4 pitchers Twins could call up if Louie Varland and Bailey Ober struggle

Jordan Balazovic, RHP

This might be a bit of a controversial option, but one the Twins would be wise to consider for a number of reasons.

It seemed like the organization was reaching a breaking point with Jordan Balazovic this spring, specifically when he broke his jaw in a fight and needed to miss valuable time. At the time Rocco Baldelli hardly tried to disguise his disappointment and his pointed words spoke volumes.

“You can read into this and say whatever you guys want to say: It’s disappointing,” Baldelli said back in March after the altercation Balazovic was involved in. “Maybe that’s actually better than me actually trying to put words to it."

That's not exactly what you're looking for out of a guy who is still considered to be one of the Twins top pitching prospects.

Despite the drama, and how far removed it feels he is from a superb 2019 campaign, he made his season debut at Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday and the results were encouraging.

At his core, Balazovic is a Top-100 prospect he's just a handful of years removed from posting a 2.69 ERA while striking out 129 batters in 93 2/3 innings at Single-A. That's almost half-a-decade ago at this point, and the time is going to come where the Twins need to figure out what they have in him.

His delayed debut this season sets things back, but he could be a wild card option to get called up so the Twins can truly test him before making any definitive decisions about his future. He might not get the call over some of the other guys mentioned, and it might take a month or two at St. Paul for him to settle in, but there's only one way for the Twins to put his feet to the fire and see what sort of pitcher he's going to be.