Headlines

  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim
  • Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon
  • Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday
  • Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds
  • Rangers Option Josh Jung
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar, Anthony DeSclafani To Begin Season On Injured List

By Steve Adams | March 18, 2024 at 1:39pm CDT

1:39pm: There’s concern that DeSclafani could require season-ending surgery, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Nightengale and others.

1:00pm: Twins closer Jhoan Duran, lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar, and rotation hopeful Anthony DeSclafani will open the season on the 15-day injured list, tweets Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Duran is dealing with a “moderate” oblique strain, while Thielbar will head to the IL with a strained hamstring. DeSclafani has a more ominous forearm strain and is slated to meet with Dr. Keith Meister for further evaluation.

Beyond that trio of surefire big leaguers, the Twins will also see prospect Matt Canterino and roster hopeful Zack Weiss start on the injured list, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Canterino, long one of the organization’s most promising arms, will be on the Triple-A injured list after suffering a subscapular strain in his shoulder. Weiss, a waiver claim out of the Red Sox organization, has been rehabbing a teres major strain and will be on the major league injured list.

Losing Duran even for a short spell is painful for the Twins, given the flamethrower’s emergence as one of MLB’s premier relievers. Since making his big league debut on Opening Day 2022, Duran has pitched 130 innings of 2.15 ERA ball with 35 saves, 19 holds, a 33.2% strikeout rate, a 7.9% walk rate and a massive 63.4% ground-ball rate. He averaged a ludicrous 101.8 mph on his heater last season and 98.4 mph with his splitter/sinker hybrid (“splinker”). The good news for the Twins is that a moderate strain shouldn’t result in excessively lengthy absence, but even Grade 1 strains have been known to sideline players for upwards of a month. The team hasn’t formally announced a timetable for Duran’s expected return just yet.

Wit Duran sidelined, it’ll likely fall to Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart to handle save situations early in the season. Jax has become one of Duran’s top setup men in recent years and offers an above-average strikeout rate and strong command of a slider-heavy arsenal. Stewart returned from a yearslong MLB absence and multiple arm surgeries brandishing an upper-90s cutter that helped him punch out nearly 36% of his opponents while pitching to a 0.65 ERA in 27 2/3 innings for the Twins last saeson.

The 37-year-old Thielbar has flown under the radar since returning to affiliated ball following a five-year absence in 2020, but he’s quietly been one of the team’s most important relievers in that time. Over the past four seasons, the Minnesota native has given his hometown club 174 innings of 3.21 ERA ball, piling up 45 holds while punching out 30.2% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate. He struggled against right-handers last season, yielding a .258/.319/.621 batting line, but Thielbar didn’t have glaring struggles against righties from 2020-22. As with Duran, they’ll hope for a relatively brief absence, but the team hasn’t given any specifics on how long he’s expected to miss just yet.

Word of DeSclafani’s injury is the most concerning of the three. Acquired from the Mariners (who’d picked him up from the Giants previously) as part of the trade sending Jorge Polanco to Seattle, DeSclafani had been in the running to open the season as the Twins’ fifth starter. He was slowed early in camp by some discomfort and is now headed for evaluation with one of the sport’s more notable surgeons.

DeSclafani has struggled to stay healthy throughout his career. He missed the entire 2017 season with a UCL sprain that never required surgery, pitched a mostly healthy year in 2018 and enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career with the Reds in 2019. A teres major strain hobbled him in 2020 and limited him to 33 2/3 innings of 7.22 ERA ball, however. DeSclafani bounced back with a bit 2021 season in San Francisco, working 167 2/3 frames of 3.17 ERA ball over a mostly full slate of 31 starts.

DeSclafani re-signed in San Francisco on a three-year, $36MM deal that hasn’t at all gone according to plan. An ankle injury that eventually required surgery limited him to 19 frames in 2022. Shoulder fatigue and a pair of flexor strains capped him at 99 2/3 frames in 2023. He’ll now be slowed to begin the 2024 season, though a timeline won’t be known until that appointment with Dr. Meister has taken place.

