Twins Notes: Kepler, Maeda, Arraez
MAY 30: Kepler has indeed been placed on the 10-day IL, with catcher Ben Rortvedt recalled from Triple-A to replace him on the active roster. Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that Rob Refsnyder is set to get everyday run in center field with Buxton and Kepler on the shelf.
Baldelli also addressed Maeda’s setback this afternoon (via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). While the right-hander was initially placed on the IL due to a groin strain, he’s fully recovered from that injury. His current issue is unrelated “general arm soreness.” The timetable for his return is still uncertain, although Baldelli says Maeda could resume playing catch next week.
MAY 29: The Twins’ 6-5 victory over the Royals today may have come at a price, as Max Kepler left the game due to a left hamstring strain. Kepler came up limping while trying to beat out a grounder in the second inning, and was immediately replaced in the field for the top of the third.
Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes) that Kepler would undergo an MRI and could potentially be heading to the injured list. At the very least, “I don’t think he’s going to be out there in the next few days,” Baldelli said.
This is the second time in under two weeks that a hamstring problem has forced Kepler out of a game, as he made an early exit back on May 16. Since that injury, Kepler has sat out four games and also been limited to DH duty in three others in an attempt to play through the issue. Now, however, Kepler looks to be joining Byron Buxton, Jake Cave, and utilityman Luis Arraez on the 10-day IL as Minnesota will be further short-handed in the outfield.
As per the wRC+ metric, Kepler has delivered exactly average (100) offensive production this season, hitting .212/.303/.424 over 152 plate appearances. Beyond the lingering hamstring injury, Kepler also missed 10 days recovering from a case of COVID-19.
Baldelli also has less-than-positive updates about two other injured Twins in Arraez and Kenta Maeda. Arraez hit the injured list (in retroactive placement fashion) on May 24 due to a right shoulder strain, and that strain now looks like a subluxation that will keep Arraez out of action for multiple weeks.
A groin strain sent Maeda to the IL on May 23, and Baldelli said that Maeda suffered a setback during a bullpen session on Friday. The right-hander was initially expected to miss between 10-14 days, but now it isn’t known when Maeda might be back in the Minnesota rotation. Maeda has a 5.27 ERA/4.07 SIERA through nine starts and 42 2/3 innings for the Twins this season.
Twins Select Juan Minaya, Designate Dakota Chalmers
Prior to today’s 6-5 win over the Royals, the Twins selected the contract of right-hander Juan Minaya from Triple-A Saint Paul. Righty Cody Stashak was optioned to Triple-A and right-hander Dakota Chalmers was designated for assignment to create roster space for Minaya.
Signed to a minor league deal last winter, Minaya is now in position to make his first Major League appearance since July 12, 2019. It’s worth noting that the Twins also selected Minaya’s contract last season but didn’t use him in a game during his few days on the active roster before he was DFA’ed.
The 30-year-old spent his first four MLB seasons with the White Sox, posting a 3.93 ERA/4.14 SIERA and a slightly above-average 25.1% strikeout rate over 128 1/3 innings. Minaya became a free agent following the season and signed his first minors deal with the Twins in January 2020.
Chalmers was a third-round pick for the Athletics in the 2015 draft, and he was dealt to the Twins for Fernando Rodney back in August 2018. The righty has a 4.38 ERA over 168 1/3 career innings in pro ball, including a very ugly 9.49 ERA over 12 1/3 innings at Double-A this year. Even prior to 2021, control has been an issue in Chalmers’ career, and he also missed most of the 2018-19 seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Twins Notes: Buxton, Colina, Arraez
Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli said earlier this week that the organizational hope was for Byron Buxton, on the injured list with a hip strain, to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. It seems that won’t happen quite yet, however, as president of baseball ops Derek Falvey now tells reporters that Buxton is still having trouble decelerating without discomfort when he is running (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). An exact timetable for his rehab assignment isn’t clear, but it apparently won’t begin until next week at the earliest.
The Twins have run journeyman Rob Refsnyder out to center field in place of Buxton and, in rather stunning fashion, received similar production at the plate. The 30-year-old Refsnyder, who signed a minor league deal over the winter, is hitting .438/.472/.719 in 36 plate appearances and has made the first nine appearances of his career in center field with the Twins. Obviously, that type of output won’t last, but it’s helped the Twins to patch things over in the absence of Buxton, who was hitting .370/.408/.772 with nine homers in 98 plate appearances before landing on the IL. Minnesota is arguably the game’s most disappointing team so far, but the Twins have won five of their last six.
