AL Central Notes: Tigers, Morton, Lugo, Bergert, Wallner
A year after reaching the playoffs due to a late-season surge, the Tigers are now facing an opposite scenario in 2025. The scorching-hot Guardians are on an eight-game winning streak and have won 13 of their last 14 games, while Detroit has lost seven of its last eight games — including a three-game sweep at home against the Guards. The Tigers’ AL Central lead shrunk to just 2.5 games after a 10-1 loss to the Braves on Friday, as starter Charlie Morton was torched for six runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
Acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline, Morton has an 11.65 ERA over his last five starts, and a 7.09 overall ERA across his 39 1/3 innings in a Detroit uniform. Speaking with the Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other reporters yesterday, Morton was at a loss to explain his sudden inability to throw strikes, and said “I’m personally really disappointed in myself.” Given these struggles, Morton is “not expecting anything” in terms of another turn in the rotation, and manager A.J. Hinch was also non-committal on the subject.
The problem with removing Morton from the rotation is that the Tigers don’t have a ready-made replacement. Chris Paddack was already moved to the bullpen due to his own struggles, Jose Uriquidy is pitching in relief after his long injury layoff, Troy Melton or Tyler Holton are more long men than true starters, and Sawyer Gipson-Long is on the 15-day injured list. The Tigers could use some combination of all the healthy pitchers in this season’s version of their “Pitching Chaos” tactic, yet there are no easy answers in what has suddenly become a very tense pennant race.
More from the AL Central…
- Seth Lugo‘s return before the end of the season seems like a “long shot,” as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters. Lugo hasn’t pitched since August 29 due to a lower back strain, and he had a setback following a bullpen session on Monday. Quatraro said Lugo is now feeling better in the aftermath of that bullpen but hasn’t resumed throwing, so the veteran righty is simply running short on time to get fully ramped up. [UPDATE: Quatraro confirmed on Sunday to MLB.com’s Jackson Stone and other reporters that Lugo is indeed done for the rest of the 2025 campaign.]
- In other Royals pitching news, Quatraro said that Ryan Bergert is dealing with a mild flexor strain, and is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training. Bergert was placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week with an ominous diagnosis of forearm tightness and he already has a Tommy John surgery in his history, so it counts as good news that his MRI revealed a relatively less-serious issue. The right-hander has a respectable 3.66 ERA over 76 1/3 innings in his rookie season, with Bergert coming to Kansas City from the Padres at the trade deadline.
- The Twins placed Matt Wallner on the 10-day IL yesterday due to a right oblique strain, so the outfielder’s season is all but officially over. This is the second IL stint of the year for Wallner, who missed over six weeks dealing with a hamstring strain early in the season. Wallner will finish with a .202/.311/.464 slash line and 22 homers over 392 plate appearances, which translates to a 114 wRC+. While respectable numbers, more was expected after Wallner posted a 148 wRC+ over 515 PA during the 2023-24 seasons.
Twins Make Cuts To Scouting Department
The Twins have eliminated four of the five jobs on their pro scouting staff, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Ken Compton, John Manuel, Keith Stohr and Jose Marzan will not have their contracts renewed at the end of the current season. That will leave Wesley Wright as the club’s lone remaining pro scout.
As Hayes mentions in the article, cutting down on pro scouts is a league-wide trend. He uses the Cubs as an example, linking to a November 2024 article from Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic detailing that club’s move to more analytics and less reliance on traditional scouting. Hayes writes that the Twins, like the Cubs, have been relying more on video in recent years with far less travel for in-person scouting.
However, even in that example, the Cubs dropped their pro scouting department to seven employees. That’s more than the five the Twins had this year, before dropping down to just one individual going forward.
The decision to rely more on analytics and less on scouting is one that is often debated in baseball circles, going back at least to the Moneyball days and surely even beyond that. However, Hayes says the Twins scaling back the department is about cutting costs, which is potentially ominous for the club’s future.
Money has been hovering around the Twins in many ways recently. The club’s regional sports network deal with Diamond Sports Group, now known as Main Street Sports, was not renewed after 2024. That left Major League Baseball in charge of the club’s broadcasting in 2025. Those league-run arrangements are believed to give clubs less revenue than a healthy RSN agreement.
