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Orioles Claim Chris Vallimont From Twins

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The Orioles announced that right-hander Chris Vallimont has been claimed off waivers from the Twins.  Vallimont was designated for assignment by Minnesota earlier this week.  To open up a 40-man roster spot, Baltimore moved Alexander Wells (who is recovering from a UCL strain) to the 60-day injured list.

Vallimont was assigned to the Orioles’ Double-A affiliate, and the righty has a 6.71 ERA over 110 innings at the Double-A level in the Twins organization.  The Marlins selected Vallimont in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, then swapped him along with Sergio Romo in the July 2019 trade that sent Lewin Diaz to Miami.  After a solid 2019 season, Vallimont didn’t play in 2020 due to the canceled minor league campaign, and has since struggled in his return to the field.

A lack of control has been Vallimont’s biggest problem, as he has an ugly 15.85% walk rate over his 110 Double-A innings.  However, the righty’s 28.3% strikeout rate surely caught Baltimore’s attention, and his Vallimont’s potential as reliever.  Vallimont has started 62 of his 64 career games in the pros, and if he can’t get on track as a starting pitcher, his ability to miss bats could play well out of a bullpen.

Twins Place Joe Ryan On COVID Injury List

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The Twins have placed right-hander Joe Ryan on their COVID-related injury list.  Left-hander Devin Smeltzer was called up to take Ryan’s spot on the active roster, and Smeltzer will start for Minnesota against the Royals on Thursday (Ryan’s next scheduled outing).

Manager Rocco Baldelli told the Associated Press and other reporters that Ryan was “doing okay,” but didn’t provide any details about Ryan’s health.  If Ryan has only been sidelined due to symptoms or due to being a close contact, he could be activated from the COVID list as soon as tomorrow, though obviously that would be cutting it too close to make his scheduled start.  If Ryan has indeed tested positive, he’ll miss at least the next 10 days, unless he meets the three criteria for early activation — 24 hours without a fever, two negative tests, and clearance from a panel of the team doctor, a league-appointed physician, and a union-appointed physician.

Acquired from the Rays as part of the Nelson Cruz trade last July, Ryan has emerged as a force in his rookie season.  The righty has a 2.28 ERA and an above-average 24.3% strikeout rate, thanks in large part to a four-seam fastball that has been one of the most devastating pitches in baseball this season.  Some secondary metrics (4.30 xFIP, 3.93 SIERA, .234 BABIP, 83.7% strand rate) indicate some good fortune, but Ryan has also done well to limit damage by allowing very little hard contact.

Minnesota had plenty of questions about its rotation heading into the season, but the starters have generally performed quite well, despite some injuries.  Ryan and Josh Winder (shoulder impingement) are on the IL, while Chris Paddack has already been lost for the year due to Tommy John surgery.

Twins Reinstate Trevor Larnach, Place Cody Stashak On IL

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The Twins have made a one-for-one swap from their active roster to the injured list, per a team announcement. Outfielder Trevor Larnach has been reinstated after two weeks on the shelf with a groin strain. Heading in the other direction is right-handed reliever Cody Stashak, being placed on the IL with a right shoulder impingement.

The return of Larnach gives the Twins an embarrassment of riches in terms of their outfield mix. Prior to his injury, Larnach was hitting .313/.365/.448 for a wRC+ of 139. His absence has led to more playing time for Gilberto Celestino, who has stepped up admirably. Through 27 games on the season, he’s hitting .355/.420/.419, 154 wRC+. Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick are also all playing well, with each having a wRC+ above 130.

One way to spread at-bats around to all of that crew would be to use the DH slot, though that would lead to less playing time for either Gary Sanchez or Ryan Jeffers, as Sanchez has been taking the bulk of DH time of late, with Jeffers behind the dish. Thanks in large part to this abundance of strong bats, the club is off to a 24-16 start to the year, with a 4 1/2-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central.

For Stashak, this is his second IL stint of the year, as he began the season on the injured list due to right biceps tendinitis. Since returning, he’s thrown 16 1/3 innings for the Twins with a 3.86 ERA and 23.1% strikeout rate. His 26% ground ball rate is below average, but he’s yet to issue a single walk on the year. No timeline was provided for his injury, though shoulder issues for a pitcher are always at least somewhat concerning.

