Who should get September call-up to the Twins?
Connecting a few dots there should be one obvious call for the Twins to make.
This week in the 5 Thoughts column we wrote about Byron Buxton’s return, Kenta Maeda’s uncertain future, Miguel Sanó climbing the ranks… And a note on Minnesota Twins September call-ups.
#5. Rosters expand Wednesday to allow for September call-ups.
Unlike in years gone by, when teams could load up the roster and tip the balance of competition just by playing a numbers game, this year we’ll only see two additional players added to the active roster -- from 26 players to 28 for September.
Which two players will get the call for the Twins?
We could look at what they need right now or we could look at the best bets on the 40-man roster to contribute. Both roads lead to pitching.
Joe Ryan is one that would make a ton of sense. He’s made two appearances with Triple-A St. Paul and been very impressive.
The Twins currently have John Gant listed as the probable pitcher Tuesday, with nobody named Wednesday, Sept. 1. An off day Thursday will be followed by Randy Dobnak’s activation from the IL after his extended absence from a finger injury, and he is expected to make that start Friday in Tampa Bay/St. Pete.
Ryan helped pitch Team USA to a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympic games and when he got back to the States he struck out the first 6 hitters he faced with the Saints. His debut lasted 4 innings, and of the 12 outs he recorded that day, 9 were strikeouts and 3 were groundouts. He’s now made two starts with the Saints and has allowed 2 runs in his 9 total innings. He’s struck out 17 of the 34 hitters that he’s faced, against just two walks.
Here’s the scouting report on Joe Ryan, the person and the pitcher.
And here was my initial reaction when the Twins made him the key piece in the Nelson Cruz trade.
How about other Twins pitchers?
Look up and down the list of pitchers on the Twins 40-man roster, and you’ll see some names you recognize. That’s because just about everyone on the list has been called up at some point to help the big club this season. Exceptions to that include Jordan Balazovic, Jhoan Duran and Edwar Colina, three prospects who have had their seasons either partially interrupted or lost completely to injury. And add Drew Strotman, who came along with Ryan in the Nelson Cruz trade. (Strotman has had a tough time since getting to the Saints, as his St. Paul ERA starts with a 7 and he has nearly as many walks (16) as strikeouts (20) in his 26 innings of work.)
Among the Saints pitchers having the best seasons are relievers Jovani Moran, Andrew Vasquez (the big lefty who pitched for the Twins in 2018), Yennier Cano and Ian Hamilton. They are not on the 40-man roster, but technically the Twins will have a spot open up when they move Kenta Maeda from the 10-day IL to the 60-day.
I would put the odds of Ryan as more likely than anyone from that group, and at least one name from that group as more likely than…
Jose Miranda. All Miranda did at Double-A was hit, so he got promoted to Triple-A St. Paul, where he’s continued to hit and injected some winning magic into the air in Lowertown St. Paul. I have no idea if it’s related to Miranda’s arrival or if it’s purely coincidental, but the Saints have really taken off in their postseason race since the Hit Man joined their ranks.
In those two stops he has combined to hit .336./.397/.572 with 25 homers, including an impressive .329/.388/.558 batting line at Triple-A. Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 231 total bases this year; Miranda has 243 in the minors. He’s been good against righties and death to lefties, hitting .455/.508/.945 against the unfortunate left-handed opponents tasked with getting him out this year, reaching base in more than half of those plate appearances.
If the Twins are curious to see whether he’ll keep hitting at the next level -- like they were with, for example, Luis Arraez -- then it could make sense to promote him this month. Especially if Josh Donaldson rarely plays third base, a position he played just 3 times in August. So if the Twins want to get a look at Miranda instead of adding two additional pitchers, it seems like they could find the plate appearances to go around between third base, second base, DH and left field for Miranda, Arraez, Brent Rooker and Nick Gordon. Then again, the Saints’ season stretches longer this year than Triple-A seasons from the past, so perhaps they’d just opt to keep him in St. Paul.
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2. Kenta Maeda’s 2021 season is finished.
Kenta Maeda’s elbow surgery is slated for Wednesday and will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister in the Dallas area. Those are the knowns at this point. You might ask, what type of surgery? Well, the Twins don’t know yet. Maeda himself said that he suspects that it will be Tommy John surgery, but all parties met last week to discuss the possible options and to try to formulate a plan going forward.
That plan will hinge on what the surgeon discovers during the surgical procedure, and likely will be a momentary judgement call based on the condition of Maeda’s ulnar collateral ligament in his prized right arm.
If it’s traditional Tommy John UCL replacement surgery, we can in all likelihood say goodbye to his 2022 season. Look no further than a recent mound opponent, Chris Sale, who had his surgery in March 2020, miss the 60-game season last year and is only now returning (as of mid-August) to the Boston Red Sox starting rotation. That’s 17 or 18 months from the date of the operation, and a similar timeline for Maeda would put him on track for a return in spring training 2023. If that feels like a long ways off to you, I agree! By then Maeda would be in the final year of his contract, set to begin what would be his age-35 season.
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Remember Rich Hill? The story about him before he joined the Twins was that he opted to go a different route when he needed elbow surgery. He had a primary repair, instead of a full-blown ligament replacement procedure like Tommy John. That operation had him back pitching in games in late-July 2020 -- the onset of the shortened COVID season -- after his Fall 2019 surgery.
That sort of timeline would keep Maeda in the 2022 plans, albeit as a late start in the rotation.
Still, that’s much more of a hope than a plan at this point, and besides Hill there are so few MLB pitchers who’ve had that specific surgery. So it’s not clear what Maeda’s recovery timeline would be, nor is it clear if his UCL condition even makes him a candidate for it.
For his sake and for the Twins, the hope is that Wednesday’s procedure comes with a helping of good news.
-Byron Buxton is back in a Twins uniform.
-The argument against competing next year might be about to get more supporting evidence. The crowd that wants to tear it down to the studs -- otherwise known as Jorge Polanco and Mitch Garver -- could get some more juice this week, depending on the Maeda verdict.
-Miguel Sanó just passed Torii Hunter on a Twins all-time list…