Regardless, the club came into 2025 hoping to contend and they did so for a while. The Twins were in the playoff race for the early months of the current season but fell out of the race as the trade deadline approached. Many expected that the club would trade impending free agents with the goal of contending again in 2026 but the sell-off ended up being more notable than anticipated. In addition to the impending free agents, they also sold controllable players like Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax.
From a financial point of view, the most notable trade was the one sending Carlos Correa to the Astros. Though the Twins ate some money in the swap, they moved the majority of his contract off the long-term books. He was owed approximately $103.4MM through 2028 at the time of that trade, with the Twins staying on the hook for $33MM of that. There were more marginal financial notes as well. For instance, the Twins included Randy Dobnak in the deal sending Chris Paddack to the Tigers, which was seemingly to save them the roughly $2MM still owed to Dobnak.
A couple of weeks after the deadline was another notable development. The Pohlad family, which had been pursuing a sale of the franchise, decided to take the club off the market. They were looking for about $1.7 billion, though reportedly were carrying over $425MM in debt. They didn’t seem to find anyone willing to meet their asking price and instead sold minority stakes to a pair of new parties. The infusion of cash from selling those stakes to the new partners will reportedly help pay down the debt somewhat, though it’s unclear to what degree. Hayes notes that the new owners haven’t yet been officially approved by Major League Baseball.
Going into the winter, it’s not confirmed which direction the club will go for the 2026 season. They did target a lot of MLB-ready talent at the deadline, including players like James Outman, Alan Roden, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley. That arguably points to the club hoping to remain relevant next year but the continued penny pinching doesn’t bode well.
If further cost-cutting is a priority, that presumably increases the chances of players like Pablo López or Joe Ryan being made available this winter. López is making $21.5MM annually through 2027. Trading him could be big savings for the Twins but would still have plenty of appeal for other clubs. Ryan is even more of a bargain as he’s still in his arbitration years. He is making just $3MM this year and will be owed a raise in the two coming campaigns before he’s slated to reach free agency after 2027.
Players like Ryan Jeffers, Bailey Ober, Trevor Larnach and Royce Lewis are also in their arb years and could be candidates for cost-cutting moves if that’s the road the Twins go down. Byron Buxton is the club’s other significant salary commitment, next to López, though he has a no-trade clause and has said he would like to remain a Twin for life.
Photo courtesy of Brad Rempel, Imagn Images
Twins Outright Brooks Kriske
Right-hander Brooks Kriske has been sent outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. Since he has a previous career outright, he has the right to elect free agency, though the log doesn’t indicate he will exercise that right.
Kriske, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Cubs in early August. The Twins had just traded away Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe at the deadline and needed some extra arms.
Between that claim and being designated for assignment, Kriske threw 12 innings for the Twins, allowing 15 earned runs. He has a 7.50 earned run average on the year, between his time with the Cubs and Twins. That makes it fairly unsurprising that no one claimed him this time.
Though he made his major league debut back in 2020, his big league track record is still fairly small, with a 9.53 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. He had some decent results in Japan in 2022 and 2023, tossing 35 innings with a 2.31 ERA. He has also generally had decent results in Triple-A, with a 3.81 ERA, 36.3% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate in 148 2/3 innings dating back to 2021.
If he accepts the assignment, he can make a few more Triple-A appearances before the winter and then could elect free agency at season’s end. Though he could also exercise his right to elect free agency now and start the offseason early if he so chooses.
Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images
David Festa Dealing With Compressed Nerve Injury
September 12th: Festa tells Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune that his issue is related to a compressed nerve and not typical thoracic outlet syndrome symptoms. He expects to be fine for spring training.
September 10th: Twins right-hander David Festa has been on the injured list since late July due to shoulder inflammation. Head trainer Nick Paparesta tells Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that noted surgeon Dr. Keith Meister believes Festa has neurological thoracic outlet syndrome. Festa is going to see another doctor and a formal plan will be mapped out after that.
It’s a potentially ominous diagnosis as thoracic outlet syndrome can significantly alter the course of a pitcher’s career. Back in 2023, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post did a thorough examination of the condition, noting that there are two distinct varieties.