Twins Announce Multiple Roster Moves

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The Twins announced a series of roster moves today, with reporters such as Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press passing them along. Righty Bailey Ober has been reinstated from the injured list while fellow righty Trevor Megill has had his contract selected. To make room on the active roster, lefty Devin Smeltzer was optioned while righty Josh Winder was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement. To make room for Megill on the 40-man roster, righty Chris Vallimont has been designated for assignment. Winder’s placement is retroactive to May 18.

With the Ober and Winder moves, the rotation adds one arm and subtracts another. Ober went on the IL at the end of April with a groin strain. Prior to that, his season was off to a nice start, as he had thrown 19 2/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA, 19% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. Due to injuries to Ober and Dylan Bundy, Winder stepped up and threw 29 1/3 innings for the Twins. In that time, he put up an ERA of 3.68 with an 18.9% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate.

With Chris Paddack undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Minnesota rotation now consists of Ober, Bundy, Chris Archer, Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray. No timetable was provided for Winder’s absence, but a shoulder issue is always at least a bit concerning for a pitcher. As long as he’s out, the club will have to think about who the sixth starter will be the next time one is needed. Options on the 40-man roster include Smeltzer, Jordan Balazovic, Ronny Henriquez, Cole Sands and Drew Strotman.

Megill, 28, made his MLB debut with the Cubs last year, throwing 23 2/3 innings out of their bullpen with an 8.37 ERA. That’s an obvious indicator of poor results, but it wasn’t all bad. He struck out 26.1% of batters faced and walked just 7%, both of those numbers being better than league average. However, his 24.1% HR/FB rate was more than double last year’s 10% league average. He was non-tendered and then signed by the Twins on a minors deal. He’s carried that profile over into 2022 so far, though with much better results overall. Through 11 innings in Triple-A, he has a 3.27 ERA. His 34.1% strikeout rate is fantastic, though his HR/FB rate is 33.3%, but that represents just two dingers. He has a couple of option years remaining, meaning he could be shuttled between Triple-A and the majors as long as he can hang onto a spot on the 40-man.

Vallimont, 25, just earned his spot on the roster in November, ahead of the Rule 5 draft that ended up being canceled due to the lockout. However, through 19 innings so far in Double-A this year, he has a 9.95 ERA. His 31.1% strikeout rate at this level last year has dropped all the way down to 17.9%. His walk rate also jumped from 14.6% to 20.5%. Those results were evidently enough for the Twins to risk losing him. They will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. Given his youth and ability to be optioned, he could attract the interest of clubs that need pitching depth who are willing to dismiss this year’s struggles as a small sample blip.

Twins Outright Jharel Cotton

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May 20: Cotton cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

May 17: The Twins will designate right-hander Jharel Cotton for assignment today in order to open roster space for right-hander Dylan Bundy, who is being activated from the injured list, manager Rocco Baldelli announced (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).

It’ll be the second DFA of the season for the 30-year-old Cotton, who was also designated back on April 13. Cotton cleared waivers the first time around and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, even though he has three-plus years of service time and a prior outright — either of which would allow him to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. The Twins will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers a second time.

Cotton was claimed off waivers out of the Rangers organization at the end of the 2021 season and has tossed 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota thus far in 2022. He’s yielded just one run and punched out seven batters in that time, but he’s also walked six batters, hit another one and thrown a wild pitch. A former top-100 prospect who went from the Dodgers to the A’s alongside Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas in 2016’s Josh Reddick/Rich Hill swap, Cotton carries a 4.60 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 35.5% grounder rate in 195 2/3 big league innings.

As for Bundy, he’ll return after missing nearly two weeks following a positive Covid test. The former Orioles and Angels righty was brilliant to begin the season, combining for 15 1/3 innings of one-run ball with a 12-to-1 K/BB ratio across his first three starts as a Twin. He was clobbered for six runs in six innings against the Rays in his fourth start of the season, however, and his former Orioles club jumped him for a whopping nine runs in 3 2/3 innings the day before he landed on the injured list.

That pair of disastrous outings has overshadowed Bundy’s terrific start, and he’s now sitting on a 5.76 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate through 25 innings. With Bailey Ober sidelined by a groin strain and Chris Paddack landing on the 60-day IL owing to elbow inflammation, the Twins will be all the more dependent on a rebound from Bundy. If Bundy can put that pair of ugly outings behind him and right the ship, his one-year, $5MM contract contains an $11MM club option for the 2023 season. He’ll take the mound for tonight’s game in Oakland.

