Greetings from Target Field, where it’s Bartolo Colon Day! Yes, the last pitcher Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor faced as a major leaguer will be making his debut today. Chuck Knoblauch was the leadoff hitter that day. Ron Coomer and Matt Lawton hit behind Molitor. LaTroy Hawkins started.
“There was a little bit of buzz around him getting a chance to pitch for us, which is good,” said Molitor. “All of us here are not trying to get caught up in the whatever level mania that it might bring, it’s more about we’re hoping to try and find a way to lengthen our rotation.”
Molitor is trying to be realistic about what Colon can offer the team. He was an All-Star last year, but he had an 8-plus ERA with the Atlanta Braves this year, is the same age as Brad Radke and is the last remaining Montreal Expo.
“We’re taking a little bit of a risk on bringing in a guy who’s 44 and all those type of things that go with a guy who’s been around as long as he has and has had his struggles this year,” said Molitor.
“But I’m just hoping that he goes out there and throws strikes. I think he’s smart enough when he pitches to know how to dance around lineups and where he can get hurt. I don’t expect him to go out there and put seven or eight zeroes, it’s just keeping you in the game.”
Colon will have his work cut out for him:
The Twins counter with New York native Zach Granite in the two-hole, which moves Robbie Grossman to DH and the second half of the lineup:
Polanco at short
Jorge Polanco is back at shortstop today, and Molitor remains hopeful that his bat comes around. Polanco hit .261/.302/.386 in May, but has tailed off since then and is hitting .103/.163/.154 in July.
“I really want to see him get going,” said Molitor. “I think there’s a lot in there that can help our team. He’s played well at short overall, lately he’s made a few more errors, but it’s been good. And I just think he can be a guy that can really help balance out our lineup if we can get him going.”
Molitor says he thinks Polanco is in his head and that the break has done him well.
“He understands that he’s been his own worst enemy in the batter’s box, forcing it a little bit too much, and when he slows it down and sees a lot of pitches and takes his hits, that’s how he’s gonna contribute,” he said.
“A couple day break, we’ll see how he responds, not that you’re gonna judge it entirely on one performance, but I wanted to get him back in there.”
Hughes likely done for the season
Phil Hughes has been placed on the 60-day disabled list with reoccurrence of symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. He was dominant in his first season with the Twins, setting a record for strikeout-to-walk ratio, but has struggled with injury since and was being used as a reliever before being placed on the disabled list.
“The symptoms were still there, at least to some degree. We haven’t been able to stretch him out to see just how far he could go, and our focus is to try and have a healthy Phil Hughes heading into the camp next year,” Molitor said, while adding that he spoke with chief baseball operator Derek Falvey, general manager Thad Levine and pitching coach Neil Allen about the decision.
“If he does have to undergo another procedure, which it’s not a given, but it looks like it could be headed that way, take the time to rehab that before you’re looking at the last couple months before Spring Training.”
Hughes, for his part, believes he can avoid surgery and make it back this season.
Molitor would prefer that Hughes comes back healthy next season, presumably to challenge for a rotation spot, instead of using him as a mop up reliever in meaningless games this season.
“We had discussions about how he could progress into a role that was a little more significant out there, and I just said it was really hard to find those spots, not knowing how he could throw or how he was going to feel on a given day,” said Molitor.
“He truly wanted to find a way to contribute, and he did what we asked him to do in that regard. But I don’t think he enjoyed coming in the ninth inning in 9-1 deficit games or being the first guy up in the second or third inning. I just never really got a chance to find out or get comfortable enough to find out how he’d perform in higher-leverage situations.”
Hughes was drafted No. 23 overall with the Yankees in 2004. He signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Twins in 2013. He then signed a three-year, $42 million extension after his record-setting season after his first year with the team.
Breslow up, Vargas down, Gee outrighted
Craig Breslow returned from rehab and has been reinstated from the disabled list. In order to make room for him, Kennys Vargas was optioned to Triple-A.
“He’s thrown the ball well down there,” said Molitor. “It wasn’t a ton of work. I wanted to keep an eight-man bullpen. It shortens the bench here. At least in the short-term here with the interleague games we’ll have four going forward. Not to say we couldn’t change some things by then, even, but I thought having that eighth reliever given where we’re at is more important than having a fourth bench player right now.”
Righties have given Breslow, a lefty, trouble this year. They are hitting .354/.400/.598 off of him, while he has fared better against lefties: .152/.250/.182.
“We saw in his outings down there that some of the pitches that he was trying to execute better against right-handed hitters improved,” said Molitor when asked about the splits. “One thing that I know he was trying to do is find a way to throw that comeback fastball on the inside to keep guys from driving out, and he was having trouble getting it in there far enough, and it had a tendency to leak over the plate, so we talked about arm angle, direction, alignment, where he stood on the rubber and all those things to try to increase his chances.”
Dillon Gee has also been optioned. The 31 year old righty did not make an appearance with the Twins this season.
I’ll be covering today and tomorrow. Follow me @tschreier3.
