The Twins Bullpen is Missing a Starter

[Ted Schwerzler]

All season, the Minnesota Twins have operated with a strong desire to employ a long reliever. While that is a fair desire, it has left arguably the best blueprint for roster construction under-utilized.

 

Image courtesy of © Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Out of the gate, Minnesota decided against keeping Danny Coulombe or Jeff Hoffman. Instead, Rocco Baldelli went with Cole Sands to operate as his long man out of the bullpen. Sands not needing to be prioritized for innings could provide bulk work when Minnesota needed it, or mop things up if games got out of hand. Sparingly used, and pitching just a total of four innings, Sands was optioned.

Simeon Woods Richardson recently provided the Twins some length in a game that got away against the Washington Nationals, but the goal has been for him to remain a member of the rotation. For now, that happens in St. Paul, but ultimately, he provides Minnesota depth behind Sonny Gray, Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, and Joe Ryan.

Finishing the weekend series against the Nationals was Bailey Ober making a spot start. He was solid last year as a starter for the Twins, and disappointed his strong spring didn’t provide an opportunity to crack the Opening Day roster. After looking good in his 2023 debut, it is that 13-man pitching staff where the greatest group lies.

The caveat obviously is that Kenta Maeda moves to the bullpen.

Shockingly, Maeda is fine after taking a line drive to his ankle. Avoiding a trip to the injured list, the Twins have Maeda listed as the probable starter on Wednesday against New York’s cheater starter, Domingo German. Minnesota has remained steadfast that Maeda would be in the rotation coming back from Tommy John surgery. Thus far, he’s been fine, but the opportunity to maximize the roster lies in front of them.

Continuing to let a capable starter in Ober work out of the rotation seems to make too much sense. Ober has been nothing short of spectacular in his past three outings, and it’s clear he’s much better than being stashed away at Triple-A. Vaulting him to the big-league rotation still leaves arms like Louie Varland and Woods Richardson as immediate starting depth. By inserting him into Minnesota’s group, Maeda’s innings can be managed, and the pen becomes more fluid.

Looking for a high-level arm that can eat innings, there may be no more ideal option than Maeda. He has topped out at 83 pitches this season, and has been skipped once to ease him back in. By working out of the pen, he provides a middle-inning option that can remain stretched out, but also focus on executing in short stretches rather than being perfect throughout the entirety of a start.

Of course, Maeda would not be a fan of this outcome, and he wasn’t while used in the role with the Dodgers. However, he is in the final year of his deal with the Twins and isn’t likely to be around in 2024. It should not be of highest concern for Minnesota to appease everyone, and certainly not carrying more weight than building their most optimal roster.

When used as a reliever with Los Angeles in 2019, Maeda posted a lower ERA and a 22/4 K/BB. He was better as a reliever in 2018 as well, and that season saw him tally a 26/3 K/BB. Being able to insert that type of dominating arm into the non-leverage spots that provide themselves during a game would immediately give Baldelli starter protection on a nightly basis.

I don’t foresee the Twins making this change any time soon. They were too vocal about him being a starter, and Maeda is clearly more happy in that role. That said, if you want to put the best 13 pitchers on the roster and get more from the bullpen one through eight, this is the way to get it done.

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[John Belinski]

Thank you Ted for a well written article. It would seem that whatever pitching change would help the Twins win should be looked at.  A good long term reliever is really important since any starting pitcher can have a off day due to some unknown reason so the team needs someone to come in to pitch 5 or 6 innings so Twins have chance to win game.  Young players are the Twins future so other players need to be able to help wherever they can help the Twins win. Baseball is a team sport that needs every player helping the team win games.

[walkstar89]

I thought of this idea awhile ago and love it. Maeda hasn't look especially dominant as a starter and at his age and with his injury history, how will he hold up as the season goes on? As a reliever he could both pitch multiple innings while also potentially being very good. If a starter gets knocked out of a game early, potentially due to injury (Like Maeda's last start) it wouldn't have to be an automatic loss for us if Maeda could come in and pitch 3 innings.

[Seth Stohs]

Maeda has done too much as a starter in the big leagues to just cast aside into the "long-relief" role. That's not to say that it may be the right decision at some point. I would give him 10 starts. See how he's doing. See where Ober is at. See if either stays healthy, and evaluate on June 1. 

Personally, I think that I like how they're doing it now. They have Headrick, SWR, Sands and soon Winder available for that role. They are all behind Ober and Varland at this point, so it is likely OK to let them alternate in the long-relief role. Let them get that big-league work and short stints of service time while still getting starts when they are in St. Paul. Occasionally throw Varland or Ober in a start to give guys an extra day. 

