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Twins Designate Scott Blewett For Assignment

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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.

Twins Activate Kody Funderburk From Injured List

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The Twins announced that they have reinstated left-hander Kody Funderburk from the 60-day injured list. Catcher Jair Camargo was optioned to open an active roster spot. Outfielder Max Kepler has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Prior to the official announcement, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North reported on X that Funderburk would be activated.

Funderburk, 27, had an intriguing debut last year. Called up in August, he was able to pitch 12 innings for the Twins with a 0.75 earned run average. He struck out 40.4% of batters faced and got grounders on 54.5% of batters faced.

He hasn’t been able to maintain results that strong in 2024. He currently has 33 2/3 innings on the year with a 5.61 ERA. His ground ball rate is the same as last year but his strikeout rate has essentially been halved, landing at 20.3% so far. In July, he landed on the 15-injured list due to a left oblique strain, later being transferred to the 60-day version.

The Twins have just one lefty in their bullpen at the moment in Caleb Thielbar. They have had Steven Okert, Cole Irvin and Brent Headrick on the roster somewhat recently but Okert and Irvin were designated for assignment in recent weeks while Headrick was optioned a couple of days ago.

The club’s season is currently hanging by a thread. They are three games back of the Tigers and Royals with each team having three games remaining. The Twins hold the tiebreakers over both of those clubs but still have long odds of getting back into a playoff spot at this point. Funderburk will give manager Rocco Baldelli a second lefty option in the bullpen as they try to hang on. The Twins host the Orioles this weekend as the Royals are in Atlanta and the Tigers host the White Sox.

As for Kepler, this move will end his season, regardless of whether the club makes the postseason or not. He landed on the IL September 2 due to left patellar tendinitis in his knee. He told Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic a couple of days ago that he wasn’t likely to return and might need offseason surgery.

That would be unfortunate timing as he is heading to free agency for the first time in his career. He and the Twins signed a five-year, $35MM extension going into 2019, with that deal containing a $10MM club option for 2024 that was eventually picked up.

Kepler is a strong defender on the grass, with career tallies of 50 Defensive Runs Saved and 66 Outs Above Average. He has occasionally paired that with strong offense, though not consistently. He hit 24 home runs last year and drew walks at a 9.2% clip, leading to a .260/.332/.484 batting line and 123 wRC+. But this year, around multiple IL stints, he has just eight homers and a 5.5% walk rate. His .253/.302/.380 line has led to a 94 wRC+.

Twins Place Max Kepler On Injured List, Select DaShawn Keirsey Jr.

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The Twins have placed right fielder Max Kepler on the 10-day injured list with patellar tendinitis in his left knee and selected the contract of outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. from Triple-A St. Paul, per a team announcement. Left-hander Kody Funderburk was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Keirsey, who’ll be making his MLB debut when he first gets into a game.

Kepler, 31, came out of the All-Star break on a tear, hitting .316/.357/.468 in 84 plate appearances and boosting his season line to .271/.320/.412 in the process. Coupled with his strong defense in right field, he looked to be on his way to another solid all-around season. He’s since fallen into a dreadful swoon at the plate, however, tallying just one hit in his past 17 plate appearances and batting only .116/.156/.140 in his last 45 turns at the dish. He’s been in and out of the lineup while trying to play through discomfort in his problematic knee, but after sitting out the past four contests, he’ll now head to the injured list and hope some down time will get him back to full strength.

It’s an ill-timed injury for Kepler, both in the team sense — the Twins are a very likely Wild Card club but still hoping to chase down the division-leading Guardians — and in a personal sense. He’s in the final season of an extension signed prior to the 2019 season. That deal guaranteed him $35MM over five seasons and grew to a six-year, $44MM deal when the Twins picked up a 2024 option on him after a strong 2023 season. He’s now on the cusp of reaching free agency for the first time. Kepler had already seen his output take a step back from last year’s .260/.332/.484 slash (124 wRC+) and 24 homers, but after this recent lull at the plate his season-long batting line has wilted to a sub-par .253/.302/.380.