The Twins are only the hook for $4MM of DeSclafani’s $12MM salary. The Giants sent $6MM to the Mariners in their original trade involving DeSclafani, and the M’s sent that plus another $2MM to Minnesota in the Polanco swap. With DeSclafani headed to the injured list, right-hander Louie Varland should have the fifth spot in the rotation all but locked up. He’ll follow Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Chris Paddack and Bailey Ober in what should be a solid Twins staff if everyone can remain healthy. However, the Twins will undoubtedly feel the losses of Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, particularly now with their top depth option shelved. In the event of additional pitching injuries, Minnesota would likely turn to one of Simeon Woods Richardson, Brent Headrick or yet-to-debut top prospect David Festa.

As for the others, Canterino is still working his way back from 2022 Tommy John surgery. Injuries have regularly slowed him since being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft. Between shaky health and the scrapped 2020 minor league season, he’s still pitched only 85 professional innings. They’ve been excellent — 1.48 ERA, 39.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate — but his persistent injury troubles have undercut his considerable upside. As for Weiss, he’s pitched just 27 1/3 MLB frames but has a history of strong strikeout totals in the minors. He could be a bullpen option for the Twins at some point, but for now he’ll collect MLB service and pay while rehabbing. For a 32-year-old with just 91 days of big league service to this point in his career, that’s not insignificant.

It seems unlikely that the Twins will go outside the organization to boost their depth — at least in term of significant salary additions. Owner Joe Pohlad all but declared his team out on top names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery earlier in camp when stating that his team was not going to “go out and spend $30MM on a player right now.” The Twins shocked baseball with a pair of Carlos Correa signings that came together under similar circumstances, but it doesn’t seem there’s another splash of that magnitude up their sleeves. Minnesota was reportedly interested in Michael Lorenzen earlier in the offseason, so it’s possible they could still circle back on that front. More likely is that they’ll just ride things out with internal options, perhaps adding a veteran on a minor league deal. A particularly lengthy absence for DeSclafani could create some extra urgency, so the results of his evaluation are worth tracking with a close eye for Twins fans.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Minnesota Twins Anthony DeSclafani Caleb Thielbar Jhoan Duran Matt Canterino Zack Weiss

Guardians Reassign Kyle Manzardo To Minor League Camp
Main
Josh Harrison Opts Out Of Minors Deal With Reds
View Comments (52)
Post a Comment

52 Comments

  1. getrealgone2

    1 year ago

    Awww Twins

    2
    Reply
  2. This one belongs to the Reds

    1 year ago

    That’s a whole lot of pitching. Sorry, Twins fans.

    5
    Reply
    • bag o ballz

      1 year ago

      yea too bad there is no pitching left on the market.

      2
      Reply
      • CubsWin108

        1 year ago

        clev and bauer are probably taking cheap deals \-_-/

        Reply
        • srsbryzness

          1 year ago

          The Twins are not signing Bauer.

          4
          Reply
    • ilikesports

      1 year ago

      We asked for it with Disco. We need to stop trading for injury risk pitchers…

      3
      Reply
      • ArrogantAnalyst

        1 year ago

        Throwing baseballs for a living is a massive injury risk. Every pitcher is an injury risk. Disco is a scrap heap pitcher thrown in to dump some salary and balance an otherwise unfair trade

        1
        Reply
    • Pete'sView

      1 year ago

      But no one can be surprised that DeSclafani is on that list.

      1
      Reply
    • martras

      1 year ago

      Meh. It’s all arguably depth except Duran, and the Twins still have one of the best bullpens in baseball.

      Reply
  3. Fraham_

    1 year ago

    NO DESCLAFANI :((
    Honestly give me the tigers now to win

    1
    Reply
    • ohyeadam

      1 year ago

      No Disco could be addition by subtraction, he’s not been good for a couple years now.

      So long as Duran and Thielbar aren’t gone too long they’ll be okay. Twins have pretty good depth in the bullpen.

      Real problem is Canterino has never been healthy

      6
      Reply
      • Hammerin' Hank

        1 year ago

        Exactly. If this means that Varland starts the year in the rotation, it’s a good thing. Disco is basically now just a spot starter, long-relief type. And his absence certainly isn’t shifting the balance of power in the division, not even close.