Chris Paddack Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Twins starter Chris Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery today, the team informed reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). It’s the second such procedure of his career, as he previously went under the knife as a Padres prospect back in 2016.

It’s obviously a disappointing development for both pitcher and team. Minnesota just acquired Paddack on the eve of Opening Day, relinquishing closer Taylor Rogers and corner outfielder Brent Rooker to secure three years of his services (as well as reliever Emilio Pagán). The hope was that Paddack would add some depth to a rotation that had its fair share of injury concerns, but his first season in Minnesota comes to a close after five outings.

Paddack presented something of a health red flag himself, however. In addition to his prior Tommy John surgery, the righty landed on the injured list late last September due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. That proved a season-ending issue, but Paddack returned to open this year. He left his May 8 start because of renewed elbow inflammation, and reports thereafter suggested surgery might prove necessary.

The 26-year-old Paddack has proven enigmatic from both a health and performance perspective. He was lights-out as a rookie, tossing 140 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball in 2019. His production ticked downwards in both of the following seasons, as his ERA jumped north of 4.70 in both years while he struggled to keep the ball in the park. The Friars continued to stockpile starting pitching talent over that time, and Paddack fell outside the top five or six arms on the rotation depth chart.

San Diego explored multiple possible Paddack deals in Spring Training. He and Pagán were involved in talks with the Mets that might’ve offloaded some of Eric Hosmer’s contract to New York while sending Dominic Smith to Southern California. Mets’ brass eventually pulled out of that possible deal, and San Diego pivoted to talks with Minnesota instead.

From a performance perspective, Paddack had shown signs of turning the corner in his early run in the Twin Cities. He posted a 4.03 ERA across 22 1/3 innings, striking out 21.5% of opponents while walking just two of the 93 hitters he faced. The Texas native saw slight dips in his fastball velocity and swinging strike rate, but neither seemed especially alarming until he was pulled mid-start with the elbow concern.

Paddack is making $2.25MM this season, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more. With his limited innings total, he’ll only accrue a marginal raise on that salary for 2023. He’ll certainly miss the bulk of the 2023 campaign as well, so his final arbitration raise will probably also be muted. It’s unfortunate timing for Paddack, but that affordability probably means the Twins will tender him a contract with an eye towards the end of next season and the 2024 campaign.

In the meantime, Minnesota will have to make due with their other starting pitching options. Joe Ryan and Chris Archer are the only two who have taken all seven turns through the rotation. Dylan Bundy missed some time with COVID-19, but both he and Sonny Gray — who had a brief IL stint for a hamstring strain — are back. Bailey Ober shouldn’t be far behind after making a rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul over the weekend, and well-regarded prospect Josh Winder has produced in a swing role.

That’s likely to be the primary group, although there’s a fair bit of performance and injury uncertainty with the veteran options at the back end. Kenta Maeda is hoping to make a late-season return from his own Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last September. Still, rotation help looked to be a possible midseason target for the division-leading Twins even if everyone were healthy. Paddack’s loss only figures to spur that pursuit as we move nearer to the trade deadline.

Twins Option Royce Lewis

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Royce Lewis homered and doubled in last night’s loss to the A’s, boosting his slash line through his first 11 big league games to .308/.325/.564 — but the Twins nevertheless optioned him to Triple-A St. Paul last night in order to pave the way for Carlos Correa’s activation from the 10-day injured list, manager Rocco Baldelli announced after the game (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Baldelli naturally acknowledged that Lewis had made the decision “difficult” with his play and suggested that the Twins will use this run in Triple-A to “move [Lewis] around the field” and “get him a little bit of exposure at some different spots.”

Lewis’ glovework at shortstop has long been a question among scouts, with some viewing a move to the outfield as an eventual necessity. The 22-year-old made a pair of errors in his 99 innings at shortstop but also made several highlight-reel plays in his tiny sample of work. The Twins very likely still view him as a shortstop in the long run, but Correa is arguably the game’s best defender at the position, so Lewis will use a potentially brief run through Triple-A to get his feet wet at other positions while also further honing his skills at short.