Maybe they could do a creative 6-man rotation, figuring out how it will work to make sure that Lopez, Gray, Ryan and Mahle each pitch on their regular rest. 

[jccracraft]

It's silly to have Ober sitting behind Maeda at this point. Ober has been very solid, better than Maeda for awhile now. It's a waste to have Ober in AAA, at least until he proves otherwise. And Maeda really only had the one great short season. He needs to be moved to the bullpen.

[roger]

Maeda was one of the better starting pitchers in baseball prior to his surgery.  Can he be that again?  We won't know unless he is given the opportunity to start.  

Will he need an extra day of rest or miss a start once in awhile?  Yes, but his most recent injury had nothing to do with his arm.  So I would like to see him given time to make a reasonable number of starts to see if he could be that guy again.  And if he tires, then a move to the pen will be the obvious choice for both the Twins and Kenta.  Meanwhile, its awfully nice having Ober, and Varland, sitting over in St. Paul when needed.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, Seth Stohs said:

Maeda has done too much as a starter in the big leagues to just cast aside into the "long-relief" role. That's not to say that it may be the right decision at some point. I would give him 10 starts. See how he's doing. See where Ober is at. See if either stays healthy, and evaluate on June 1. 

Personally, I think that I like how they're doing it now. They have Headrick, SWR, Sands and soon Winder available for that role. They are all behind Ober and Varland at this point, so it is likely OK to let them alternate in the long-relief role. Let them get that big-league work and short stints of service time while still getting starts when they are in St. Paul. Occasionally throw Varland or Ober in a start to give guys an extra day. 

Maybe they could do a creative 6-man rotation, figuring out how it will work to make sure that Lopez, Gray, Ryan and Mahle each pitch on their regular rest. 

Seth, I understand giving Maeda 10 more starts and see how he does, and there is much wisdom in that approach. But I believe there is possibly a better way to handle this situation. This is why. Last 2022 season and this 2023 spring training and this early 2023 season, Ober has pitched well enough to be one of the Twins starting pitchers. That is not the issue. The question is 2 part:  1) Can Maeda can pitch better than Ober as a starter. Or 2) whether having Maeda in the bullpen would improve the bullpen. Who would you rather see coming in from the bullpen twice a week for 3-4 innings, Maeda, Headrick, SWR or Sands? Remember, if Maeda remains a starter, Ober is not going to the bullpen. Ober will remain at AAA as the first call-up when a starter is out due to injury or lack of performance. By moving Maeda to the bullpen, we either improve the starting pitching or at the very least, it stays the same with Ober starting instead of Maeda. But by moving Maeda to the bullpen, there is the very real potential to vastly improve the bullpen and by doing so, improve the Twins chances of winning more games. 

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, roger said:

Maeda was one of the better starting pitchers in baseball prior to his surgery.  Can he be that again?  We won't know unless he is given the opportunity to start. 

I would disagree that he was one of the better starters prior to surgery, he was a good starting pitcher.

In his best season (11 starts) he was tied for 27th in WAR (1.6)per ESPN, behind Dylan Bundy. His only season with a WAR above 2 was his rookie year 2016 (2.4) again ESPN.

Same numbers at Baseball reference.

In his 21 starts in 21 his WAR was .3.

IMO he should have started the year in the pen and Ober giving the starting job, that didn't happen, now my opinion is Maeda should be given every chance to start, since I don't believe Ober is a future piece of the Twins starting staff, other than a really good fill in starter.

 

 

[Dave The Dastardly]

Makes too much sense, Ted. Not screwy enough to be considered.

[Doctor Gast]

30 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Seth, I understand giving Maeda 10 more starts and see how he does, and there is much wisdom in that approach. But I believe there is possibly a better way to handle this situation. This is why. Last 2022 season and this 2023 spring training and this early 2023 season, Ober has pitched well enough to be one of the Twins starting pitchers. That is not the issue. The question is 2 part:  1) Can Maeda can pitch better than Ober as a starter. Or 2) whether having Maeda in the bullpen would improve the bullpen. Who would you rather see coming in from the bullpen twice a week for 3-4 innings, Maeda, Headrick, SWR or Sands? Remember, if Maeda remains a starter, Ober is not going to the bullpen. Ober will remain at AAA as the first call-up when a starter is out due to injury or lack of performance. By moving Maeda to the bullpen, we either improve the starting pitching or at the very least, it stays the same with Ober starting instead of Maeda. But by moving Maeda to the bullpen, there is the very real potential to vastly improve the bullpen and by doing so, improve the Twins chances of winning more games. 

