Connor Prielipp is already approaching 60 innings on the year between his 13 outings in Triple-A St. Paul and the majors. That’s nearly three-quarters of his career-high inning total set last season at 82 ⅔ innings.
Even with Mick Abel set to make a rehab start for the Saints in Toledo, the Minnesota Twins’ starting rotation is depleted. Still, the Twins plan to dial back the rookie’s workload, given his injury limitations dating back to his freshman year at the University of Alabama.
“We’re going to have to be mindful of him going through [the order],” said Twins manager Derek Shelton after Prielipp’s last start on Sunday. “Today was one of those days, going into it knowing we have an off-day tomorrow. We have a pretty full bullpen that we could be a little bit mindful of Connor.”
Connor Prielipp made four starts in Minnesota’s 17-game stretch in 17 days. The Twins gradually increased his pitch count total in those four starts:
- 85 on May 22 at the Boston Red Sox.
- 93 on May 27 at the Chicago White Sox.
- 94 on June 2 vs. the White Sox.
- Then dialed back to 77 on Sunday vs. the Kansas City Royals.
Shelton has repeatedly said that the Twins put Prielipp’s health first anytime he’s on the mound. However, he had started four times in 16 days for the first time since high school. Therefore, they weren’t going to allow him to throw more than 80 pitches on Sunday.
Prielipp left the game in the fifth, finishing the game at 4 ⅓ innings thrown. The Twins didn’t pitch him against Lane Thomas and the top of the Royals order a third time through.
“I had an idea,” Prielipp said on his limited pitch count entering Sunday’s start. “I wasn’t completely for sure how short the leash was, but I found out in the fifth. I’m not used to these kind of stretches at all, but I thought we battled pretty well through 17 games straight.”
Even with Abel soon returning to the rotation, the Twins will only have their bullpen day crossed off the calendar once he returns. They’re still short a starter after putting Bailey Ober on the injured list on May 31 with a mild flexor strain. He’s out for all of June and has a slim chance of returning before the All-Star break.
The Twins must continue rolling Prielipp out every fifth or sixth day, but they have the benefit of an off day built in each week until the All-Star break. Once Abel returns, the Twins can pace out the time between Prielipp’s starts while also monitoring his pitch count each time he goes out.
“I know there’s no perfect science to it because if somebody had that figured out, you would always see getting an extra day, always getting two extra days, or you would see shortened starts,” said Shelton. “I don’t think there’s a perfect science. I think it’s kind of monitoring the situation day-to-day. It’s also monitoring where our bullpen’s at going into an off-day. If we’re not, if at the start of our series, so I think there’s a lot of factors.”
Sitting at 59 ⅓ innings on the year between Triple-A and the majors, Connor Prielipp only needs 23 ⅔ innings to set a new career high in innings thrown since college. If Prielipp continues to make it into the fifth or sixth inning each time out, he can realistically set that new career record before the All-Star Break.
However, given his lengthy injury history, it raises the question of whether he will see a more limited role once Ober returns from the IL. The Twins may shut his season down early to ensure he doesn’t exceed 120 innings.
Twins manager Derek Shelton doesn’t have a clear answer to what the perfect solution for Prielipp will be down the road this season. It’s an ever-evolving plan after each of his starts, but the discussion will have to come to a head at some point, especially as the rotation gets more healthy arms added back to it.
“I wish I had the answer to that,” said Shelton. “We will definitely have to monitor the volume regardless of if it’s within starts or throughout the year. I don’t think we’re at the point in the year where we will determine, or we have determined where we’re at with that yet.”
But as things are, Prielipp says he feels good after every outing. Even if he isn’t outwardly expressing it, he’s happy with the results of his workload having no impact on his arm health this year.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve pitched this long besides last year, and my body’s felt fine this whole year,” he said. “These last two years have been really big for my development, and I feel like I’m getting better and better every outing.”
With Prielipp’s health holding up, his stuff has worked well against hitters. He’s shown comfort with the curveball, which he added in the off-season, getting batters to whiff 38.3% of the 128 times he’s thrown it. His slider has also proven to be just as effective as it has in every level he’s pitched at.
Now, it’s just a matter of getting his fastball to play up against hitters better. Connor Prielipp only had one swing and miss on 12 swings against him against the Royals on Sunday. Still, even with the struggles, it’s turning in the right direction.
“The execution of the fastball has been better,” said Shelton. “We know the slider is good, but when you’re able to pair both of them off together, I think that’s the most important thing. And we’re seeing the fastball continue to get better.”
