Good afternoon from Target Field, where it is is 60 and sunny — a beautiful day for baseball!
It’s Nick Tepesch, a 28-year-old righty making his season debut, vs. Rick Porcello (R, 1-4, 4.46 ERA). Tepesch started the year in the minors hasn’t pitched in 16 days; Porcello won the Cy Young Award last year.
“Everybody acknowledges that it’s a little bit of tough circumstances in that it’s been 16 days, but you look at Phil [Hughes] pitch last night, and he understands a plan that possibly could give you a chance to hang around and keep your team in the game,” said manager Paul Molitor.
“We’re hoping that he gets in the middle of the game with our team having a chance to still win.”
Tepesch will be limited to around 75 pitches today, but could pitch more if he doesn’t labor early on. He also has three years of big league experience under his belt which he can rely on to get through an odd start against one of the best teams in the AL.
“The fact that he’s had a fair amount of big league experience, and he’s had to pitch in different roles as a swingman, bullpen, starter at times,” said Molitor, “hopefully he can rely on some of that to get him through at least four or five innings into the game.”
Molitor had high praise for Porcello, who spent six seasons with the Detroit Tigers before joining the Boston Red Sox in 2015.
“He’s got great movement, he’s got a nice variety of pitches. Not overpowering, but his velocity seems to play up. He’s got a lot of ways to finish hitters, so I would ask your guys to have a good plan, try to approach him,” said Molitor.
“He’s not prone to the home run ball in particular, you just gotta try to get your hits and take good at-bats and hopefully someone comes up with a big hit with men in scoring position for you.”
Here are today’s lineups:
So no Brian Dozier, who was diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain and has some swelling, or Byron Buxton, who was held out of yesterday’s game as a precautionary measure.
Molitor on Dozier: “He’s hobbling a little bit today. He’s got some swelling, and kind of rated out as a mild sprain. Still kinda day-to-day, I’d be a little surprised if we see him tomorrow, to be honest with you. But we’ll see how the next couple days unfold and see if he can be ready after the off-day.”
Molitor on Buxton: “He’s better. Today he’s gonna get out there and, unlike yesterday, he’s gonna try to take some swings and maybe run around a little bit and see if he’s available if I need him late in the game.”
Asked if one of them could be placed on the disabled list, Molitor said: “We talked about the difference in the 10-day and the 15-day, and how it changes your thinking somewhat, but still when you have players like that that potentially are gonna be available sooner than later, you’re gonna be patient, even with the 10 days [being] a little bit appealing alternative.”
Sticking with Belisle
Matt Belisle, a 36-year-old veteran whose career started in 2003 with the Cincinnati Reds, was brought in in the offseason as the setup guy and given a corner locker in the clubhouse.
He owns a 4.97 ERA in 12 relief appearances this year, but his numbers are inflated due to an outing on April 26 in Texas, a 14-3 loss where the Rangers beat up the Twins bullpen.
“His outings have been good,” said Molitor. “He’s had the one where the ERA gets ballooned a little bit on a smaller sample size, whatever it is, 11, 12 outings.
But bringing him in, we have a good feeling about how he’s throwing the ball and just the way it shapes up right now, he’s been lined up to do that eighth inning more times than not when we have an opportunity to protect a lead, and he’s done nothing to change my mind about continuing to do that.”
Asked if that one outing sticks with Molitor when he has to put him into a high-leverage situation, he said: “Not really. When they start to pile up, or they become more frequent (he’ll worry about it).”
In fact, Molitor went as far as to suggest that he’s the setup man going forward.
“He hasn’t had a chance to pitch in this role very often. He’s been a guy that’s swung into it occasionally when there’s been need, but we were hoping that when we brought him in, that there’s a chance that he could be a guy that would be a bridge guy for us late in games, and he’s probably exceeded that a little bit in how he’s performed from camp all the way through,” said Molitor.
“He’s got my trust and Neil and Eddie and the way it’s shaped up right now, he’s the guy that we’re going to.”
I’ll be covering this weekend. Feel free to reach out to me: @tschreier3 on Twitter.
