Pineda to IL; Smeltzer Called Up

[SwainZag]

[jud6312]

Gotta be Torreyes or Vasquez coming off the 40, right?

[Danchat]

Gotta be Torreyes or Vasquez coming off the 40, right?

Adams was taken off the 40 man, we had an extra spot.

[USAFChief]

 

Gotta be Torreyes or Vasquez coming off the 40, right?

Isn't Austin Adams' spot still open?

 

edit: ninja'd

[Doomtints]

The knee he had surgery on is sore. Move him to the pen when he gets back.

[Mike Sixel]

This seems like a good way to give a guy that didn't pitch for two years some rest......and to get a look at another pitcher from the minors to see if they really need to trade for someone......I hope Pineda is ok!

[Otto von Ballpark]

Obviously, Pineda just started last night, and we have off days on Wednesday and next Monday. So we don't *need* a 5th starter again until Saturday June 8th, at which point Pineda would be eligible to return from the IL.

 

Smeltzer also hasn't pitched since May 23rd, so he could be ready for pen action immediately. Although they may prefer to see him start? He could get his feet wet with a pen appearance, and then start next week too.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Interesting timing on the Smeltzer side too -- his last two starts have been his worst of the year so far, with 19 baserunners (13 hits, 6 walks) allowed in 9.2 innings combined.

 

I suppose Littell could start too.

 

Otherwise, there weren't a lot of options at AAA. Kohl Stewart just pitched yesterday; Thorpe only has 3 days rest since his last start. Hildenberger, Romero, and Moya haven't looked ready to return.

[Craig Arko]

Smeltzer starting tonight against the Brewers; Perez pushed back to Friday.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I wish Pineda well. However I hope I get to see Smeltzer pitch a lot for the Twins. That will mean he did very,very well in his first experience in the major leagues. 

[bighat]

 

This seems like a good way to give a guy that didn't pitch for two years some rest......and to get a look at another pitcher from the minors to see if they really need to trade for someone......I hope Pineda is ok!

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. Pineda has pitched 6 innings in 4 straight games, 5 the game before that. Dude's been logging innings like a workhorse. Twins have the luxury to give him a break and take a peek at some minor league options. I'm sure Big Mike is OK and he'll be back in a week or 2.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Smeltzer starting tonight against the Brewers; Perez pushed back to Friday.

Interesting development. Is there something bothering Perez too, that he's suddenly pushed back 3 days? (At the last minute, no less?)

[bighat]

 

 

Smeltzer starting tonight against the Brewers; Perez pushed back to Friday.

 

So this move gives Perez a bit of extra rest also. Twins playing the long game with their strategy here. With a 10-game lead why not?

[WLFINN]

This and the fact that with the rainout last week didn't we need to juggle the rotation a bit?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. Pineda has pitched 6 innings in 4 straight games, 5 the game before that. Dude's been logging innings like a workhorse. Twins have the luxury to give him a break and take a peek at some minor league options. I'm sure Big Mike is OK and he'll be back in a week or 2.

FWIW, Pineda was on track for 21 more starts before this DL stint. At his current IP/GS pace, he would have finished with 171.2 innings for the season. Doesn't seem like much, but in the modern era, I guess it is, and it's right around Pineda's career high too.

 

On the other hand, not all innings are created equal, and they've been relatively conservative with Pineda's pitch counts so far, as he has yet to reach 100. Looking at his game logs, it looks like this is the longest streak of sub-100 pitch starts in his MLB career (not that he's been particularly abused in this category either).

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

This and the fact that with the rainout last week didn't we need to juggle the rotation a bit?

Not really. The rained out game last week was played the very next day, on what had been a scheduled off day. Perez started that game, and he was scheduled to start again tonight on standard rest.

[twins_89]

It will be interesting to see how Smeltzer does against big league competition because the Twins really need at least one of their young starters to take a step forward.

 

Right now our starting pitcher depth is a bit iffy. Gonsalves, Mejia, and Graterol are on the IL. Romero is in the bullpen (though he should be put back in the rotation). Thorpe has been up and down, and when he's been bad he's been extremely bad. Stewart and LIttell have been OK, but neither inspire much confidence if they have to fill in for multiple starts. 

