Some roster decisions reveal more than just a need to adjust the team’s makeup. The Twins made a couple on Tuesday, for instance, that acknowledged a mistake, and another that gave up on their hopes.
Twins DFA Trevor Richards, decide to go rest of the season without Joe Ryan on the mound
Trevor Richards, a trade deadline acquisition, was designated for assignment on Tuesday. Joe Ryan, meanwhile, was placed on the 60-day injured list, which ended his season.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
August 28, 2024 at 1:12AM
Righthander Trevor Richards, the Twins’ lone pickup at the trade deadline, was designated for assignment, an admission that he hadn’t provided the effectiveness the Twins projected when they made the deal with Toronto. And the Twins transferred Joe Ryan to the 60-day injured list, officially giving up on the possibility that he might pitch again this year.
“Sometimes hard decisions have to be made,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the moves. “You have to make a tough call.”
Baldelli said the team didn’t want to lose Richards, that “Trevor has a lot of good days ahead of him pitching in the big leagues.” But there was no ignoring the fact that in his 13 innings with the Twins, Richards gave up 10 hits, walked 11 batters, hit two more and threw seven wild pitches, Baldelli said.
“He struggled with his command here. It would not be honest to just ignore that point,” particularly in a pennant race, Baldelli said.
Ryan, meanwhile, has used his time since suffering a Grade 2 strain of the teres major muscle in his shoulder to work on his overall physical conditioning, but “I haven’t picked up a baseball.” He has felt no pain since the Aug. 7 injury, and is optimistic that means it won’t be an issue beyond this season. “Maybe it’s healing up quicker than we suspect,” said Ryan, who will undergo another MRI next week.
But his 60 days on the injured list won’t expire until a week after the regular season ends, meaning his season is over.
Two return to team, then one leaves
Those decisions opened two spots on the pitching staff, and the Twins filled them by adding a couple of pitchers who have already made brief cameos on their roster this season.
Caleb Boushley, who has made 22 starts for Class AAA St. Paul, was recalled more than three months since his lone appearance for the Twins in Washington. He pitched two innings in a 12-3 loss to the Nationals in May, giving up three hits and two runs.
He hoped to stay longer this time, but he was designated for assignment after Tuesday night’s 8-6, 10-inning loss to Atlanta. He pitched two scoreless innings in the defeat, giving up three hits and walking one.
“It’s an opportunity to play September baseball. It’s exciting,” the 30-year-old veteran of seven minor league seasons said before the game. “You don’t know how long you’ll be here, but I want to seize this chance. … I’ve got a lot of innings in the minor leagues.”
One reason why he couldn’t be certain how long he would stay: The Twins also claimed Michael Tonkin on waivers from the Yankees, continuing the former Twin’s 2024 journey that has taken him from the Mets to the Twins for one game in April — like Boushley, he pitched two innings (in Detroit last April) and was let go — to the Mets again and finally to the Yankees.
Tonkin looked like a real find for the Yankees after posting a 1.47 ERA in his first 27 appearances. But he has a 6.98 ERA over his last 12 games, and was waived.
“He still has good, competitive stuff,” Baldelli said, “and some angles that he works with and some things we think can be effective.”
More moves to come
Tonkin’s arrival on Wednesday will necessitate the removal of another reliever from the roster. One candidate could be righthander Scott Blewett — though he impressed the Twins with a career-best three-inning scoreless appearance against the Braves on Monday.
He also impressed with his toughness. The fourth batter he faced, Whit Merrifield, lined a ball off his right wrist, and the Twins feared he had been injured.
“I’m looking at his wrist, and you can see the purple seams on his wrist, right where I would think to myself, ‘That is right where you do not want to get hit.’ You can break your wrist into pieces, you know?” Baldelli said. “But he said, ‘I’m good. I’m going to keep going if you’ll let me keep going.”
He did, striking out three and allowing only two hits.
“I thought it hit my glove. Then when I ran after the ball, I looked down at my hand, and you could see where it hit,” Blewett said. “But I had a lot of adrenaline pumping. I figured it might hurt tomorrow, but I wanted to stay in.”
Etc.
* One more pitching transaction: Lefthander Steven Okert, designated for assignment on Saturday, cleared waivers and was outrighted to St. Paul.
* Four Saints pitchers combined to allow two runs and strike out 12 in an 8-2 victory over the Omaha Storm Chasers.
The sixth-round draft pick out of Coastal Carolina was tipping players off about what pitches were coming.
