The Minnesota Twins made a barrage of roster moves on Tuesday afternoon, affecting both the big-league roster as well as Triple-A Rochester’s. Miguel Sano was placed on the disabled list with a grade-1 strain of his left hamstring.
The Twins were playing with a short bench already — just three players with eight relievers on the roster — and that was further hamstrung by Sano’s injury. The third baseman was not available to pinch-hit in Monday’s loss to the Blue Jays, though for what it’s worth, there wouldn’t have been a defensive replacement available if he’d hit for Ehire Adrianza in the eighth inning, for instance.
Coming up in Sano’s place is utility infielder Gregorio Petit, a 33-year-old journeyman who has seen action with four big-league teams at various points dating back to his 2008 debut with the Oakland A’s. He was with Oakland from 2008-09, then resurfaced with the Houston Astros in 2014. In 2015, he got a cup of coffee with the Yankees, and finally, he reached the big leagues in 2016 for 89 games with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Petit was not on the 40-man roster, so the Twins made room by designating left-handed pitcher Dietrich Enns for assignment. Enns started for Triple-A Rochester on Monday, and is off to a bit of a slow start with the Red Wings: 4.50 ERA in 20 innings, 11-11 K/BB ratio, 1.65 WHIP.
If Enns clears waivers, he’ll remain in the organization, as this is his first outright, and thus he cannot refuse it. David Hale, for instance, was able to refuse his outright assignment from the Twins over the weekend after he cleared waivers, and is now a free agent.
Petit has just over a full season worth of playing time in the big leagues (173 games), and he’s hit just .249/.291/.353. He’s a right-handed hitter with significant defensive versatility, as he’s played second and third base, shortstop, left and right field in the big leagues, although 829 of his 1,048.2 defensive innings have come at second base or shortstop.
He’s in uniform — No. 40 — and in the lineup against Marco Estrada and the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night, batting ninth and playing second base as Brian Dozier gets a break amidst a 3-for-30 slump.
While most fans would have liked to see Nick Gordon get the chance — he’s off to a blazing .345/.363/.536 start at Double-A Chattanooga — this is likely a rather short-term fix to the Twins needing another body off the bench offensively.
The Red Wings are not particularly strong offensively this season, but Petit was off to a respectable .293/.323/.362 start through 17 games — all starts for him at shortstop. In 157.1 defensive innings this year, he’s flawlessly handled 74 chances.
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