Good update from The Athletic (such good reporting & writing) on the injuries/returns and rotation, not the bullpen.
Plus, changes to the Twins' starting rotation and the new plan for a demoted Randy Dobnak.
theathletic.com
Twins place Luis Arraez on concussion injured list, delay Miguel Sanó’s return
By
Aaron Gleeman May 4, 2021
22
As has so often been the case with the Twins the past few seasons, whenever it looks like they might have too many starting-caliber hitters and too few lineup spots to give them all regular playing time, injuries make it a moot point.
Miguel Sanó’s impending return from the injured list, combined with fill-in first baseman
Alex Kirilloff hitting like he never wants to go back to the minors, had many people wondering how the Twins’ lineup would shake out, with manager Rocco Baldelli hinting that Sanó may be used as a part-time player for the first time in his career because of the logjam of quality bats.
Instead, the logjam won’t materialize for at least another week, if at all.
Monday night
Luis Arraez scored what proved to be a crucial run in a 6-5 win over the Rangers, somehow avoiding being tagged on an awkward collision at the plate that left catcher Jose Trevino muttering obscenities after a replay review ruled him safe. Arraez was shaken up and exited the game a few innings later with a concussion. Tuesday he was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list.
“Not a lot has worsened for him, but he certainly showed enough (Monday) night after the game for us to have to listen to our medical staff and doctors,” Baldelli said. “He’s going to have to pass some tests before he (resumes baseball activities). We’ll see where he’s at in a few days and hopefully get him back out on the field to start working out again.”
Baldelli noted there’s optimism Arraez’s concussion is relatively mild. However, as the Twins discovered with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, that initial diagnosis doesn’t always lead to a quick return or the absence of lingering symptoms. Arraez is eligible to return May 11, and to take his place on the roster the Twins called up Nick Gordon
again rather than activate Sanó.
Sanó has been eligible to come off the IL since Saturday, but the Twins want him to rediscover his timing at the plate before returning from a strained right hamstring. He’s basically being asked to go on a rehab assignment to show he’s ready, except with behind-the-scenes work at Target Field taking the place of minor-league games.
“A lot of what (Sanó) needs isn’t necessarily just to go face Triple-A pitching,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “It’s potentially to do some work mechanically to get to where he needs to be, to be firing on time. We can do a lot of that with (batting practice) work, hands-on work, velocity machine work. He’s got a chance to do that here, too.”
Sanó hit .111 in 15 games before going on the shelf, so it’s understandable that the Twins were in no rush to bring him back as the odd man out in a crowded lineup. That they stuck to that plan even after losing Arraez for at least a week, freeing up plenty of at-bats, suggests they think fixing his swing will take more time. And they should know because they’ve done it before.
Sanó has come back from slumps and injuries before, like in 2019 when he hit .271/.376/.618 with 25 homers in his final 74 games. Arraez’s absence means he could have jumped back into the lineup at first base, pushing Kirilloff (who was scratched from Tuesday’s game with a sore right wrist) mostly to left field, but the Twins are thinking bigger picture.
“(Sanó) is going to still continue on with his treatment, but I do think we could see him back as this week goes on,” Baldelli said. “I think in a couple days, or a few days, we could see him back.”
Regardless of who takes Arraez’s at-bats, there’s no replacing his elite on-base skills and clutch hitting atop the lineup, as well as his defensive versatility. He started at least seven times each in left field, at third base, and at second base in the first 26 games, hitting .291/.398/.372 with more walks (14) than strikeouts (11), including a .453 on-base percentage in 17 games as the leadoff man.
Max Kepler batted leadoff Tuesday and Baldelli said Jorge Polanco is another leadoff option in Arraez’s absence, but neither is capable of replicating his skill set. Arraez has a .392 on-base percentage since debuting in 2019, compared with .330 for Kepler and .338 for Polanco during that span, although they each have considerably more power.
Rotation plans and Dobnak’s demotion
It’s not often a player gets demoted to the minor leagues a month after signing a long-term contract, but that’s what happened Monday when the Twins sent right-hander Randy Dobnak to Triple A.
Dobnak and the Twins agreed to a five-year, $9.25 million contract March 28 and a few days later he made the Opening Day roster as a long reliever. But finding him consistent bullpen work proved difficult. Dobnak appeared in just seven of the first 26 games, logging 14 1/3 innings and going a week between outings multiple times. He also struggled, posting an 8.16 ERA.
Relief work was never supposed to be a permanent role for Dobnak. He was in the bullpen to provide the Twins with an innings-eating long reliever and stay relatively stretched out should a rotation spot open up. But because the Twins played so many close games in April, finding low-leverage, multi-inning spots to keep Dobnak in a groove was a bigger obstacle than expected.
“I think the lack of consistent work for him has challenged him in a lot of ways and challenged us,” Baldelli said. “We’ve played a lot of games where to find 75 pitches for a guy to keep him stretched out just wasn’t possible. We’ve played a lot of close games, back-and-forth games, and it just didn’t lend itself to getting Dobber out there. Frankly, it’s just circumstance.”
Monday the Twins changed plans, sending Dobnak to Triple A and calling up left-hander Brandon Waddell to fill a more typical middle relief role. Dobnak will join the rotation in St. Paul and build back up to tossing five-plus innings, with the idea being that in a few weeks he could be ready to rejoin the Twins as a starter — if needed.
“Randy’s main goal right now is we’ve got to get him stretched out,” pitching coach Wes Johnson said. “He’s been in the ‘pen. There’s a point where you look at him and you’re like, ‘This guy’s got about 45-50 pitches you feel comfortable throwing a guy.’ And that’s really not doing us a whole lot of good if we need him to start.”
That potential need may depend on injuries or it could simply hinge on Matt Shoemaker’s performance. It was signing Shoemaker to a one-year, $2 million deal in February that bumped Dobnak from the rotation and into the bullpen in the first place. Now that Shoemaker is 1-3 with a 7.83 ERA, and coming off the worst start of his career, the Twins could rethink the fifth starter job.
Shoemaker’s next start is scheduled for Friday in Detroit, although the Twins’ rotation is somewhat in flux because Michael Pineda’s minor wrist injury. Pineda is penciled in to start Thursday’s series finale against the Rangers. Lewis Thorpe will be called up from Triple A for a spot start Wednesday night against Texas, giving the rest of the rotation a little breathing room.
Dobnak, meanwhile, will make his Saints debut Thursday as a starter and with a limited pitch count. How long he’ll stay at Triple A is unknown, but Dobnak is officially in a rotation again. And in 15 career starts with the Twins, in 2019 and 2020, he’s 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA. That’s the pitcher the Twins want on call right now and the pitcher they wanted under team control through 2028.