        3
        Reply
  4. PaulyMidwest

    1 year ago

    I am surprised Brad Hand hasn’t signed somewhere. This might be his chance. Buxton is hurt already too, also it rains a lot in Seattle..

    3
    Reply
    • just_breathe

      1 year ago

      From minnesota, too

      1
      Reply
  5. ohyeadam

    1 year ago

    Weiss will be happy to get some service time and big league pay!

    Reply
  6. D2323

    1 year ago

    Twins should be getting dogpiled for not spending on Snell, Montgomery, or literally anyone else of note this offseason. If they are never going to spend despite being division favorites and a playoff team most years just sell them and move the team I’m tired of it.

    3
    Reply
    • cwsOverhaul

      1 year ago

      Correa will need to live up to the pile of cash he got. ALC is horrible. They have that going for them to assess what they need at deadline rather than regretably spend now. If Det or KC run away, that will be surprising.

      1
      Reply
    • This one belongs to the Reds

      1 year ago

      They also aren’t getting the local TV money the large markets who pay those contracts do due to the RSN fiasco. Unless any of those teams moves to a large market and gets a huge local TV deal, that will not change.

      3
      Reply
    • mlb fan

      1 year ago

      “Not spending on Snell”..Blaming the Twins “for not spending on” Snell is pretty selective blame, since all of MLB has pretty much decided Snell & Montgomery were not a good investment at their listed price. Can you really blame a team that just recently spent $200M on Carlos Correa, only to see him put up league average numbers and miss huge portions of the season?

      3
      Reply
    • ilikesports

      1 year ago

      Trust me, us Twins fans have dog piled on the team enough for everyone. From a business standpoint it’s hard to argue against the payroll cuts. From a fan standpoint, it’s infuriating. Especially considering that the Pohlad’s have made roughly 1.3 billion just on the team’s valuation since ’84.

      But to clamor for the team to move because they have the 20th highest payroll is just stupid. You want the other bottom 10 teams to move, too? How many big, non-MLB cities do you think there are in the US (Minneapolis is not a small city, by any means)?? Come on, man.

      You can’t tell me your a baseball fan after that post.

      5
      Reply
      • Os1995

        1 year ago

        Yeah lets move the bottom 10 teams. NYC and LA could use a few more teams. Each borough of NY could have a team and they would all would be above average in market sizes in the mlb.

        3
        Reply
  7. HalosHeavenJJ

    1 year ago

    Nobody should be surprised when DeSclafani is hurt.

    12
    Reply
  8. Old York

    1 year ago

    Any chance we can get a list of players who are not starting the season on the injured list?

    4
    Reply
    • Pete'sView

      1 year ago

      Too long for print or Internet. Each year it seems to get worse.

      Reply
  9. CubsWin108

    1 year ago

    there goes desclafani, f***

    Reply
  10. just_breathe

    1 year ago

    Jax can fill in closing to start

    Reply
    • srsbryzness

      1 year ago

      I was thinking it might be Brock Stewart.

      Reply
      • benhen77

        1 year ago

        Either is viable. Jax’s longer track record probably gets him the first crack.

        Reply
      • ForDoingNothing

        1 year ago

        Right or wrong, it’ll be Jax. That’s Rocco’s guy

        Reply
  11. Redwolves3

    1 year ago

    DeSclafani on 15-day IL. Good thing Zaidi traded DeSclafani to Seattle

    4
    Reply
  12. Johnny utah

    1 year ago

    Year of the broken pitcher continues

    2
    Reply
  13. ForDoingNothing

    1 year ago

    And the Pohlad’s will sit back and count their money

    Reply
    • ilikesports

      1 year ago

      Don’t we all?

      1
      Reply
  14. outinleftfield

    1 year ago

    Is it just me, or do a lot more pitchers seem to be opening the season on the IL than usual?

    Reply
    • Ignorant Son-of-a-b

      1 year ago

      Nope, it’s just you.

