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Minnesota Twins: Bullpen’s Awful Performance Sparks Roster Moves

By Jordan Ison

May 18, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Ryan Pressly (57) pitches in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Ryan Pressly (57) pitches in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Twins bullpen was abysmal against the Astros, allowing 28 runs. This awful performance has sparked a series of bullpen roster moves.

The Minnesota just (finally) finished up a three game series with the Astros on Wednesday with yet another loss. Houston swept Minnesota without any problems, honestly kind of embarrassing the Twins pitching staff.

While the starting rotation didn’t perform great, they were good enough to win at least one game. Ervin Santana only gave up two runs in 7 innings pitched. Jose Berrios gave up 4 runs in 5 innings pitched. Finally, Hector Santiago allowed 6 runs in 6 innings pitched.

Despite the average performances by the starting rotation, Minnesota was in a position to win each of these games. The bullpen, though, took their struggles to another level going up against the Astros.

In game one, Houston scored 14 runs against the Twins’ bullpen, 11 of which came in the 8th innings. Game two, they scored 3 runs in 4 innings. Finally, in game 3 of the series, the bullpen gave up 11 runs in just 3 innings pitched.

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Clearly, a change was needed. And very quickly, the Minnesota Twins’ front office responded. Here’s a list of the changes that Twins have made as of 9:00 AM CST:

The Twins have selected the contract of Alex Wimmers.

The Twins have recalled Randy Rosario.

Minnesota has designated Jason Wheeler for assignment.

The Twins have optioned Ryan Pressly to AAA-Rochester.

Alex Wimmers is a former 1st round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2010. After several injuries that has derailed his career, he has re-established himself in Rochester. Furthermore, coming out of the bullpen, Wimmers has an ERA of 3.94 through 16 innings.

Randy Rosario has never made an MLB appearance in his career. Although, he has been tearing up double-A. He has a 1.90 ERA and also boasts an upper-90’s fastball. His ability to force ground balls (54.8% ground ball rate) could really help the Twins’ bullpen in limiting the number of long balls hit.

Jason Wheeler just made his MLB debut on Tuesday. Unfortunately for him, it was not a good one and the appearance on Wednesday was no better. He allowed three runs and four walks in only 3 innings of work. With the struggles of the bullpen, Minnesota was in no place to give Wheeler another chance, leading to his early departure.

Ryan Pressly has been pretty awful for the Twins so far this season. Furthermore, a lot of the bullpen’s struggles can be attributed to Pressly. He has allowed 5 home-runs in only 18 innings pitched, which led to his demotion to triple-A.

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In conclusion, it was clear that the Minnesota Twins desperately needed some changes in their pitching staff, and the front office wasn’t hesitant in making them. Hopefully, this will help to improve the worst part of the 2017 Twins’ team: the bullpen.

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