Who should be the Minnesota Twins fifth starter?

Aaron Slegers, RHP

A towering 6’10” in height, Slegers was a draft pick of the Twins in 2013. He’s worked his way up the farm system, having a tremendous season with Rochester in AAA this season, posting a 13-4 record over 21 starts and 130 1/3 innings, 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 27/97 BB/K ratio.

Slegers made a spot start, and Puckett’s Pond did an extensive review on that start, discussing his arsenal in a scouting report as part of that write up. While Slegers likely won’t ever be a guy who is a frontline starter, his height, arm angle, and ability to repeat his delivery would make him an ideal fifth starter that can give good innings as a starter plus be a tough look out of the bullpen.

Tim Melville, RHP

Another recent spot starter, Melville was designated for assignment after starting on Monday in the White Sox double header. He quite likely will clear waivers and be sent back down to AAA, allowing him to remain as an option for the Twins down the stretch.

Melville was a flame-throwing starter coming out of high school that really lost his big stuff when he had surgery in 2012. He’s had to redefine himself as a “finesse” pitcher, relying on locating his pitches well and on excellent movement. He spent the opening of the 2017 season in independent ball before the Twins signed him, and he’s been excellent at AAA for Rochester, making 11 appearances, throwing 66 2/3 innings, with a 2.70 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 23/65 BB/K ratio.

His spot start on Monday showed certainly what can happen when he’s not locating well as he walked 3 batters in 3 1/3 innings, and even when he did get the ball in the zone, he was frequently missing his catcher’s target, something that was just rarely seen in AAA this season. He’ll get a chance to go back and reset himself and possibly get another chance at a few starts by the end of the season.

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