One type is known as venous or vascular TOS. While this is a serious medical condition often involving life-threatening blood clots, it seems to have less long-term impacts in terms of throwing a baseball. Merrill Kelly is the poster boy for recovering from this type of TOS surgery. Kelly went under the knife in 2020 but has since made 132 starts with a 3.59 earned run average. Zack Wheeler of the Phillies recently had a blood clot removed and was recommended for venous TOS surgery.
The second type of TOS is neurogenic, which seems to have a larger impact on throwing ability. Paparesta used the word “neurological” to describe Festa’s TOS, but it’s possible he meant neurogenic. Stephen Strasburg, Chris Archer and Matt Harvey are some of the most famous example of pitchers who were diagnosed with neurogenic TOS and never really seemed to be the same.
Strasburg was one of the best pitchers over the previous decade. He capped things off with an excellent 2019 season. He gave the Nationals 209 innings that year with a 3.32 ERA. He then added another 36 1/3 innings in the postseason with a 1.98 ERA, leading the Nats to a World Series title, winning himself World Series MVP in the process. But nerve issues popped up after that. He underwent TOS surgery in 2021. His repeated attempts to get back on the mound didn’t work. He only made eight appearances after the 2019 season and eventually retired.
Archer tossed 882 1/3 innings over the 2015 to 2019 seasons with a 4.05 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate. He underwent TOS surgery in 2020. After that, he logged 122 innings with a 4.57 ERA and 20.2% strikeout rate. Harvey had a 2.53 ERA and 26.6% strikeout rate through his first 427 innings but then had TOS surgery in 2016. In the final 446 2/3 innings of his career, he had a 6.15 ERA and 17% strikeout rate.
Festa entered 2024 as one of the top prospects in the league. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 64 1/3 innings for the Twins. His 4.90 ERA wasn’t especially impressive but he struck out 27.8% of batters faced with an 8.3% walk rate.
This year, he has been shuttled back and forth between the majors and minors. He missed much of May, while on optional assignment, due to biceps inflammation. He was placed on the major league IL in July due to shoulder inflammation. Around those transactions and injuries, he has made 11 big league appearances with a 5.40 ERA but decent strikeout and walk rates of 23.1% and 8.3% respectively. He also posted a 2.59 ERA in seven Triple-A starts.
It was reported earlier this month that Festa had a setback and would not be returning this year, with the next step being a visit to Dr. Meister. Further information on Festa’s status will undoubtedly be coming out in the future. He has not yet been moved to the 60-day IL as the Twins only have 37 guys on their 40-man roster. If they fill those spots in the remainder of the season, Festa could eventually be moved to the 60-day IL to open another.
The Minnesota rotation has changed shape in recent months. The club fell in the standings and pivoted to sell mode. They sent out impending free agent Chris Paddack but also brought in young, controllable guys like Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, as well as prospect Kendry Rojas. Some have speculated that they will continue selling this winter, including making guys like Pablo López or Joe Ryan available. Time will tell whether that’s a realistic possibility or not. For now, the 2026 rotation mix includes those guys as well as Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Twins Select Cody Laweryson
The Twins announced that right-hander Justin Topa has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left oblique strain, retroactive to September 9th. Fellow righty Cody Laweryson has been selected to take Topa’s place on the roster. The Twins had just 37 men on their 40-man, so no other corresponding move is required as this brings their count up to 38.
It’s unclear how serious Topa’s injury is but this presumably ends his season. Even with the backdating of the move, he could only come back for the final few days of the schedule. With the Twins buried in the standings, there’s not much motivation for him to rush back. Assuming he’s done, he finishes the year with a 3.90 earned run average in 60 innings. His 18.3% strikeout rate was subpar but his 6.7% walk rate and 47.7% ground ball rate were good figures.
The Twins will have to decide whether or not to trigger a $2MM club option for 2026 or go for a $225K buyout. Even if they go for the buyout, they could still keep Topa for next year via arbitration. Assuming they want Topa back next year, the decision would simply come down to which path they expect to be cheaper.
His injury allows Laweryson to get up to the majors for the first time. Now 27, Laweryson was drafted with a 14th-round pick back in 2019. He worked both as a starter and a reliever as he climbed the minor league ladder but has been working exclusively out of the bullpen in recent years.
