Twins Place Danny Coulombe On 15-Day IL, Select Juan Minaya
The Twins placed left-hander Danny Coulombe on the 15-day injured list, while also optioning right-hander Yennier Cano to Triple-A. In corresponding moves, the Twins called up left-hander Jovani Moran and selected the contract of veteran righty Juan Minaya. (Minnesota had room on its 40-man roster, so no further moves were required to create space for Minaya.)
Coulombe heads back to the IL with the same left hip impingement that sidelined him back on May 11. The Twins only just activated Couloumbe from that previous IL stint yesterday, but he re-aggravated the injury in an appearance against the Royals. Playing on three separate minor leagues contracts with Minnesota over the last three seasons, Couloumbe has a 2.92 ERA over 49 1/3 big league innings with the Twins over the last three years.
Moran slides into Coulombe’s spot as a southpaw available out of the bullpen. The 25-year-old tossed 2 2/3 innings of scoreless ball for the Twins earlier this season, but he has been an active piece of the Triple-A roster, covering 12 1/3 innings in 10 appearances with a 4.38 ERA and a 19-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Moran’s importance in the short-term can’t be understated, as he joins Caleb Thielbar as the only two lefties in the bullpen.
The 31-year-old Minaya spent four seasons with the White Sox, making 125 appearances out of the bullpen between 2016 and 2019. In that time, he pitched to a 3.93 ERA/4.18 FIP over 128 1/3 total innings. He did not pitch in 2020, but came back with the Twins last season to post a 2.48 ERA/3.97 FIP in 40 innings spanning 29 appearances. Minnesota non-tendered Minaya last fall but re-signed the right-hander to a minor league deal after the lockout.
Twins Select Jovani Moran, Place Randy Dobnak On 60-Day IL
The Twins announced that left-hander Jovani Moran‘s contract has been selected from Triple-A. In the corresponding moves, Randy Dobnak was moved on the 60-day injured list (thus officially ending Dobnak’s season) and southpaw Andrew Albers was optioned to Triple-A.
Moran was a seventh-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, and the 24-year-old is now on the verge of his Major League debut. Ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 26th-best prospect in Minnesota’s farm system, Moran has pitched almost exclusively as a reliever since the start of the 2017 season, and emerged with strong performances at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels in 2021. Moran has a 2.41 ERA over 67 1/3 combined innings at the two levels, along with a very impressive 41.8% strikeout rate. While recording strikeouts has never been a problem for Moran, though control has been a bit more an issue — his 12.26% walk rate this season roughly matches his career average.
Moran’s fastball sits in the 91-94mph range, though he is best known for his outstanding changeup. According to Pipeline’s scouting report, “some see it as a double-plus pitch,” to the point that Moran doesn’t often use his third pitch (a somewhat medium-grade slider). For a Twins team that will be looking for pitching in all forms this winter, Moran certainly has an opportunity in these final few weeks to get himself into the bullpen picture for 2022.
Dobnak was placed on the 10-day IL earlier this week due to a right middle finger sprain, the same injury that saw the right-hander miss over two months of the season in an earlier 60-day IL stint. The injuries further exacerbated an already rough season for Dobnak, who posted a 7.64 ERA over 50 2/3 innings out of both the Twins’ rotation and bullpen.