We have to look at what makes us better as a team. IMO Maeda doesn't have the stamina to pitch 5+ innings every 5 or so days, I believe Ober has a better chance to do so. So Maeda in the BP in long relief along with spot starts makes more sense because he's the best man in that role & with Maeda in long relief will force Baldelli to actually implement the long relief as he promised.

[specialiststeve]

Pretty clear to me that Ober is the better pitcher at this point and with his future being promising he should be at the show.

That being said one thing I have not seen is that in my mind the front office is likely wanting Maeta to pitch as a starter to keep his trade value up. There will be teams that are going to be wanting a starter as the injury bug continues to hit. Keeping his value up for the next month seems to make sense to get some decent pieces coming back. This FO has done a fair job at getting value back for players that are on their way out... see this as the same situation. 

[miller761]

Maeda's inability to pitch deep into games also puts added stress on our bullpen. Why would the FO want to do this?

[Jocko87]

3 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

Maeda has done too much as a starter in the big leagues to just cast aside into the "long-relief" role. That's not to say that it may be the right decision at some point. I would give him 10 starts. See how he's doing. See where Ober is at. See if either stays healthy, and evaluate on June 1. 

Personally, I think that I like how they're doing it now. They have Headrick, SWR, Sands and soon Winder available for that role. They are all behind Ober and Varland at this point, so it is likely OK to let them alternate in the long-relief role. Let them get that big-league work and short stints of service time while still getting starts when they are in St. Paul. Occasionally throw Varland or Ober in a start to give guys an extra day. 

Maybe they could do a creative 6-man rotation, figuring out how it will work to make sure that Lopez, Gray, Ryan and Mahle each pitch on their regular rest. 

While I agree that his track record as a starter is solid it doesn't exempt him from age and performance issues coming back from an injury.  I think you are right at about 10 starts but the eye test is kinda telling for where we are heading.  In the scenario that he goes to the bullpen it drastically improves the talent level throughout the staff.  He's not necessarily just a long guy out of the pen and I think the rotating long guy still exists.  If the net of change is Ober and the prospect rotation replacing say, Alcala and Pagan it would be very hard to not make that move for me. 

[DJL44]

49 minutes ago, miller761 said:

Maeda's inability to pitch deep into games also puts added stress on our bullpen. Why would the FO want to do this?

He pitched 5 innings, 6 innings, then got hit in the foot by a line drive after 2 innings. I don't see this statement backed up by any evidence.

[August J Gloop]

Ober just hasn't been that great to kick Kenta to the pen for.

Madea piched about as well while hurt in 2021 (106.1 IP, 4.10 FIP, 1.2 WHIP. 9.6 K/9) as Ober has for the duration of his MLB career (149 IP, 3.92 FIP, 1.13 WHIP, 8.8 K/9). It seems like a waste to have him at AAA, definitely.

I just don't see how you don't wait til Kenta has had a couple starts under his belt to be sure he's not getting back to normal, first. Hard to hold his last start against him in the 'can't go deep narrative'. In the other two he'd gone 5 and then 6 innings.  If he can't go 6 in the next couple, we probably have something to worry about. 

[Rosterman]

You gotta start, at some point, look at what is best for the team. Ober or Madea in the rotation. Pagan and Moran in the pen, or someone else. Moran still ahs promise at least.

You play to win, not to puff the stats of some players (Madea) to make them a trade candidate - unless you are so far behind in the standings (or too far in front).

 

 

[IndianaTwin]

This actually doesn't seem that complicated. Our last six games have been started by: 

Tuesday: Gray
Wednesday: Ryan
Thursday: Maeda
Friday: Mahle
Saturday: Lopez
Sunday: Ober

Our next three starters are listed as:
Monday: Gray
Tuesday: Ryan
Wednesday: Maeda

It seems pretty likely that Mahle starts Thursday and Lopez Friday. If they don't send Ober down immediately to bring up another reliever, he's likely to stay around all week and pitch on Saturday. If someone gets shelled and the bullpen is depleted, they could still option him and go with Gray and Ryan on normal rest on Saturday and Sunday.

Sure looks like they've switched to a six-man rotation without announcing it that way. They've hinted going the six-man route, and if they're going to do that, now is the time, since they are in a string of 13 straight games.