      Reply
    • ohyeadam

      1 year ago

      Everyone says this every year

      Reply
      • outinleftfield

        1 year ago

        Last season there were 31.3% more pitching visits to the IL than in any non-COVID season.

        I was wondering if there are more this year in spring training. The answer is yes. 6 more pitchers are on the IL or with a reported injury at this point in spring training than there were last season.

        So I was correct. Its too bad people comment without checking.

        Reply
        • ohyeadam

          1 year ago

          Kudos to you for putting in the effort. Any thoughts to the cause for the spike? 31.3% is a big jump.
          Pitch clock?
          Max effort?
          Mets IL list?
          More caution?
          Older league?
          Younger league??

          Reply
  15. TellItGoodbye

    1 year ago

    The Giants have had a great offseason, and dumping DeSclafani was one of their best moves. It won’t be long before Wood, Haniger, and Stripling join him on the IL. Thank you, Zaidi!

    Reply
  16. mlb fan

    1 year ago

    “Is it just me”…We seem to hear that most every year and every year there’s lots of pitching injuries. Until someone provides specific injury numbers we’ll never really know I guess.

    1
    Reply
    • Canuckleball

      1 year ago

      Pitchers starting the season on the IL over the last 3 years:

      2023 – 88 (41 missed all season)
      2022 – 66 (30 missed all season)
      2021 – 61 (28 missed all season)

      There does seem to be a trend. Have to wait until opening day this year to see if there are more then 88 this year. If there is, that further reinforces the trend.

      1
      Reply
  17. John Bird

    1 year ago

    Was surprised any team would take a chance on DeSclafani. Can’t stay healthy.

    Reply
    • Baldkid

      1 year ago

      he was a throw in on a trade with a majority of his salary paid by someone other than the Twins.

      2
      Reply
      • John Bird

        1 year ago

        I was surprised the Mariners wanted him.Just glad the Giants got out from under that contract.

        Reply
        • martras

          1 year ago

          The Mariners didn’t want Desclafani, but they didn’t want Robbie Ray’s contract even more.

          Reply
  18. JRamHOF

    1 year ago

    Wow, it’s Detroit’s division to lose now! Don’t let the Royals catch you!

    1
    Reply
  19. getrealgone2

    1 year ago

    Season ending surgery? Woooof

    Reply
  20. MonkeySpanker

    1 year ago

    And Buxton has a back injury. Scratched from the team today. Another unexpected piece of news…not.

    Reply
    • martras

      1 year ago

      Buxton has a tight back. It’s not an “injury.”

      Reply
  21. Ignorant Son-of-a-b

    1 year ago

    Am I being too cynical and derivative or too harsh on these guys for not coming into camp in better shape and/or not knowing how to ramp-up/ramp-down their spring work to such a degree where it’s a pulled hamstring/oblique right off the bat? These sort of injuries shouldn’t be so prolific when an athlete knows what they’re doing and they’re in playing shape right???

    1
    Reply
  22. twinky

    1 year ago

    Twins better grab Michael Lorenzen

    Reply
  23. CaptainHooks

    1 year ago

    What is Dallas Keuchel doing these days?

    1
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Brandon Woodruff To Start For Brewers On Sunday

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Braves Designate Alex Verdugo For Assignment

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Pirates Reportedly Have Very Few Untouchable Players At Trade Deadline

    Griffin Canning Believed To Have Suffered Achilles Injury

    Mariners Looking For Corner Infield Bats; Ownership Willing To Bump Payroll

    Recent

    Royals Select Luke Maile

    Astros Re-Sign Tayler Scott To Minor League Deal

    Mets Re-Sign Colin Poche To Minor League Deal

    Astros Designate Jordan Weems For Assignment

    Athletics Reinstate Zack Gelof, Release T.J. McFarland

    Rangers To Sign Rowdy Tellez To Minor League Deal

    Freddy Galvis Announces Retirement

    Rockies Reinstate Ryan Feltner From 60-Day IL, Outright Sam Hilliard

    Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

    Rangers Designate Billy McKinney For Assignment

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version