On the most recent FanGraphs list of top prospects in the system, Laweryson got an honorable mention, with the report noting that his deception helps him get better results than one would expect from his middling stuff. He has thrown 44 innings this year between Double-A and Triple-A with a 2.86 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 46.3% ground ball rate. Laweryson will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Since this is his first time cracking a big league roster, he has a full slate of options.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Twins Place Ryan Jeffers On 7-Day IL, Designate Brooks Kriske
The Twins announced that catcher Ryan Jeffers has been placed (retroactive to September 5) on the seven-day injured list for concussion-related injuries. Right-hander Brooks Kriske was designated for assignment in another move, and the two open roster spots will be filled by Triple-A call-ups Pierson Ohl and Carson McCusker.
Jeffers hasn’t played since he left Thursday’s game after taking a foul ball off his mask. The move to the seven-day IL will allow him at least a full week to recover from any lingering symptoms, and gives the Twins a bit of roster flexibility so they aren’t short-handed behind the plate. Jhonny Pereda was already called up from Triple-A on Friday, and Pereda and Mickey Gasper will assume catching duties while Jeffers is sidelined.
One of the few experienced Twins players that wasn’t dealt at the trade deadline, Jeffers has hit .262/.353/.394 with nine home runs over 442 plate appearances this season. This translates to a 111 wRC+, which ranks Jeffers sixth of the 10 catchers who have played enough in 2025 to count as qualified hitters. Jeffers’ power has dropped rather sharply over the last two seasons, yet the 2025 campaign has seen the backstop post career bests in both strikeout and walk rates.
It was just over a month ago that Kriske was claimed off the Cubs’ waiver wire, as Minnesota was looking to add some arms to a bullpen depleted by the team’s many deadline moves. Unfortunately, Kriske’s brief time in the Twin Cities didn’t yield many positive results, as he was pounded to the tune of an 11.25 ERA over 12 innings, with almost as many walks (14) as strikeouts (15). The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman notes that Kriske posted the second-highest ERA of any Twins pitcher in franchise history with at least 10 innings pitched.
Kriske probably won’t get a chance to improve on his standing, if he is released after clearing waivers. Because teams are always in need of pitching depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed off waivers again, though Kriske’s recent results may not drum up much interest. He also has a 9.56 ERA over 37 2/3 career innings in the majors, but the right-hander posted far better numbers during his minor league career and during a two-season stint in Japan in 2022-23. Since Kriske has been outrighted before, he has the right to reject another outright assignment if he clears waivers, and instead opt for free agency.
Twins Outright Noah Davis
The Twins announced Friday that they’ve passed right-hander Noah Davis through waivers and assigned him outright to Triple-A St. Paul. That’ll be the corresponding roster move for Pablo Lopez‘s previously reported reinstatement from the 60-day injured list, which is now official.
Davis landed in Minnesota back in July, coming over from the Dodgers in a cash swap after he’d been designated for assignment. The 2018 eleventh-rounder made four short relief appearances for the Twins and allowed multiple runs in all of them. He’s been tagged for 22 runs in 11 innings between Minnesota and L.A. this season, further inflating the already unsightly 7.71 ERA he logged in parts of three seasons with the Rockies (51 1/3 innings).
Though Davis has been hit exceptionally hard in the majors, he has a more encouraging track record in the upper minors. He’s pitched 176 2/3 innings in Triple-A, logging a 4.79 ERA despite most of his time being spent in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly setting (Colorado’s Albuquerque club in the Pacific Coast League). Davis has pitched 43 1/3 innings between the Triple-A clubs for the Dodgers and Twins this year and turned in a solid 3.95 ERA with a strong 26.1% strikeout rate.
This is the second career outright for Davis — the Rockies outrighted him last September — which gives him the right to reject the assignment to Triple-A in favor of free agency, should he prefer to seek a change of scenery.
Twins To Activate Pablo Lopez
The Twins will activate Pablo López to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Royals, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. He’ll be activated from the 60-day injured list. Minnesota already has two vacancies on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to option a pitcher to create an active roster spot.