Taking Kepler’s place on the active roster will be the 27-year-old Keirsey. The Twins selected him with their fourth-round pick back in 2018. He’s old to be considered a true “prospect” and was passed over in last year’s Rule 5 Draft even after hitting a combined .294/.366/.455 between Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. The Twins are surely glad to have been able to hang onto him, as Keirsey now climbs to the majors after an impressive season that’s seen him produce a .292/.364/.477 slash in St. Paul. He’s connected on 14 home runs and swiped 36 bags in 43 attempts.

In scouting reports over the years, Keirsey has drawn praise for plus speed and athleticism. He’s seen as a viable center fielder and plus option in the corners. Scouts have questioned his hit tool, particularly after he fanned in 30% of his High-A plate appearances in 2021, but he’s trimmed that mark down to a more passable 23% in each of the past three seasons (22.8% in 2024).

If nothing else, Keirsey has the makings of a quality fourth outfielder who can be optioned back and forth between St. Paul and Minneapolis over the next few years, but he’s now had back-to-back productive seasons in the upper minors and could be something of a late-bloomer. He’ll add to a growing stock of lefty-hitting Twins outfielders on the 40-man roster. Even with Kepler set to hit free agency, the Twins have Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff and top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez all on the 40-man roster, to say nothing of center fielder Byron Buxton and infielder/outfielder Austin Martin, who hit from the other side of the plate.

Twins Select Diego Castillo

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The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Diego Castillo. The club opened a 40-man roster spot by transferring right-hander Justin Topa to the 60-day injured list. They opened an active roster spot yesterday by optioning left-hander Kody Funderburk. Going into yesterday, they were using 39 spots on their 40-man but reinstated right-hander Josh Winder from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A. Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press was among those to relay the Winder news on X.

Declan Goff of SKOR North relayed on X yesterday that Castillo was on his way to join the team but Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com relayed on X that “travel snags” were preventing Castillo from getting to the ballpark. The St. Paul Saints were playing in Buffalo and Castillo had been making his way from upstate New York. The righty didn’t make it on time and this transaction had to wait a day but is now finally official.

Castillo, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Twins back in March and has tossed 18 innings for the Saints. He has allowed 2.50 earned runs per nine innings while striking out 29.7% of batters faced, giving out walks at an 8.1% clip and getting grounders on 54.5% of balls in play.

Perhaps that gives the Twins some hope that he can back to his previous form at the big league level. The righty pitched 259 2/3 innings for the Rays and Mariners over the 2018 to 2022 period. In that time, he had a 3.12 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 50.7% ground ball rate.

The 2023 season was a struggle for Castillo, as he had a 6.23 ERA through 8 2/3 innings when the Mariners outrighted him off their 40-man roster. He also had a 5.13 ERA in Triple-A last year and elected free agency at season’s end. He signed a minor league deal with the Rangers but didn’t make that club out of camp, which then led to his minor league deal with the Twins.

If Castillo can put that rough 2023 campaign behind him, he’ll be a nice find for the Twins and one that could theoretically help them beyond this year. He came into 2024 with four years and 150 days of service time. Since he won’t be able to get to the six-year mark this year, he could be retained for 2025 via arbitration. He also has a couple of options left and can be sent back down to Triple-A, but there’s a bit of a ticking clock there. He’s 22 days away from getting to five years of service and can’t be optioned without his consent once he hits that line.

As for Topa, his move is a mere formality. His “60 days” are backdated to his original IL placement, which was at the end of March. That means he’s already been on the IL more than 60 days and can be reinstated whenever he’s healthy, which is not imminent. Two weeks ago, he was diagnosed with a partial tear in the patellar tendon in his left knee, with a no-throw plan of six weeks.

Winder landed on the 60-day IL back in February when the Twins acquired Manuel Margot. He has been rehabbing for about a month and is now healthy enough to be reinstated, though the club will keep him in Triple-A as optionable depth until needed.

Twins Select Caleb Boushley

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The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Caleb Boushley from Triple-A St. Paul. Southpaw Kody Funderburk was optioned to St. Paul in a corresponding move. Minnesota already had an open 40-man spot after designating righty Matt Bowman for assignment yesterday.

