11:10am: The Twins announced that Adams has been recalled from Triple-A St. Paul. Southpaw Kody Funderburk was optioned to St. Paul in his place.
9:07am: The Twins are calling up right-hander Travis Adams for what will be his major league debut, as first announced by Adams’ agent, Lonnie Murray of Sports Management Partners, on Instagram. He’ll likely slot into the bullpen to provide some length after the A’s snapped a nine-game losing streak by putting 14 runs on the board against Minnesota yesterday. Adams is already on the 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A in spring training (hence it being a “recall” despite never having pitched in the majors). As such, the Twins will only need a corresponding 26-man move to bring him up.
Adams, 25, was the Twins’ sixth-round pick back in 2021. Minnesota already added him to the 40-man roster in November in order to protect him from being selected in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft. Given that Adams was coming off a season in which he posted 127 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 43.8% ground-ball rate between Double-A and Triple-A, it stands to reason that a few clubs might have indeed had interest in plucking him from the upper levels of the Twins’ farm were he left unprotected.
So far in 2025, Adams has pitched well. He’s made two abbreviated starts and 11 long relief appearances, totaling 42 innings with a 3.43 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 43.4% ground-ball rate. He hasn’t pitched more than 4 1/3 innings in any game this season, but he’s averaged 58 pitches per outing in his past five turns — including 66 pitches in his most recent appearance — so he ought to be stretched out for whatever role the Twins envision.
Baseball America ranks Adams 22nd among Twins farmhands, while MLB.com lists him 21st. He doesn’t have one standout plus pitch but offers a wide array of average pitches and solid command. Each of BA, MLB.com and FanGraphs give Adams credit solid-average 50 grades on his fastball and a 55 (above-average) grade either on one other pitch or his command (his cutter at BA, his slider at FG, his command at MLB.com). Generally speaking, the 6’1″ righty is considered a back-of-the-rotation arm or potential multi-inning reliever.
It’s possible the Twins will consider Adams for some starts down the road. Fellow prospect David Festa was touted among the sport’s top 100 minor leaguers prior to exhausting his rookie status and was solid through three turns earlier this season, but he’s been slowed by some biceps/shoulder inflammation recently and was torched for eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in that blowout against the A’s yesterday. Festa got the first look in the rotation in place of the injured Pablo López — who’ll be out several months due to a teres major strain — but it’s not clear after yesterday’s rough outing whether he’ll get another look.
For now, the Twins have four starters locked in. Veterans Joe Ryan (2.91 ERA), Bailey Ober (3.48 ERA) and Chris Paddack (3.58 ERA) have all pitched well this season. Rookie right-hander Zebby Matthews, another top-100 arm, had a rocky first outing in the majors this season but has turned in a 3.94 ERA with a 20-to-5 K/BB ratio in 16 innings over his past three turns. That quartet seems set for the time being, with Festa, Adams and righty Simeon Woods Richardson (who was optioned last month but has looked better in Triple-A) among the options for the fifth spot on the staff.
