So I doubt it will happen but how much more would Romero have to do this spring to earn a ticket north?

[NewClearHarley]

He looks pretty good so far. Does he have any chance of breaking camp? 

[Thrylos]

No.  And this is not a bad thing.  Romero needs to a. get extended and b. work on that changeup.   He can do neither at the big camp right now.

[Dantes929]

 

He looks pretty good so far. Does he have any chance of breaking camp? 

I miss Tom's recaps.   What is the best site for following ST games?

 

[Old Twins Cap]

Come on, what happened?  I see he struck out the side.  What was he featuring?

[twinsfanstreif]

I think he has a shot but more than likely they will start him down at AAA unless there are some more injuries.

[Mike Sixel]

I think it depends more on Hughes.....

[gunnarthor]

Barring a few injuries, I don't think he can. Berrios, Ordoizzi (man, I'm gonna have to learn to spell that name), Gibson, Mejia, Sanchez, Hughes, Gonsalves and Slegers are probably in front of him on the current depth chart.

[ewen21]

We had a great pen in the early 00s.  Where is Jack Cressend these days?

[Han Joelo]

I'm not expecting to see him break camp with the Twins, but I'm pretty excited for Romero.  There's already been a couple of nice stories written about him or at least mentioning him.  He seems to have that elusive frontline potential; the kind that costs more than $100 million on the open market.

[Taildragger8791]

 

Come on, what happened?  I see he struck out the side.  What was he featuring?

 

Against a couple minor leaguers and Pedro Florimon. Impressive, but not a resume for promotion yet.

[Siehbiscuit]

Even if he was one of our 3 best, it would be foolish of the Twins to bring him up to start the year. By sitting even two or three weeks at AAA it pushes back his clock. WOuld you rather have 3 weeks of his age 23 season or another full season in his prime? Roster management is pretty important, especially when payroll isn’t up there with the big boys.

[diehardtwinsfan]

a whole lot needs to go wrong for him to go North in April. I think he's going to be a possible mid-season call up, and if he does well, a candidate for next year, but he's not stretched out enough to pitch a full ML season.

 

 

[Squirrel]

 

He looks pretty good so far. Does he have any chance of breaking camp? 

I don't think he'll break camp with the Twins for reasons others have said, but I'm hoping he gets his cup o' coffee this year and a September call up. But until then, you could 'adopt' him and give us regular updates in the prospects forum.

http://twinsdaily.com/topic/28784-2018-adopt-a-prospect-round-1-beginning-monday-mar-5/

 

(I know ... I'm shameless with my encouragement.)

[Riverbrian]

 

Even if he was one of our 3 best, it would be foolish of the Twins to bring him up to start the year. By sitting even two or three weeks at AAA it pushes back his clock. WOuld you rather have 3 weeks of his age 23 season or another full season in his prime? Roster management is pretty important, especially when payroll isn’t up there with the big boys.

 

Yep... no matter how much clubs deny this... they do it and the CBA kinda forces them to do it. 

 

The other thing... You can't stash Vets in the Minors... You need to hold young pitchers back in AAA so you have decent injury replacements. The injuries are going to happen and somebody needs to be called up when it happens.. You can't stash vets in the minors... so you have to hold guys back a little because pitchers 6 through 10 can be pretty darn important. Rush your prospects and you leave yourself with no depth. 

 

If Romero continues to perform in AAA... I'll guarantee you that we will see him this year. If he pitches well in the majors... He'll stick. 

[Darius]

There is a zero percent chance of Romero opening the season in the big league rotation.

 

I don't think the chances are a whole lot higher that we see him in the big league rotation at all in 2018. He may have to pitch a full season first.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Romero won’t go north with the Twins, not yet. However he should be ahead of say Zack Littell in the pecking order to the big leagues. To be clear, Romero deserves to start in AAA this year and should he pitch lights out he should be able to work his way onto the team. Right now he is behind Mejia, Slegers, Jorge, and Gonsalves in the pecking order. That said Slegers and Jorge are mostly just organizational fillers, not pitchers who have a future with the Twins. In reality Gonsalves is the only minor leaguer with a future with the Twins “blocking” Romero’s path to the Twins. I figure Romero might join the Twins in September (as long as the Twins manage his innings) or he competes for the #5 spot in the rotation next year.

[beckmt]

If Romero develops a good 3rd pitch this year, he will be in the rotation almost certainly next year.  If not that should be exposed in AAA and we may be looking at a shutdown reliever in the future.  I prefer he can develop the 3rd pitch and be a starter.

[Dantes929]

 

a whole lot needs to go wrong for him to go North in April. I think he's going to be a possible mid-season call up, and if he does well, a candidate for next year, but he's not stretched out enough to pitch a full ML season.