Boushley, 30, is a Wisconsin native and UW-La Crosse product who made his big league debut with his hometown Brewers last summer. He faced ten batters, whiffing half of them, but also walked a pair of hitters and gave up a solo homer in his 2 1/3-inning cup of coffee. He’ll now suit up for another Midwest club after signing a minor league deal with Minnesota in the offseason.

It’s been a nice start to the season for Boushley in the Twins’ Triple-A rotation. He’s started five games for the Saints and posted an even 4.00 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate against just a 3.7% walk rate in 27 frames. He’s averaged one homer per nine innings pitched and kept the ball on the ground at a solid 43.9% rate. In parts of five Triple-A seasons, the former 33rd-round pick (Padres, 2017) has logged a 4.56 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate.

Though he’s been a starter in the minors this season (and for the majority of his career), Boushley will give the Twins a fresh arm in the bullpen for the time being. They used five relievers yesterday, including 30 pitches from the now-optioned Funderburk. Closer Jhoan Duran tossed 15 pitches and picked up a save in his first appearance of the season after being activated just yesterday from a month-long stint on the IL due to an oblique strain. Lefty Caleb Thielbar has also worked on consecutive days and might not be available today as a result (though he threw only two pitches en route to being credited with the victory last night). The Twins will send right-hander Bailey Ober to the mound against the White Sox today as they look to extend their MLB-best nine-game winning streak to a tenth game.

Twins Option Bailey Ober, Select Kody Funderburk

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The Twins announced they’ve selected southpaw Kody Funderburk onto the major league roster. Minnesota optioned Bailey Ober to Triple-A St. Paul to clear an active roster spot. In order to open 40-man space, the Twins transferred Oliver Ortega to the 60-day injured list.

It’s a bit surprising to see the Twins send Ober down. The 6’9″ righty has been an effective starter over the course of the season. He owns a 3.67 ERA through 122 2/3 innings, striking out a solid 24.1% of opponents against a tidy 5.2% walk percentage. Ober now carries a 3.75 ERA with better than average strikeout and walk marks in 53 big league starts over parts of three campaigns.

That said, Ober’s performance has tailed off recently. He hasn’t topped five innings in any of his past six starts, allowing multiple runs in each. Ober was tagged for five runs in four frames by the Rangers yesterday, bringing him to a 6.75 ERA over his past 28 innings. It’s possible fatigue has played a role. Ober is up to 140 1/3 innings between Triple-A and the majors. His previous high as a professional was 108 1/3 frames during the ’21 campaign.

Optioning him allows the Twins to keep an eye on Ober’s workload down the stretch. Minnesota is six games clear of the Guardians in the AL Central, putting them in great position to secure a division title. They’re far enough behind the AL West and East leaders that a first-round bye is almost certainly not viable. The very likely outcome at this point is that Minnesota will get into the postseason as the #3 seed. Ober seems likely to be a factor in the playoffs, with the club using the intervening month to try to keep him fresh. Dallas Keuchel can step back into the rotation behind Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray, Pablo López and Kenta Maeda.

Funderburk, meanwhile, gets his first major league look. A 15th round selection from Dallas Baptist in the 2018 draft, the 6’4″ left-hander is a pure reliever. Funderburk has spent the majority of the season in St. Paul, working 52 innings over 37 appearances. He owns a 2.60 ERA and is striking out nearly 36% of batters faced at the top minor league level. Funderburk’s 10% walk rate is a little higher than ideal, but the missed bats and strong run prevention earn him a major league crack.

The Twins had been using Caleb Thielbar as the only southpaw in their bullpen. While Funderburk has posted reverse platoon splits in the minors this season — he’s stifling righties to a .184/.258/.234 line, while lefty hitters have posted a .195/.292/.254 slash — he’s been excellent against hitters of both handedness. He’ll give Rocco Baldelli a second left-handed option out of the ’pen.

Ortega’s season is almost certainly over. The righty just landed on the injured list with a left lumbar strain a few days ago. An offseason waiver claim, Ortega allowed seven runs in 14 2/3 innings with Minnesota this season.

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