The Minnesota Twins had plenty of new faces in the dugout on Sunday afternoon as nine players were called up to the major league roster.
With the calendar turning to the month of September, MLB rosters have officially expanded to 40 players. The Minnesota Twins were not shy of taking advantage of that opportunity to add reinforcements as they called up nine players before Sunday’s win over the Detroit Tigers.
Of the nine players, the headliner is top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol. The 21-year old made his major league debut on Sunday after dominating the minor leagues with a record of 7-0 and a 1.92 ERA. Armed with a fastball that routinely reaches 100 MPH, Graterol closed out the game for the Twins on Sunday and could be a key player down the stretch.
Another new face that has joined the Twins is Ian Miller. The Twins acquired the speedy prospect from the Seattle Mariners last month and while he has had his issues at the plate, the Twins are attracted to his ability on the basepaths. In seven minor league seasons, Miller has 243 stolen bases in 294 attempts (82.6% success rate) and could help the Twins add onto their MLB-low 26 stolen bases this season.
As part of the call-ups, the Twins took advantage of the expanded roster to add some players coming off of injury. Willians Astudillo returned from his oblique strain suffered on June 26 and Byron Buxton was activated after suffering a left shoulder subluxation on Aug. 1. LaMonte Wade Jr. also returned for the Twins after dislocating his thumb in July.
The Twins also called up a slew of familiar faces in Zack Littell, Devin Smeltzer and Kohl Stewart to help add some numbers to the bullpen and recalled Lewis Thorpe as a correlating move with Kyle Gibson going on the injured list Sunday morning.
While the Twins will have some strength in numbers down the stretch, the clubhouse could get more crowded in the coming days with the conclusion of Triple-A Rochester’s season on Tuesday. Each of these players has a skill set that the Twins will need to help take home their first division title since 2010.