Some more notes on the club…
- Falvey also revealed that hard-throwing righty Edwar Colina underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right elbow today and will be shut down from throwing for at least the next couple months (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Colina would obviously need time to then build back up, so it would seem fair to wonder just how much he’ll be able to pitch at all in 2021. The now-24-year-old Colina tossed a combined 97 1/3 innings of 2.96 ERA ball across three minor league levels in 2019, topping out with a four-inning showing in Triple-A. He faced seven batters in the big leagues with the Twins last year but retired only one in that ultra-brief MLB debut. Colina averaged 97.3 mph on his heater last year and fanned more than a quarter of his opponents in that solid 2019 campaign. He’s ranked 21st among Twins prospects over at Baseball America and at FanGraphs, while MLB.com tabs him 17th in the system.
- Minnesota announced today that utilityman Luis Arraez is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. He first incurred the injury while sliding headfirst into second base in this past weekend’s series against the Indians. The versatile Arraez is an atypical hitter in today’s brand of three-true-outcome baseball. He’s fanned in just 11.1 percent of his plate appearances this year while walking at a 10.5 percent clip and using an all-fields approach with virtually no power. The 24-year-old is a career .318/.382/.406 hitter with more walks than strikeouts in 649 trips to the plate. His placement on the IL creates an avenue for the Twins to reinstate right-hander Michael Pineda from his own 10-day IL stint. Pineda is on the hill for today’s series finale against the Orioles.
Injury Notes: Buxton, Mets, A’s, Cards
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton could be ready for a rehab assignment near the end of the week, manager Rocco Baldelli told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and other reporters. Buxton has been out since May 7 with a hip strain, the latest of an unfortunate number of injuries he has dealt with since his career began in 2015. The 27-year-old was off to a jaw-dropping start this season with a .370/.408/.772 line, nine home runs and five stolen bases in 98 plate appearances before his IL placement, making him the brightest spot on a Minnesota team that has surprisingly gone from contender to calamity.
- The Mets didn’t need another injury to an outfielder, but they got one Monday: Johneshwy Fargas departed their game against the Rockies with a left AC joint sprain, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to report. The team just promoted Fargas a week ago when it placed fellow outfielder Michael Conforto on the injured list (he’ll be out until late June with a hamstring strain), and Fargas has since been its go-to option in center. The 26-year-old has fared well with a .286/.286/.524 line in 22 plate appearances, but he may now be on his way to the IL. The Mets’ outfield is already without Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr.
- Athletics left-hander Jesus Luzardo is going on a Triple-A rehab start Thursday and looks to be closing in on a return to the big league club, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The question is whether Luzardo, who fractured his left hand in a video game-related accident at the beginning of the month, will start or relieve when he returns. The promising 23-year-old got off to a rocky start this season with a 5.79 ERA in 28 innings prior to landing on the IL.
- Cardinals southpaw reliever Andrew Miller will begin a rehab stint Tuesday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat tweets. St. Louis will have a better idea of a return date later this week. The Cardinals have gone since April 29 without Miller, whom they sent to the IL with a right foot issue. The once-marvelous Miller, 36, got off to a tough start this year with 7 1/3 innings of 12-hit, seven-run pitching and eight strikeouts against four walks before going on the IL.
MLBTR Poll: Is It Time For The Twins To Sell?
After a disappointing 17-29 start to the season, the Twins aren’t decided sellers, but they might not be far off, writes MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Said GM Thad Levine, “We still believe in the team. We think it’s very talented, but we’re getting close to an inflection point where we’re going to need to see some more sustained momentum, as we believe we’re in a very competitive division, let alone league.” That sounds like a front office that’s readying to make the most of a bad situation.
The Twins are tied with the Orioles for the worst record in the American League after 46 games, roughly 28 percent of the way through the season. As of today, they sit 9.5 games behind the White Sox for the AL Central lead. They are 11 games out of a wild card spot. Only the Orioles and Tigers seem like definite sellers at this point in the AL, joined by the Pirates, Rockies, and Diamondbacks from the National League. The Twins could try to get a jump on the trade market and move some veterans while there’s still a large pool of potential buyers.
For context, on this date two years ago, the Nationals famously entered play at 19-31, 10 games behind the Phillies for the division lead, 8.5 games out of a wild card spot. So while there’s definitely precedent for turning it around at this stage of the game, it took a historic .661 win percentage the rest of the way to pull the Nats to 93 wins. The Twins will soon have to decide if they think this unit is capable of that kind of run.