López has been out of action for three months. He suffered a Grade 2 teres major strain in his throwing shoulder during his start on June 3. That injury was arguably the turning point of Minnesota’s season. The Twins were seven games above .500 and in possession of a Wild Card spot at the time. Minnesota’s rotation collapsed over the next few weeks. That wasn’t all about López’s injury, as the struggles extended beyond call-up David Festa, but their season never recovered.
The Twins went 9-18 in June. A month later, they traded almost everyone from their bullpen and pulled off the surprising Carlos Correa salary dump. A healthy López would’ve been a target for contenders as well. The Twins had no reason to trade him halfway through an injury, but it’s not out of the question that they hear teams out this offseason.
López was off to what might’ve been a career season. He posted a 2.82 ERA in 60 2/3 frames spanning 11 starts. He fanned a quarter of opponents against a 5.7% walk rate. López has been an above-average starter for a few years but has yet to post a sub-3.00 ERA over a full season. He might have been on that trajectory had he not gotten hurt.
Minnesota’s sell-off and fall down the standings raised some question about whether it’d be prudent to shut López down entirely. The veteran righty remained committed to making it back for a few turns through the rotation. That’ll allow him to go into the offseason with more confidence than he would have had coming off a season-ending shoulder injury. It’ll also give opposing clubs a few looks as they consider whether to make a big push to try to pull López in an offseason trade.
López is wrapping up the second season of a four-year, $73.5MM extension. He’ll make $21.5MM per season between 2026-27. That’s below market value for a #2 caliber starter. López would have trade value if the Twins shop him, but they could prefer to hold him as a veteran anchor of a young rotation while looking ahead to a potential deadline deal in 2026. Joe Ryan, who is down to his last two seasons of arbitration control, will also be one of the offseason’s top trade candidates.
Twins’ David Festa Suffers Season-Ending Shoulder Injury
Twins starter David Festa is done for the season after suffering a setback while working back from a shoulder injury, relays Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune. Festa is headed for a consultation with noted orthopedist Dr. Keith Meister.
The 25-year-old Festa has been out since the middle of July. Minnesota sent him to Triple-A St. Paul for a rehab start on August 28. Festa struck out five over 2 2/3 scoreless innings. It seems he came out of the appearance with renewed shoulder pain. That’ll shut him down for the year. The Twins will hope there’s nothing structurally amiss that’ll impact his availability for 2026.
Festa is in his second big league season. He has missed bats at an above-average rate but given up a few too many home runs, contributing to a 5.12 ERA through his first 25 appearances. Festa surrendered 5.40 earned runs per nine across 53 1/3 frames this year. The 6’6″ righty was one of Minnesota’s better pitching prospects before his debut. He’s one of a handful of mid-20s pitchers whom the Twins hope will be long-term rotation pieces.
Zebby Matthews, Simeon Woods Richardson and deadline acquisition Taj Bradley are in the current starting five. Mick Abel, acquired from Philadelphia in the Jhoan Duran deal, has been hit hard in his first two appearances as a Twin and was optioned back to Triple-A yesterday. Festa is on the 15-day injured list, so the Twins can transfer him to the 60-day IL if they need to open a 40-man roster spot before the end of the season. He crossed the one-year service line this season and is under club control through at least 2030.
Twins Outright Erasmo Ramirez
Aug. 27: Ramírez has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
Aug. 26: The Twins have sent long reliever Erasmo Ramírez outright to Triple-A St. Paul, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Minnesota designated the veteran righty for assignment on Sunday when they called up Taj Bradley. Ramírez has more than enough service time to elect free agency but could prefer to accept the Triple-A stint as depth for a young Minnesota pitching staff.
Ramírez was called up at the beginning of August to backfill the bullpen after the Twins’ deadline sell-off. He pitched nine times, tossing 11 innings with three earned runs allowed. Ramírez only punched out five of 42 batters faced. He missed bats on 7% of his offerings while averaging 89 MPH on his cutter.
The 35-year-old Ramírez has carved out a lengthy career based on his plus control and ability to absorb plenty of innings out of the bullpen. He spent the first three months of this season on the minor league injured list. Ramírez surrendered 10 earned runs with 15 strikeouts and four walks in 15 Triple-A frames before being called up. If he accepts the outright, he’ll remain on hand in St. Paul for a month. He’ll be a free agent at the beginning of the offseason.