Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins received some good news on the pitching front on Monday.
Right-handed starter Bailey Ober, who the Twins placed on the injured list on Sunday with a right forearm strain, was officially diagnosed with a mild flexor strain. They will shut him down for 10 to 14 days, general manager Jeremy Zoll shared on Monday.
“We are gonna have Dr. [Keith] Meister evaluate it for a second opinion,” Zoll said regarding Ober. “But the graft he has in his UCL looks fully intact, no issues or concerns there, so you know, obviously a bummer for Bailey, but, you know, we’ll hopefully be able to get him going after a couple weeks’ shutdown, go from there.”
The other encouraging injury news was on righty Mick Abel and left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas.
Minnesota scratched Rojas from his start last Thursday with a left forearm strain. Zoll said Rojas will resume throwing as early as Tuesday or Wednesday after being unable to throw since last Thursday.
“He was totally shut down, rest and anti-inflammatory, trying to get everything calmed down,” said Zoll. “We want to make sure he tests out well with the docs tonight with strength and range of motion before we getting him going. But it’ll be catch play.”
Abel will have a ‘touch and feel’ throwing session on Tuesday, then pitch a two-ups live BP on Thursday to see where things stand. Abel’s been out since April 15 with right elbow inflammation.
The news is encouraging because neither pitcher will be out for multiple months. Still, the Twins will be down a starting pitcher until either Rojas, Abel, or Ober returns. As things stand, they’ll be running a four-man starting rotation made up of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Connor Prielipp, and Zebby Matthews until then.
“I think it’s a situation where if anybody can figure out how to prevent pitcher injuries, they would make more money than anybody else in this game,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “Because that would be the gold standard answer.
“It’s something we just have to adapt to and adjust with. We’re not the only people that are being hampered, or hindered, or whatever the word is, with starting pitchers going down. So we just kind of move onto the next guy and make sure we continue to go.”
The Twins have Prielipp lined up to start on Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox and Bradley on Wednesday. They will need to find a starter for Thursday night’s game in the first of four against the Kansas City Royals. So, what are their options?
Theoretically, Simeon Woods Richardson could be an option for Minnesota to start on Thursday. However, the Twins would need to place him on waivers for at least 48 hours before Thursday’s game without any other team claiming him for them to outright him to Triple-A St. Paul or back on the MLB roster.
If no team claims Woods Richardson on the waiver wire, he stays within the Twins organization. Then, they can assign him to either the MLB roster if they choose to use him Thursday or Triple-A St. Paul.
“Typically, how the DFA process works is you’re evaluating interest to understand if there’s enough interest for a trade to be made, whether that’s a player return or cash return,” said Zoll. “If there’s not, then you end up going to waivers. If the player has a prior outright or not, there’s also then other stipulations depending on service time and all that that don’t apply to Sim in this situation.”
Minnesota’s other options include making a trade involving Woods Richardson for another pitcher or claiming another one on the waiver wire in the coming days. They could also call up an additional starter from Triple-A St. Paul. However, the Saints have only one traditional starting pitcher right now: Ryan Gallagher, who made his Triple-A debut on April 29.
The Twins are unlikely to use their open 40-man roster spot on a pitcher who has only spent a month at Triple-A, which leaves the last option: a bullpen game. Fortunately, with their latest addition to the 40-man roster, Mike Paredes, the Twins have a pitcher who has been throwing four innings every four days this season.
Paredes would be on four days’ rest and has pitched up to five innings twice in the minors this season. It would be another tall order for the Twins’ rookie in his second big league outing. Still, if the Twins can get some length from Bradley in his next outing, it could work for their rotation.
“I think everything needs to be on the table,” Zoll said. “Just as we’ve worked through all the considerations and obviously just gave a slew of injury updates that pertain to that, but I think when you go through true bullpen games. That can be challenging, but we probably need to see how we get through the next day or two and the state of the bullpen before we finalize any plans.”
The Twins will not just need to find a spot starter for Thursday’s game. Depending on Ober and Rojas’ recoveries, and whether Abel begins a rehab assignment shortly after this week. That could be more than a few turns in the rotation where the Twins are scrambling to find a fifth arm, which will be a big test for the season moving forward.
