The Minnesota Twins went more than two weeks into the season before making a roster move, but have now made three in the last 24 hours as the pitching churn continues. Left-handed reliever Buddy Boshers’ stay with the Twins lasted just a few hours, as he’s headed back to Rochester following Sunday’s game — which he was recalled prior to.
Another short start on Sunday — this time, Kyle Gibson gave the Twins just eight outs while allowing seven runs (six earned) — led to yet again another taxing of the bullpen, as five relievers and catcher (!) Chris Gimenez pitched against the Tigers in a 13-4 drubbing at Target Field.
To Boshers’ credit, he gave the Twins 30 pitches and 2.1 innings of clean relief with a strikeout and a walk. In an ideal situation, he wouldn’t be headed back to Rochester this quickly. Then again, in an even more ideal situation, Boshers wouldn’t have been needed in the first place.
A corresponding move will be made prior to Monday’s game.
The Twins may have to get creative with their next move. J.T. Chargois has only made one appearance at Triple-A Rochester after battling neck issues late in spring training. Ryan O’Rourke is on the disabled list. Felix Jorge, Randy Rosario and Mason Melotakis are all at Double-A or lower. Melotakis could have a shot, as he’s looked very good so far for Chattanooga (zero earned runs, 8-1 K/BB ratio in 6.2 innings), but he’s also a bit of a question mark as far as making his big-league debut when the Twins need something a bit more certain as they head into a road trip, starting with a set against the Rangers on Monday.
It’s possible former Rangers pitcher Nick Tepesch could join the Twins in Arlington. Tepesch, who made 39 starts (42 appearances) with the Rangers between 2013-14, pitched in the big leagues with the Dodgers briefly last year (11.25 ERA in 4.0 innings) but is off to a strong start at Triple-A Rochester: 2.00 ERA (four earned runs in 20 innings) with a 17-4 K/BB ratio and no home runs allowed.
Tepesch last pitched on Thursday, so he’d be theoretically able to give the Twins some length out of the bullpen as early as Monday in Texas. Tepesch threw 95 pitches in a loss to Gwinnett in his last outing, and has thrown at least 80 pitches in all three appearances.
It would necessitate a 40-man move to get Tepesch on the roster, but there’s a chance that O’Rourke could go on the 60-day disabled list if the team thinks he’s more than a month from returning. He’s meeting with Dr. Keith Meister — the Rangers team physician — on the upcoming road trip and isn’t even throwing, so that remains a possibility.
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