The Minnesota Twins have made a pair of moves in an attempt to shake up the rotation for the remainder of the season.
On Friday, the Minnesota Twins called up Alex Wimmers from Triple-A and also gave Andrew Albers a spot in the rotation.
The duo will take the starting spots held by Jose Berrios and Tyler Duffey.
Both Duffey and Berrios had been struggling in 2016 and while both may play important roles in rotation’s future, it may be best for them to regain some confidence moving forward.
Both were optioned to Triple-A Rochester following the short home stand.
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Berrios had posted 9.24 ERA in 37 innings while allowing four or more runs four times in five starts since his August call-up.
Duffey has been equally bad with an ERA of 6.24 over 115 1/3 innings.
Duffey’s season featured two months with an ERA above seven, one above six, one above five and two starts in April where his ERA was 1.74.
It was a definite far cry from the Duffey we saw in 2015 where he played such a pivotal role.
Albers made his first appearance in a 10-2 loss to Houston on August 11th. He went six innings, allowing 11 hits, five runs (three earned) and struck out five.
He previously pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 2013 before being released and playing in South Korea in 2014.
He returned to the majors in 2015 with the Toronto Blue Jays before rejoining the Twins this past season.
Albers was 10-6 in Rochester over 21 starts with a 3.69 ERA and 84 strikeouts.
Wimmers was a first-round selection by the Minnesota Twins in 2010 out of Ohio State University.
He made it through various minor league levels since before finally making it to Rochester in 2016.
There, he went 2-1 over 39 appearances with a 3.62 ERA while striking out 50 in 49 2/3 innings.
It will be interesting to see how Wimmers performs after being a reliever all season. He made 18 starts in 2015 at the Double-A level.
Perhaps this will be the time for Wimmers to finally shine in a major league uniform.
In other minor league news, Byung-ho Park will see his season come to an end after going under the knife to fix his wrist.
Perhaps this is part of what attributed to his slump at the Triple-A level after hitting nine homers in July.
Hopefully Park will be able to contribute to what is looking to be a potentially powerful lineup in 2016.
Let’s hope that translates to victories instead of strikeouts.