Twins Option Louie Varland, Select Ronny Henriquez

The Twins announced a series of moves today, activating outfielder Max Kepler from the injured list and selecting the contract of right-hander Ronny Henriquez. Those two will take the roster spots of right-hander Louie Varland and catcher Jair Camargo, who have been optioned. Right-hander Daniel Duarte was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Henriquez.

The Minnesota rotation has shifted quite a bit since last year, as Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle all reached free agency after the 2023 season. Mahle was already out of the picture after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of last year, but the departures of Gray and Maeda left big holes relative to late last year.

The club acquired Anthony DeSclafani in the winter to take one rotation spot and it was hoped the remaining innings could be taken up by a healthy Chris Paddack or continued development from Varland. Unfortunately, none of three plans have worked for the Twins thus far. DeSclafani required flexor tendon surgery last month, which will keep him on the injured list for the entire year. Meanwhile, Paddack has an earned run average of 8.36 so far this year while Varland is even higher at 9.18.

The Twins’ faith in Varland wasn’t totally without merit, as he showed some encouraging signs last year. He tossed 68 innings for the big league club, striking out 25.1% of batters faced while walking just 6%. His ERA was up at 4.63 thanks to allowing 16 home runs, a 21.1% rate of fly balls leaving the yard. That was about double league average, which is part of the reason why his 3.77 SIERA was almost a full run lower than his ERA. He also had a 3.97 ERA in his Triple-A work last year.

Here in 2024, he’s already allowed six homers in just 16 2/3 innings, a massive 35.3% rate. That would naturally regress going forward, which is why his 4.30 SIERA this year is less than half of his ERA, but that doesn’t entirely wave away his results so far this season. Varland’s strikeout rate has dropped to 20.7% and his walk rate to 10.3%, both significantly worse than last year. After yesterday’s start, where Varland didn’t make it through the third inning, manager Rocco Baldelli was noncommittal about Varland sticking in the rotation.

“We have a whole lot of things we have to talk about,” Baldelli said, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. “We have to have really almost anything on the table right now to find a way to improve.” He also said: “We’re going to have to be open to making roster moves and finding new ways to use players and figure some things out.”

Those rotation struggles have played a big part in the Twins limping out of the gate this year. The defending division champions are currently 7-13, putting them in a distant fourth place in the early going. They will obviously have to get the group in better shape as the season rolls along to get back in contention, and that starts with giving Varland a breather in the minors.

He’ll head to Triple-A and look to get himself back in good form. The length of his optional assignment could potentially impact him from a service time perspective, depending on when he comes back and for how long. He came into this season with 108 days of service time, meaning he needs to accrue 64 days this year to get to 172 and hit the one-year mark.

The Twins could have Paddack, Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober throw the next four games but will need someone to retake Varland’s spot by Friday at the latest. It’s possible that will be Simeon Woods Richardson, who came up to start one game of the club’s doubleheader on April 13. Brent Headrick and Matt Canterino are also on the 40-man roster but the former is on the IL with a forearm strain and the latter has been dealing with a rotator cuff strain and hasn’t pitched in the minors yet this year.

For now, Henriquez takes a spot on the roster and could give the club a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. He has thrown 13 1/3 Triple-A innings over seven appearances so far this year with a 4.05 ERA, striking out 14 opponents while giving out just two walks.

He has 11 2/3 innings of major league experience, which came with the Twins in 2022, but he struggled in the minors last year and was non-tendered. The Twins re-signed him to a minor league deal and he’ll now rejoin the roster, giving a fresh arm to a bullpen that had to cover a lot of innings after Varland’s poor start yesterday. Henriquez still has an option and can be sent back down to Triple-A at a later date without having to be exposed to waivers.

As for Duarte, it was reported over the weekend that he would require season-ending elbow surgery, so his move to the 60-day IL was an inevitability.