday— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 12, 2017
Earlier Thursday, in my biweekly chat with Jim Gullickson on KMSU, I explained why the Twins were going slow on promoting Berrios. I mentioned the service time issue, but emphasized the fastball command question. I'm not sure those concerns have gone away.
But ... Berrios has racked up a 1.13 ERA in six starts this season for Rochester. He has 36 Triple A starts in his career and a 2.51 ERA at that level. International League hitters clearly aren't teaching him anything.
And the Twins certainly have holes in the back end of their rotation.
I hope he's ready this time.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Another marginal pitcher
The Twins on Wednesday
Incoming is Adam Wilk, a left-handed pitcher claimed off waivers from the Mets. He's 29 and has picked up 30 major league innings since 2011 with an ERA of 7.20.
Perhaps all we really need to know about him is this: The Mets are so decimated for starting pitchers that they claimed Tommy Milone on waivers three days ago -- the same Milone the Twins cut loose after last season. The Mets would rather pitch Milone than Wilk. (And for good reason.)
The Twins optioned out Drew Rucinski, gone after one relief outing in which he at least ate up a few innings. Neither Wilk nor Rucinski can play a significant role on a competent pitching staff. They're just filler.
The 40-man roster is full again. While I would rather it be filled with a pitcher of promise, it won't be difficult for the Twins to carve room for one when one is deemed ready for the test.
- got rained out in Chicago and
- shuffled one marginal pitcher off the active roster to add another.
Incoming is Adam Wilk, a left-handed pitcher claimed off waivers from the Mets. He's 29 and has picked up 30 major league innings since 2011 with an ERA of 7.20.
Perhaps all we really need to know about him is this: The Mets are so decimated for starting pitchers that they claimed Tommy Milone on waivers three days ago -- the same Milone the Twins cut loose after last season. The Mets would rather pitch Milone than Wilk. (And for good reason.)
The Twins optioned out Drew Rucinski, gone after one relief outing in which he at least ate up a few innings. Neither Wilk nor Rucinski can play a significant role on a competent pitching staff. They're just filler.
The 40-man roster is full again. While I would rather it be filled with a pitcher of promise, it won't be difficult for the Twins to carve room for one when one is deemed ready for the test.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Can't get no relief
Paul Molitor's bullpen opened the season with five right-handers. Two of them -- closer Brandon Kintzler and Tyler Duffey -- are getting the job done. The others, not so much
Ryan Pressly, expected to be the primary setup man and closer in waiting, has an 8.74 ERA in 11.1 innings. Matt Belisle, the journeyman veteran who essentially inherited that role whe Pressley started throwing home runs with regularity, sports an even worse mark (9.00) after Sunday's debacle.
There is a difference. Belisle has had two horrid outings -- 11 of the 13 earned runs charged against him this season came in two appearances. The rest of the time, he's been pretty good. Pressly has had just one outing in which he got more than two outs without being charged with a run. He's been consistently ineffective.
And, of course, Michael Tonkin has been designated for assignment already.
We're still waiting on the power arms to come up. The question is, how rapidly are Falvine willing to push them up the ladder.
Consider Nick Burdi, for example. He threw all of three innings last season. So far he's been dominating Southern League hitters (0.77 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 11.2 innings). High-end gas to be sure. But he hasn't pitched in Triple A yet, and he might be better served with a go-slow approach.
Ditto Mason Melotakis, also at Chattanooga and sporting a neat 0.00 ERA for Jake Mauer. The lefty has allowed just seven baserunners in his first 13.2 innings. But like Burdi, he had limited work last season and hasn't seen Triple A.
The guy I expected/hoped to see on the major league roster coming out of camp. J.T. Chargois, has pitched all of 2.2 innings this season and is about to start a rehab assignment as he returns from an injury. He won't be up soon. Jake Reed, another relief prospect who has caught eyes in the past, has yet to appear in a minor league game.
All of which suggests that Pressly and Belisle will get more opportunities to work out of their problems.
Ryan Pressly, expected to be the primary setup man and closer in waiting, has an 8.74 ERA in 11.1 innings. Matt Belisle, the journeyman veteran who essentially inherited that role whe Pressley started throwing home runs with regularity, sports an even worse mark (9.00) after Sunday's debacle.
There is a difference. Belisle has had two horrid outings -- 11 of the 13 earned runs charged against him this season came in two appearances. The rest of the time, he's been pretty good. Pressly has had just one outing in which he got more than two outs without being charged with a run. He's been consistently ineffective.
