The Twins have placed right-hander Michael Pineda on the 10-day injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Luke Farrell from Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding roster move. Pineda was scratched from his most recent outing after undergoing a procedure to remove an abscess from his thigh, and he’ll now head to the injured list to continue mending. The Twins had an open 40-man spot after designating righty Derek Law for assignment yesterday.
This will mark Farrell’s second stint with the Twins in 2021. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the journeyman righty and son of former Red Sox skipper John Farrell tossed a scoreless frame earlier this year while the Major League roster was dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak. He’s pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate and allowed one run on two hits and two walks with nine punchouts.
Farrell, 29, has a 4.92 ERA, a 24.4 percent strikeout rate and a bloated 12.7 percent walk rate in 64 big league frames compiled between five teams. He’s worked primarily as a starter in the minors, where he has a 4.15 ERA in 266 2/3 Triple-A frames and a 3.25 mark in 113 2/3 Double-A innings. The Twins have been using him as a reliever over in St. Paul, however, and that’s where he’ll be ticketed with the MLB club.
There’s no definitive word on how lengthy an absence Pineda is expected to require, but nothing right now suggests it’ll be a significant absence. Any absence at all is another blow to a reeling Twins team that is, rather shockingly, the worst in MLB so far in 2021. Pineda has been one of the team’s bright spots, pitching to a 2.79 ERA with the second-best strikeout percentage (25.3 percent) of his career and a characteristically strong 6.3 percent walk rate. If the Twins can’t dig themselves out of this hole — they’d need a 2019 Nationals-esque run to do so — the veteran Pineda could well find himself on the trade market this summer, as he’s slated to become a free agent at season’s end.
first
Congratulations. Enjoy this monumental W.
Second
First loser
Haha the Twins getting mad about Mercedes shows the true meaning of “sore loser”. If they were half of a REAL team they would let it go and stop tapping on about it. Same with you TLR, if you’re gonna lead a championship team, go with the interest of the players. Or don’t manage them.
I don’t agree with TLR on this one, but he’s led a few championship teams.
I was just about to ask if anyone was willing to discuss this. How do you guys feel about the unwritten rule?
Which one? There are so many.
Almost as many as there are classic Steely Dan hits. Happy Steely Dan Day (May Nineteen).
@baseballpun I did not know that, and I should as a huge fan. Now I gotta rock some Black Cow, cheers man
It’s one of the reasons baseball isn’t as popular as it is. It’s especially stuipd in this case. The Twins put in a position player, who isn’t even hitting 50 MPH on the gun, to pitch in a blowout game, essentially waving the white flag. Who cares if he hits a home run on 3-0? He’s getting paid to go up there to score runs, right? I know Mercedes is still far from it, but arbitration still takes into account classic stats like home run total, RBI’s, runs scored.
You’re also talking about a guy who’s played professionally for over 11 years. He’s bounced around a ton, including with some independent league teams. Let the guy who’s fought all this way to becoming a potential, 28-year-old Rookie Of The Year candidate have some fun.
It’s stil stupid in the case of Tatis Jr., Acuna, etc. These guys are the most exciting players in the sport and you don’t want them to show emotion and energy? Do you not want them to be popular? Do you want to sell more tickets because kids want to see excitement and energy from players?
Not to take away from Farrell getting called up, good on him. But I think the problem that TLR has is that Mercedes ignored a sign.
I mean respecting the opponent and all, but ignoring a fake sign on a 3-0 count is just going against your manager, the guy who is supposed to lead you, and I know it’s Tony fricken La Russa, but still it’s a tale sign and Mercedes is a rookie and it’s just a bad look that’s why TLR is so vocal about it I believe.
I mean, I played baseball at a decently high level, ignoring any sign, no matter the situation results in discipline of some sort.
I personally wouldn’t want my team to swing the bat in that situation. Saying that though if you are upset about them swinging, don’t pitch bad and put yourself in that situation.
Pine Tar Pineda was off to a good start but it was only a matter of time before he hit the IL.
Tony LaRussa forgot to obey the written rule of not driving drunk.
Exactly, for someone who whines so much about the unwritten rules he needs to do a better job of following the written rules instead.
It seems Nelson Cruz has found the fountain of youth. The guy seems to get better the older he gets. Close to 41 years old by documents and probably a few years older if we new the truth. Another homer today for Boomstick.
That’s the way Yermin plays. I don’t believe he was trying to show up anyone. What bothers me is Tony publicly criticizing him. I mean you’re team is in first place as you’re hoping to make the playoffs and you tell one of your guys to take mercy on the opponent. Then call him out to the media and then say you have no problem with the opponent throwing at him.
Mercedes handled it poorly. It was selfish to ignore the sign which he said he saw. His response was even more selfish when asked why he disregarded the sign. I don’t care if the 3-0 take was the wrong call. He should have taken the pitch and gone after the next one. Media pounding Tony. Yesterday they slammed him because they thought he was suppressing runs. When that turned out to be false, today they just changed the narrative. Skip gives a sign you follow it. Doesn’t matter if the 3-0 take is obsolete. He should have followed thru. Mercedes comments afterward have been immature and unnecessary.
And i can see why it has taken him ten years to get to the Bigs.
I don’t think position players should be allowed to pitch. They’ve created 7 inning doubleheaders and automatic runner on second to end extra inning games. Make teams use actual pitchers. Come on.
With Larussa, agree to disagree. The end. White Sox are a legit World Series team. They don’t need to be focusing on quite honestly worthless issues.