Lewis does have some limited experience at other positions but has played exclusively at shortstop in 2022 — his first season of game action since way back in 2019. The 2020 season was lost for all minor leaguers, and Lewis missed the 2021 campaign due to a torn ACL. He logged a dozen games at third base, five in center field and four at second base during the 2019 Arizona Fall League, but he’s never played a position other than shortstop outside that AFL run. That Lewis was able to hit the ground running both in Triple-A and in the Majors after what amounts to more than two years away from game activity is a testament to the upside and talent that prompted Minnesota to select him with the No. 1 overall pick back in 2017.

It’s still undoubtedly a deflating move for Lewis and for Twins fans, even if the move is short-term in nature. Correa, however, will return to the lineup and give the club a premier defensive player and overall MVP-caliber talent whose bat had begun to heat up just prior to the hit-by-pitch that ultimately landed him on the 10-day IL. The 27-year-old is hitting .255/.320/.372 overall but raked at a .412/.444/.588 pace in the nine games preceding his injury.

As for where Lewis will slot in when he does return, the Twins will have multiple options. First base has been the biggest hole in their lineup, with both Miguel Sano and prospect Jose Miranda floundering at the plate. Utilityman Luis Arraez has begun to slot in at first base with more regularity, however, and the Twins surely still have hope that outfielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff — like Lewis, a longtime top prospect both in the system and in the league as a whole — will right the ship in Triple-A and be able to play a larger role there.

Across the diamond, third base could be a more viable fit. Gio Urshela has made some strong defensive plays but ranks about average with the glove according to most public metrics. He’s also hitting just .226/.280/.330 in 118 trips to the plate — production (or lack thereof) that would eventually jeopardize his place in the lineup even if he were producing outstanding numbers on the defensive side of the coin. Minnesota left fielders, meanwhile, are hitting .236/.294/.341 on the season, due in large part to Kirilloff’s struggles prior to his wrist injury and to Nick Gordon’s tepid .250/.292/.309 output (most of which has come while playing left field).

Being uncertain where they’ll ultimately slot Lewis back into the mix is the quintessential “good problem to have” for a team. It’ll be worth keeping a keen eye on just where Lewis is lining up across the river in St. Paul, as that could foreshadow some other decisions pertaining to the big league roster. Lewis will technically need to remain with the Saints for at least 10 days now that he’s been optioned, although the Twins can easily get around that minimum by recalling Lewis as the corresponding move for an injury if they see fit.

Twins Select Devin Smeltzer, Option Alex Kirilloff To Triple-A

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3:31PM: Alex Kirilloff was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Smeltzer on the active roster. Kirilloff has hit only .172/.226/.172 over 32 plate appearances, and also spent close to three weeks the IL due to wrist inflammation. To open a 40-man spot for Smeltzer, Miguel Sano is being placed on the 60-day IL.  Sano underwent knee surgery on May 3, and the Twins’ expectation is that Sano will return at some point this season, though the 60-day placement sidelines him until July at the earliest.

2:36PM: The Twins are going to select the contract of Devin Smeltzer today, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com, with the lefty getting the start in tonight’s game against the Guardians. Smeltzer is not currently on the club’s 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be required to open a spot for him.

Acquired from the Dodgers in the Brian Dozier trade, Smeltzer had a solid MLB debut with the Twins in 2019. In 49 innings over six starts and five relief appearances, he put up a 3.86 ERA. His 18.8% strikeout rate was below average, but he limited walks at a rate of 5.9%. In the shortened 2020 season, he took a step backward, logging a 6.75 ERA in 16 innings. Last year, elbow issues limited him to just 4 2/3 innings and led to his outright in November.

The 26-year-old seems to have gotten things back on track this year, as he’s been healthy and starting in Triple-A. Over five starts, he’s thrown 21 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

For the Twins, as recently as a week ago, it seemed they were nearing a starting pitching surplus. Sonny Gray came off the injured list and joined Chris Archer, Chris Paddack, Josh Winder and Joe Ryan in the rotation. It seemed like the club would have to make a tough choice on how to assign the pitching duties once Dylan Bundy and Bailey Ober returned from the injured list. However, a few days later, Paddack left his start with elbow inflammation and is now on the 60-day IL, possibly heading towards Tommy John surgery.

While Paddack’s injury has created the need for Smeltzer to step in, it’s possible that it could just be a spot start. After today, the club plays four more before an off-day on May 19. However, after that, the club will play 18 games in 17 days, due to a doubleheader on May 31. Smeltzer is out of options, meaning the club will need to keep him on the roster if they hope to use him again during that stretch.