And, of course, Michael Tonkin has been designated for assignment already.
We're still waiting on the power arms to come up. The question is, how rapidly are Falvine willing to push them up the ladder.
Consider Nick Burdi, for example. He threw all of three innings last season. So far he's been dominating Southern League hitters (0.77 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 11.2 innings). High-end gas to be sure. But he hasn't pitched in Triple A yet, and he might be better served with a go-slow approach.
Ditto Mason Melotakis, also at Chattanooga and sporting a neat 0.00 ERA for Jake Mauer. The lefty has allowed just seven baserunners in his first 13.2 innings. But like Burdi, he had limited work last season and hasn't seen Triple A.
The guy I expected/hoped to see on the major league roster coming out of camp. J.T. Chargois, has pitched all of 2.2 innings this season and is about to start a rehab assignment as he returns from an injury. He won't be up soon. Jake Reed, another relief prospect who has caught eyes in the past, has yet to appear in a minor league game.
All of which suggests that Pressly and Belisle will get more opportunities to work out of their problems.
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Good-bye, D. Santana
The Twins on Monday traded Danny Santana to the Atlanta Braves for left-handed reliever Kevin Chapman.
Chapman has pitched 55 major league innings the past four seasons, all with Houston, but he wasn't on the Braves 40-man roster and had a pretty ugly ERA with their Triple A club (7.71 in 11.2 innings). He's minor league depth right now, but the Twins have been pretty active even with the new regime with bringing guys off minor league contracts to the majors.
Santana, meanwhile, goes on the Braves' major league roster, presumably in the same kind of play-everywhere role he had with the Twins. They have a similar kind of guy already in Emilio Bonifacio; Santana, I suspect, is better than him.
Chapman has pitched 55 major league innings the past four seasons, all with Houston, but he wasn't on the Braves 40-man roster and had a pretty ugly ERA with their Triple A club (7.71 in 11.2 innings). He's minor league depth right now, but the Twins have been pretty active even with the new regime with bringing guys off minor league contracts to the majors.
Santana, meanwhile, goes on the Braves' major league roster, presumably in the same kind of play-everywhere role he had with the Twins. They have a similar kind of guy already in Emilio Bonifacio; Santana, I suspect, is better than him.
Monday, May 8, 2017
Up or Out: Michael Tonkin and the missed opportunity
The Twins swapped out another piece of the pitching staff over the weekend, dumping Michael Tonkin (designated for assignment) and restoring Justin Haley from the disabled list.
As noted in the Monday print column, Tonkin had more than a year in the major league bullpen, a period of extreme disruption in that bullpen, and never managed to seize a role greater than mop-up/long relief. Remember: The Twins came north last year with Glen Perkins, Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May and Casey Fien as the four late inning arms. None made it through the full season with the Twins, and two two (Perkins and May) are on the 60-day DL and the other two are not on 40-man rosters.
Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressley, Tayor Rogers -- they all took advantage of the opportunity created by the upheaval. Tonkin did not.
The "up or out" system, used in a variety of endeavors, is effectively at practice here. The role Tonkin held for seven months or so is essentially an entry-level position. Nobody is expected to make a career at mopup work. A young pitcher gets called up and tested in it; he succeeds or fails; he moves into a more prominent role or departs.
Haley is a Rule 5 selection, and the mopup/long-man role is basically designed for Rule 5 pitchers. Tonkin missed his opportunity. Now it belongs to Haley, and it will be up or out for him as well. His ninth inning struggles Sunday (three hits and a walk in a third of an inning) didn't matter in the context of the game, which was already lost; they do matter in terms of building his resume to move into a more significant role.
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| Michael Tonkin gave up four homers in 11 innings this year. |
Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressley, Tayor Rogers -- they all took advantage of the opportunity created by the upheaval. Tonkin did not.
The "up or out" system, used in a variety of endeavors, is effectively at practice here. The role Tonkin held for seven months or so is essentially an entry-level position. Nobody is expected to make a career at mopup work. A young pitcher gets called up and tested in it; he succeeds or fails; he moves into a more prominent role or departs.
Haley is a Rule 5 selection, and the mopup/long-man role is basically designed for Rule 5 pitchers. Tonkin missed his opportunity. Now it belongs to Haley, and it will be up or out for him as well. His ninth inning struggles Sunday (three hits and a walk in a third of an inning) didn't matter in the context of the game, which was already lost; they do matter in terms of building his resume to move into a more significant role.
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