I'm guessing it stays that way for the time being and will be resolved in one of several ways: 

1. One of them is forced to the IL at some point, and it seemlessly shifts back to a five-man rotation.
1a. A variation on this is if they decide to skip a start for someone who appears to be tired. And once we hit June, that's easy to do, since there are four off days in the month.
2. One of them stinks on several occasions and gets pulled from the rotation. With each of them having some level of cache, I don't see this one as likely, but Ober is most likely, given his rookie status. 
3. All of them stay healthy, pitch spectacularly, and Twins Daily readers break out into spontaneous rejoicing and praising of the front office. That last part seems unlikely, since, well, this is the Internet.

[mikelink45]

How about a longer term look - We signed Lopez to an extension to insure that we have quality in the rotation for the period of Correa's contract.  We have Ryan until he is 31 because of his late start in the majors.  We could extend Gray (but good luck with that).  That leaves Mahle and Maeda.  Are we going to extend either of both?  If not Ober gives us 5 years of service and Varland and the others can fill in behind him.  But why waste this year of Ober's arm?  Maeda in the BP or Mahle in the BP.  I don't care.  Six man rotation, fine, but keep the 27 year old Ober in the rotation and you his still young arm now and for the next few years.

Ober is 6 - 6 3.74 era, 2.4 WAR and 1.143 WHIP for 32 starts is very useful. 

Mahle is one year older than Ober.  Mahle has been given the chance to start 60 games over that same three year time span.  He is 20 - 16 for that period. 3.96 ERA and a 1.222 Whip. 

Maeda (for three years - not counting his injury year)is age 35 with 35 starts is 12 - 9 with a whip of 1.085.

[chpettit19]

I don't see them ever piggy backing starters. So Maeda to the pen for regular 3-4 inning appearances doesn't sound like a real possibility. He's way too good to be used in that Sands/Headricks/SWR role of sitting around until a starter takes a liner off the leg, or has a terrible start. If you put him the pen it's more likely in the Moran/Pagan/Alcala role of 2 inning, low-leverage appearances a couple times a week. If he's in that role for a month you've taken him out as a possible rotation arm later in the year if/when injuries or performance demand a new rotation arm.

Bailey Ober has topped 100 innings 1 time since he was 18. Inserting him into the rotation and expecting him to go 5+ innings every 5th day seems like it'd be an awfully bold gamble since he's literally never been able to do that. Having him in the St Paul rotation for half the year is wasting his talent. To me the question is whether or not Ober has a future in the rotation at all. I think that's what you need to find out this year. And for the answer to be "yes" he needs to throw at least 120 innings this year. I think some kind of modified 6 man rotation where Lopez, Gray, Ryan, and Mahle throw on regular, or close to it, rest every time through and Maeda and Ober sort of trade off on the 5th spot in the rotation is probably how you maximize them both best.

I'd keep Maeda as the primary #5 starter for at least 4 or 5 more turns to see what he looks like. Maybe do the 6 man rotation for the rest of this 13 day stretch of games, and then send Ober back to St Paul for a couple more weeks and let the other 5 role with the normal 5 man rotation for a few times through. If Maeda looks to be tiring too much through May then it's time to discuss moving him to the pen. I get that people are concerned about his stamina because he's 35 and didn't pitch last year, but if stamina is your main concern your first option to replace him can't be a 27 year old (will be 28 in July) who's never held up to an MLB starter's workload. If having a guy who can take the ball every 5th day and hold up is your concern, Varland is the guy you should be asking for, and you should be suggesting Maeda and Ober take Pagan and Moran's jobs in the pen.

[Jocko87]

Another thing to keep in mind is that he doesn’t project as someone who’s stuff gets better going to the pen. His first time with the Dodgers he was just a really good pitcher who happened to also be good in the pen.  There is a good chance he’ll never be that pitcher again.

I’m much more comfortable with him figuring it out in the bullpen and being used in positive matchups while he gets right. When that move also frees up a rotation spot for Ober it becomes a lot more tempting. 

[KirbyDome89]

19 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't see them ever piggy backing starters. So Maeda to the pen for regular 3-4 inning appearances doesn't sound like a real possibility. He's way too good to be used in that Sands/Headricks/SWR role of sitting around until a starter takes a liner off the leg, or has a terrible start. If you put him the pen it's more likely in the Moran/Pagan/Alcala role of 2 inning, low-leverage appearances a couple times a week. If he's in that role for a month you've taken him out as a possible rotation arm later in the year if/when injuries or performance demand a new rotation arm.