They’re looking up at a crowded field in the American League where the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, White Sox, Astros, Blue Jays, A’s, and Indians look like contenders and the Royals, Rangers, Angels, and Mariners can make arguments in their favor. If the Twins decide to lean into a lost season, they certainly have some veterans on hand who could be helpful to contending teams. Nelson Cruz and his 138 wRC+ could certainly find a home, as might other veterans on short-term deals like Andrelton Simmons, Michael Pineda, Hansel Robles, J.A. Happ, or even Alex Colome.
More broadly, Miguel Sano could be shopped to a team needing power. Even someone like Max Kepler might fetch a juicy return given his team-friendly deal. The Twins have no need to move Kepler, but with young players like Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff on hand, he might be someone a savvy team looking for outfield help might ask after.
The biggest fish would be Jose Berrios, Taylor Rogers, or Byron Buxton, all of whom have just one season left of arbitration before free agency. Moving any of the three would be a difficult call on the Twins’ part, however, considering the damage that kind of deal might do to their ability to contend in 2022. All that said, prospects are the currency of the game, and a strong development pool is the surest way to build a consistent winner.
The Twins are weighing their options, but let’s make this easy on them. Is it time to sell?
(Poll link for app users)
Should The Twins Sell?
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Yes 68% (4,919)
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No 32% (2,308)
Total votes: 7,227
Twins Place Kenta Maeda On 10-Day Injured List
The Twins have placed right-hander Kenta Maeda on the 10-day injured list due to a groin strain, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters today. Infielder Nick Gordon will be called up from Triple-A to take Maeda’s place on the active roster.
Maeda’s groin problem has been a recurring issue for his last couple of starts, and his attempt to pitch through the injury wasn’t terribly successful, though he did manage to toss five innings on 73 pitches in a start against the Indians yesterday (Maeda allowed three runs on three hits and a walk). However, groin tightness led Maeda to be removed from the game after those five innings, and an IL stint seems necessary for him to properly recover.
After finishing second in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2020, Maeda’s second season with the Twins hasn’t gone nearly as smoothly. Maeda has a 5.27 ERA/4.13 SIERA in 42 2/3 innings, and his Statcast numbers are more or less down across the board from 2020. Most notably, Maeda’s strikeout percentage is only 20.5%, a big dropoff from his career norms, let alone his career-best 32.3% strikeout rate in 2020.
Maeda’s struggles are one of the many reasons why Minnesota is off to a nightmare of a 16-29 start. The Twins rotation was already thinned out with Michael Pineda on the injured list, so Lewis Thorpe or Bailey Ober are probably the likeliest candidates to step into Maeda’s spot. Since Maeda only just pitched yesterday and the Twins have an off-day on Thursday, it’s possible a fill-in fifth starter might only be needed for one start should Maeda be able to return in the minimum 10 days or slightly beyond.
Twins Reinstate Alex Kirilloff From 10-Day IL
The Twins have activated outfielder Alex Kirilloff from the 10-day injured list and also called up right-hander Randy Dobnak from Triple-A, the team announced. Dobnak will start tonight’s game against the Indians. Right-hander Bailey Ober and catcher Ben Rortvedt were optioned to Triple-A in corresponding moves.
Kiriloff’s IL placement came with a retroactive date of May 4, so the young outfielder will end up missing 17 days of action — not a bad outcome, considering the somewhat ominous initial reaction to his right wrist sprain. Kirilloff was going to see a specialist concerning his wrist, which emerged as an injury concern during the 2019 season and limited him to 94 minor league games with the Twins’ Double-A affiliate.
However, Kirilloff will now get back onto the field and resume what was beginning to look like an intriguing rookie season. A consensus pick as one of the sport’s best prospect, Kirilloff made his debut during the Twins’ postseason run last season and then made his regular-season debut this April, going hitless in his first 14 plate appearances but then batting .321/.333/.857 with four home runs in his next 30 trips to the plate.