 

 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Interesting development. Is there something bothering Perez too, that he's suddenly pushed back 3 days? (At the last minute, no less?)

I doubt it. We’re seeing slightly different patterns of usage (such as built-in rest days for lineup regulars) that make me think there’s nothing here to see, or they just see a better string of game matchups ahead for Perez if he slides back in the rotation a few days.

[Mike Sixel]

 

I doubt it. We’re seeing slightly different patterns of usage (such as built-in rest days for lineup regulars) that make me think there’s nothing here to see, or they just see a better string of game matchups ahead for Perez if he slides back in the rotation a few days.

 

Agreed, I think this is all about teams (esp MN) realizing that rest is more important for peak performance than we used to realize.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I doubt it. We’re seeing slightly different patterns of usage (such as built-in rest days for lineup regulars) that make me think there’s nothing here to see, or they just see a better string of game matchups ahead for Perez if he slides back in the rotation a few days.

 

Thanks, I can see that. Although the timing is a little weird -- was Perez already preparing to start today? If so, does that cut into the benefits of the extra rest a bit? He pushes back his start a few days but has to double up his throw days in that case.

 

It's also possible he wasn't preparing to start today, and they planned to start someone else, although usually they wouldn't announce Perez for the start then and would simply leave it TBA.

[MNT1996]

I think the Twins FO is gearing up for a starting pitcher trade. They're going to give some minor league guys a shot to put in some innings at the bigs to give them experience for the future, but they are not going to leave that #5 spot rotating if the minor league guys don't do well. Also you're just not going to be able to fully trust Pineda to give you a full season of innings when he missed all of last year and he's still battling knee issues. The Twins will make a move.

[Vanimal46]

I doubt it. We’re seeing slightly different patterns of usage (such as built-in rest days for lineup regulars) that make me think there’s nothing here to see, or they just see a better string of game matchups ahead for Perez if he slides back in the rotation a few days.

Plus, I'd rather line up our best pitchers to face off against Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay. Interleague games don't matter as much in the whole scheme of things.

[Craig Arko]

Smeltzer starting tonight against the Brewers; Perez pushed back to Friday.

Whoops, that’s Thursday in Tampa.

 

This extra day of rest for the starting staff is a luxury earned by building a ten game lead, I suspect.

[twins_89]

 

Thanks, I can see that. Although the timing is a little weird -- was Perez already preparing to start today? If so, does that cut into the benefits of the extra rest a bit? He pushes back his start a few days but has to double up his throw days in that case.

 

It's also possible he wasn't preparing to start today, and they planned to start someone else, although usually they wouldn't announce Perez for the start then and would simply leave it TBA.

 

I suspect pushing back Perez was not planned, otherwise I would have guessed that Stewart wouldn't have started yesterday and would have been called up. Stewart has been pitching fairly well recently and has shown he is capable of pitching in the majors, so I would be surprised if the Twins intentionally bypassed him for Smeltzer.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I suspect pushing back Perez was not planned, otherwise I would have guessed that Stewart wouldn't have started yesterday and would have been called up. Stewart has been pitching fairly well recently and has shown he is capable of pitching in the majors, so I would be surprised if the Twins intentionally bypassed him for Smeltzer.

You might be right, although 3 K's in 12 IP this year in MLB suggests that Stewart's success so far may not be sustainable. In that case, I could see them wanting to get a look at someone else like Smeltzer instead.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Whoops, that’s Thursday in Tampa.

This extra day of rest for the starting staff is a luxury earned by building a ten game lead, I suspect.

Thanks, that makes a bit more sense!

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Plus, I'd rather line up our best pitchers to face off against Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay. Interleague games don't matter as much in the whole scheme of things.

Once we put Pineda on the IL, Perez would have faced Tampa Bay anyway -- it's a 4-game series after the off day Wednesday. This just changes his Tampa start from Sunday to Thursday.

 

It does allow Perez to face Cleveland next week, though. (Assuming Smeltzer goes back down after tonight's start, and we go with a 4 man rotation for a little bit.)

[stringer bell]

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