The recuperation of Bundy and Ober will likely play a role in determining Smeltzer’s status. Bundy is currently on the COVID IL and will need a spot on the 40-man roster when he returns. He has cleared COVID protocols but is still feeling some of the effects of the illness, per Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Ober went on the IL two weeks ago due to a groin strain but has been throwing bullpens recently, per Park.

Twins Reinstate Luis Arraez, Option Jose Godoy, Transfer Chris Paddack to 60-Day IL

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The first-place Twins made a flurry of moves this afternoon, the team announced, including reinstating infielder Luis Arraez from the COVID IL and optioning catcher Jose Godoy to Triple-A St. Paul. They also appointed right-hander Cole Sands as the 27th man for today’s game against the Astros (allowed as a result of the suspension of last night’s Twins-Astros tilt in the fourth inning) and transferred right-hander Chris Paddack, who’s been out since Tuesday with elbow inflammation, to the 60-day IL.

Arraez, who’d been out since Friday, had gotten off to a hot start to the season, slashing .301/.378/.370 while logging significant time at first, second, and third. He’ll return to his role as manager Rocco Baldelli’s super-utility man, though he could also serve as the Twins’ primary first baseman with Miguel Sano set to miss a significant chunk of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. He’s shared time there with top prospect Jose Miranda and outfielder Alex Kirilloff since Sano hit the IL.

Given the relatively short duration of Arraez’s absence, perhaps the more significant news in Minnesota is Paddack’s transferral to the 60-day injured list, which could signal that the recently acquired righty will undergo a second Tommy John surgery — as had been feared since his departure in the third inning of Sunday’s game against the A’s. This hasn’t been confirmed, though the timing is ominous: Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported yesterday morning that the former Padre would get a second opinion by today. Regardless, Paddack will now be on the shelf until at least July — and quite likely until at least next year. In 22 1/3 innings across five starts prior to the injury, Paddack posted a 4.03 ERA (1.73 FIP) for a Twins staff already without Bailey Ober, Dylan Bundy, and Kenta Maeda.

Sands, selected out of Florida State by the Twins in the fifth round of the 2018 amateur draft, has mostly started in the minors. While he’s off to a rough start to the season at Triple-A St. Paul, he did turn in a strong 2021, logging 80 1/3 innings with a 2.46 ERA and solidly more than a strikeout per inning for Double-A Wichita. The call-up marks his second stint in the majors this year; he covered two innings (and allowed two earned runs) in an early May blowout of the Rays.

Godoy, who made his big-league debut with the Mariners last year, appeared in only a single game for the Twins. The 27-year-old backstop will return to Triple-A to serve as injury cover Ryan Jeffers and Gary Sanchez.

Twins Select Yennier Cano

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The Twins announced they’ve selected reliever Yennier Cano onto the big league roster. Southpaw Danny Coulombe was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left hip impingement in a corresponding move. To open space on the 40-man roster, Minnesota transferred reliever Jhon Romero from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Minnesota signed Cano out of Cuba in June 2019, when the 6’4″ righty was already 25 years old. He’d had some professional experience in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, but he nevertheless began in the low minors during his time in the farm system. Cano didn’t reach Double-A until last season, but he earned a bump to Triple-A by mid-June. He finished the season with the Twins’ highest affiliate in St. Paul, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 51 1/3 innings over 30 appearances. Cano showed the ability to work multiple innings and induced ground-balls at a hefty 60.9% clip, but he also walked an alarming 12.8% of opposing hitters.

Over the offseason, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs slotted Cano the #38 prospect in the Minnesota organization, praising his surprising velocity (94-97 MPH) from a lower arm slot. Assigned back to St. Paul to open the 2022 season, he’s worked 12 innings of one-run ball. Cano has 14 strikeouts and a more manageable four free passes in that time, while he’s induced grounders on three-quarters of batted balls. That strong start earns Cano his first crack against big league hitters.

Minnesota grabbed Romero off waivers from the Nationals in Spring Training. He made four appearances during the season’s first couple weeks, allowing two runs in five frames. The right-hander landed on the injured list retroactive to April 20 due to biceps tendinitis. He’ll apparently require an extended recovery period and won’t be eligible to return until late June — 60 days from the time of his original IL placement.

Francys Romero first reported Cano’s forthcoming promotion last night.

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