Kirilloff has worked almost entirely as a left fielder or first baseman during his brief big league tenure, but he should get some time in right field as the Twins continue to juggle their outfield while Byron Buxton is still injured. With Buxton out, regular right fielder Max Kepler has seen the bulk of work in center field, with Kyle Garlick, Trevor Larnach, Rob Refsnyder, and utilityman Luis Arraez rotating in and out of the outfield picture.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/21/21
Catching up on some minor league moves from around the baseball world…
Latest Moves
- The Twins outrighted Derek Law to Triple-A after the right-hander cleared waivers. Minnesota designated Law for assignment earlier this week. Law signed a minor league deal with the Twins during the offseason and posted an 8.53 ERA over 6 1/3 relief innings for the team, which marked Law’s first MLB action since he tossed 60 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays in 2019. In parts of five big league seasons with the Giants, Jays, and Twins, Law has a 4.38 ERA and 22.5% strikeout rate over 172 2/3 career innings.
Earlier Today
- Outfielder Lane Adams signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican Baseball League. Adams hit .263/.333/.467 over 154 career MLB plate appearances (with a perfect 11-for-11 record in stolen base attempts) with the Royals and Braves, appearing in parts of three seasons from 2014-18. Since his last big league game, Adams inked minor league deals with the Phillies and Braves in 2019, and then the Twins last season.
MLB Suspends Twins Tyler Duffey, Rocco Baldelli
5:57 pm: Duffey has agreed to a reduced two-game suspension, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press was among those to relay (Twitter link). He’ll sit out the second game of today’s doubleheader and tomorrow’s contest against the Indians.
4:38 pm: Major League Baseball announced that Twins reliever Tyler Duffey has been suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount for “intentionally throwing a pitch behind Yermín Mercedes of the Chicago White Sox during the top of the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s game at Target Field.” Duffey has elected to appeal his suspension, so he remains active pending the appeals process. Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli was suspended for one game and fined for the incident. Baldelli will serve his suspension during the nightcap of today’s doubleheader with the Angels.
It’s the latest development in the strange unwritten rules saga that has transpired between Chicago and Minnesota over the past few days. With the White Sox leading the Twins 15-4 in the top of the ninth on Monday night, Mercedes stepped in to hit against Minnesota utilityman Willians Astudillo, who had been called on to pitch a mop-up inning. On a 3-0 count, Mercedes swung at a 47.1 MPH Astudillo offering and hit a home run to center field.
After the game, Chicago manager Tony La Russa called out his own player, saying Mercedes made a “big mistake” swinging at the pitch (via Jesse Rogers of ESPN). “I was upset because that’s not a time to swing 3-0. I knew the Twins knew I was upset,” La Russa told reporters. … “He missed a 3-0 take sign. With that kind of lead, that’s just sportsmanship and respect for your opponent. … There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family. It’s a learning experience.”
Mercedes, though, was publicly backed by a few of his teammates. Chicago starter Lance Lynn commented on the situation (via Chris Emma of 670 the Score), saying “there are no rules” when a position player is on the mound and noting the sport’s unwritten code of conduct has been relaxed in recent seasons. (La Russa, when asked about Lynn’s comments, said he “(doesn’t) agree” and noted that “Lance has a locker. I have an office,” in reference to his status as the club’s manager). Shortstop Tim Anderson, meanwhile, posted “The game wasn’t over! Keep doing you, big daddy” on Instagram, to which Mercedes replied “Yes sir, let’s do it, baby.”
It seems at least some members of the Twins organization also took exception to Mercedes’ swing decision. During Tuesday night’s game between Minnesota and Chicago, Duffey threw a first-pitch fastball behind Mercedes’ back. The reliever was ejected by home plate umpire Jim Reynolds, as was Baldelli. Duffey was replaced by Alex Colomé, who walked Mercedes on four pitches. Other than an innocuous hit by pitch of Jake Lamb by Twins starter Bailey Ober earlier in the game, no players were hit in either of the final two games of the series. No other players or coaches were ejected.
La Russa, for his part, continued to attract controversy after Tuesday’s game. He doubled down on his conviction that Mercedes’ decision to swing at the pitch was unacceptable and said he “(didn’t) have a problem with how the Twins handled it” when asked about Duffey’s pitch (via Ryan McGuffey of NBC Sports Chicago). La Russa’s public disagreement with at least of a few of the Sox most notable stars has drawn plenty of attention around the league throughout the week.
It’s a bizarre situation (particularly for how publicly it’s played out) that could continue to draw unwanted attention to White Sox players and coaches as the season progresses, given La Russa’s reputation as an old-school manager and the young Chicago clubhouse. If there is strife between the players and the coaching staff, it hasn’t seemed to affect the Sox on the field. Chicago has an AL-best 26-16 record.
Twins Place Michael Pineda On Injured List, Select Luke Farrell
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.