The Twins announced that right-hander Scott Blewett has been designated for assignment. The move opens up a roster spot for left-hander Kody Funderburk, who was called up from Triple-A.
Blewett’s minor league deal was selected to Minnesota’s roster earlier this week, and the righty made a good accounting for himself by allowing one run over 4 2/3 relief innings, while striking out five of 19 batters faced and allowing no walks in his two appearances. Today’s transaction simply seems to be about getting a fresh arm into the Twins pen, since Blewett tossed 36 pitches over 2 1/3 innings in yesterday’s 7-6 loss to the Tigers.
Blewett now has a 1.80 ERA over 25 big league innings for Minnesota over the last two seasons, though the strong bottom-line results haven’t earned him any kind of roster stability. The Twins twice outrighted him off the 40-man roster in 2024, with Blewett both times clearing waivers and electing free agency, only to resign with the club on a new minors contract. Assuming Blewett clears waivers again, the same scenario could play out this time around, though a team in need of some swingman help could consider putting in a claim.
The return to the big leagues and then to DFA limbo has made for quite the birthday week for Blewett, who turned 29 on Thursday. Blewett is out of minor league options, so the Twins had no choice but to pursue the DFA/outright route in order to try and send him to Triple-A. Blewett has worked only as a reliever over his 33 career MLB innings, but he has a lot of experience as a starter in the minors and during a brief stint in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2023.
If this spells the end for him, first ballot best baseball names HOF in 5 years.
Scott had his chance, but he…
He did great unlike what the last name would indicate. Surprised he got designated, but a trade might be on the horizon.
DFA with a handshake agreement to re-sign, I’m sure.
You have to love the last name’s of both players
My first car was a Funderburk.
You Blewett!!!
He had one job.
He pitched a good game last night and was the best of the 4 relievers the Twins threw at the Tigers.
But, I also noticed the Twins desperately need some left handed help. Festa was pulled in the 5th after only 64 pitches so a lefty (Coulombe) could face righty masher Kerry Carpenter. Once that bullpen door opened, the Tigers mounted a comeback to win.
If the Twins needed to DFA someone, probably should have been Alcala. He was awful. 4 runs, 0 outs.
I thought he pitched pretty good last night,too. This explains why they left him in for fairly long amount of relief pitches
Why’d they pull Festa so early? Is he not stretched out yet?
Idk. It was a close game and it may have been a combination of wanting the righty to face Carpenter and possibly getting Carpenter out of the game by using a pinch hitter. It’s a bit of a chess match I see with Carpenter almost every game. If it’s not the other team trying to force him out of the game, it’s Hinch pinch hitting Carpenter when a lefty is removed. He plays almost exclusively against right handed pitching (tho, that may be changing).
Opposing managers even keep a lefty in longer just to be sure that the lefty faces Carpenter.
Blewett’s minor league results have been a disaster, yet he’s done great in a small sample of major league innings. Either he’s figured something out or it’s just the problem of a small sample size. The Twins think they know which, and I’d be inclined to believe them.
He must’ve “blewitt”.
Saw him come up through KC’s minor league system. Surprised he’s been a somewhat viable major league reliever, to be honest. Glad to see it, though.
Wait for it…
If they lose him to another organization,
The Twins will have BLEWETT !!
No – the organization that picks him up will have Blewett!
He has the Jesse Chavez deal with the Twinkies.
Scott Blewett’s 1.80 ERA in his first 25 MLB innings (2024–25) is better than any full-season ERA posted by a Twins reliever in 2024 with at least 20 IP.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Tigers grabbing him on waivers if they have opportunity. They ve given chances to guys far worse.
Yankees