What you say is probably what the Twins are thinking but i will never understand it.   Surgery was 4 years ago and there just isn't any evidence that says a guy should only increase his workload  20% each year.   How many guys have we babied that still developed arm problems.   How many guys in the 70's and 80's pitched 200 innings without being babied?    If there was science behind it I would get it but I haven't seen any science backing up treating pitchers this way.  

[Gagne Fan]

If you are going to talk about guys who should break camp but won’t add DJ Baxendale to that list. Bailed Berrios out on Sunday by making Josh Harrison + Gregory Polanco look foolish. The announcers were raving about his stuff. Expect him to make the jump sometime in 2018

At some point guys like Duffey, Hughes are going to have to earn their spot

[Twodogs]

I think this is the year that they build up his arm strength to go 150 innings so that next year he can have a legit shot at being in the rotation. It would be cool to see him for a spot start in the middle of the season just to see him with the big club once, but I really think he has to dominate in AAA this year. At least most of it.

[Doctor Wu]

 

Against a couple minor leaguers and Pedro Florimon. Impressive, but not a resume for promotion yet.

Poor Pedro. He was actually having a pretty good season last year for the Phillies, hitting .348 (small sample size, but for him a high batting average and OBP) and was even playing some in the outfield. And then he was badly injured and finished for the year. I love pulling for players like him, and hope he can stick in the majors this year.

[NewClearHarley]

 

What you say is probably what the Twins are thinking but i will never understand it.   Surgery was 4 years ago and there just isn't any evidence that says a guy should only increase his workload  20% each year.   How many guys have we babied that still developed arm problems.   How many guys in the 70's and 80's pitched 200 innings without being babied?    If there was science behind it I would get it but I haven't seen any science backing up treating pitchers this way.  

not to mention that other teams have promoted their young stud pitchers early on in their 21-23 yr old age range. I understand "control" of prospects is important from a fiscal standpoint, but why do the Twins consistently have to wait till a player is 25 or older (and their prospect shimmer has waned) when other teams take shots (at least in the bullpen) with their best talent in their early twenties - and sometimes even earlier. 

 

I'd give him a couple months in AAA to start the year, but if he looks solid there, lets get our best pitchers up here in the bigs throwing IP for the MLB team before they turn 30.

[Doomtints]

Right now he isn't facing significant competition. Lots of players dominate the front end of spring training and fail miserably in the last part. What we are seeing now is encouraging but it's just that -- encouraging.  

[Pardon My Dinger]

Can he swing a sack of doorknobs?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

If you are going to talk about guys who should break camp but won’t add DJ Baxendale to that list.

FWIW, Baxendale has been Rule 5 eligible the last 3 offseasons. He's also due to become a minor league free agent after this season, if he's not added to the 40-man. Looking at our depth chart, I can't really see a place for him in Minnesota for 2018, though, except perhaps as a Wimmers-type cameo in case of injuries.

[bird]

 

We had a great pen in the early 00s.  Where is Jack Cressend these days?

 

 

I believe we lost him on waivers to Cleveland. Check THEIR roster.

[Han Joelo]

He's not cracking the opening day roster, we know that.  Nonetheless, another impressive outing today. For the spring, he is at 8 innings, no hits, one walk, eight strikeouts.  

 

Here is his mention on MLB.com's Top Prospect Performers for Sunday.

 

*He pitched in later innings again, so the standard caveats about quality of opponent must be noted at this time, otherwise someone would have to make sure and point that out below.

[Twodogs]

I think, and only think because I really have no idea what the Twins brass wants to do. But I think they want him as a starter and the only way he would earn a ticket to the big club this year out of spring training would have been to have pitched 150+ innings last year. I think the Twins are mostly concerned with his ability to last the season. That's why Lynn was a good sign for one year, because if Romero can throw 150 to 170 innings between the minors and majors this year I feel that he will be in the rotation next year. That's my hope, I just don't think the Twins feel he is ready to throw a lot of innings at the MLB level. That would be the only thing holding him back. If he is that good I don't think they would care about his clock starting, I think it's about building stamina for the whole season.

[Old Twins Cap]

Twins could really stand to get lucky on one of their pitching prospects, I'm thinking like, top end starter or reliever.

 

Romero has that potential.  Maybe Jay in relief.  Maybe a Thorpe or a Graterol.   Somebody who becomes a top 10 pitcher in all of baseball in his niche.

 

That's what makes for a Pennant. 

 

After all this pain, these many years, please Lord, give us our Top Shelf desserts.

[ChrisKnutson]

The last two bullpen spot should go to Mejia and Romero as multi-inning guys, but chances are Romero won't break camp.

 

However, if Sano does get suspended it would be smart to have Romero test the MLB waters as the 9th reliever instead of giving up a spot to Aybar when we got Escobar and Adrianza.