Bailey Ober has topped 100 innings 1 time since he was 18. Inserting him into the rotation and expecting him to go 5+ innings every 5th day seems like it'd be an awfully bold gamble since he's literally never been able to do that. Having him in the St Paul rotation for half the year is wasting his talent. To me the question is whether or not Ober has a future in the rotation at all. I think that's what you need to find out this year. And for the answer to be "yes" he needs to throw at least 120 innings this year. I think some kind of modified 6 man rotation where Lopez, Gray, Ryan, and Mahle throw on regular, or close to it, rest every time through and Maeda and Ober sort of trade off on the 5th spot in the rotation is probably how you maximize them both best.

I'd keep Maeda as the primary #5 starter for at least 4 or 5 more turns to see what he looks like. Maybe do the 6 man rotation for the rest of this 13 day stretch of games, and then send Ober back to St Paul for a couple more weeks and let the other 5 role with the normal 5 man rotation for a few times through. If Maeda looks to be tiring too much through May then it's time to discuss moving him to the pen. I get that people are concerned about his stamina because he's 35 and didn't pitch last year, but if stamina is your main concern your first option to replace him can't be a 27 year old (will be 28 in July) who's never held up to an MLB starter's workload. If having a guy who can take the ball every 5th day and hold up is your concern, Varland is the guy you should be asking for, and you should be suggesting Maeda and Ober take Pagan and Moran's jobs in the pen.

I wouldn't even bother with sending Ober back to St. Paul, I think he needs to stay in the rotation until he's either hurt (likely) or proves he doesn't belong (unlikely) amongst the starting group. My faith in his ability to reach that 120 inning threshold is slim, and even if he were to hit it this year, we'll be having this same discussion for at least another few seasons until he proves he can consistently reach that nominal mark. The worst case is that Maeda fades (either performance or stamina) and Ober isn't available. Get what you can from both of these guys right now, and figure out the rest later. Saving bullets so to speak doesn't make much sense to me when one or two good/decent months bookended by pretty meh baseball might be all it takes to win this awful division. 

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

A reason that they may not want to put Maeda in the pen is that I would think with inconsistent warm ups and inconsistent days between outings may not be good for his arm coming back from TJ.

[chpettit19]

7 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

I wouldn't even bother with sending Ober back to St. Paul, I think he needs to stay in the rotation until he's either hurt (likely) or proves he doesn't belong (unlikely) amongst the starting group. My faith in his ability to reach that 120 inning threshold is slim, and even if he were to hit it this year, we'll be having this same discussion for at least another few seasons until he proves he can consistently reach that nominal mark. The worst case is that Maeda fades (either performance or stamina) and Ober isn't available. Get what you can from both of these guys right now, and figure out the rest later. Saving bullets so to speak doesn't make much sense to me when one or two good/decent months bookended by pretty meh baseball might be all it takes to win this awful division. 

I don't disagree with this premise, I just don't know how you manage the rotation overall with them both in it since I don't think you want to mess with Lopez, Gray, or Ryan and their routines. Mahle, too, but he's a step below those other 3 right now so not as worried about him. You don't want to go changing between 5 man and 6 man rotations a bunch. Starters have pretty strict routines between starts on how they workout and prepare for their next start. A 6 man rotation is hard to maintain all season, and even harder if 2 of those pieces are guys you worry about holding up for the season. But I also don't think sending Ober back to St Paul is a great option. There isn't a great answer, and that's why I stick with Maeda until he gives me a reason not to and worry about the rest from there.

[Squirrel]

5 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't disagree with this premise, I just don't know how you manage the rotation overall with them both in it since I don't think you want to mess with Lopez, Gray, or Ryan and their routines. Mahle, too, but he's a step below those other 3 right now so not as worried about him. You don't want to go changing between 5 man and 6 man rotations a bunch. Starters have pretty strict routines between starts on how they workout and prepare for their next start. A 6 man rotation is hard to maintain all season, and even harder if 2 of those pieces are guys you worry about holding up for the season. But I also don't think sending Ober back to St Paul is a great option. There isn't a great answer, and that's why I stick with Maeda until he gives me a reason not to and worry about the rest from there.

And I just saw this ... so ... Maeda will pitch on Wednesday ...

 

 

[chpettit19]

4 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

And I just saw this ... so ... Maeda will pitch on Wednesday ...

 

 

That's good news overall. I don't know what the right thing to do with Ober is, but I don't think moving either of them to the pen in April is the correct answer. Wouldn't be surprised if they give a few guys an extra days rest during this stretch and throw Ober 1 more start before sending him back down. Will definitely be interesting to see how they manage these 2.

[Squirrel]

2 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

That's good news overall. I don't know what the right thing to do with Ober is, but I don't think moving either of them to the pen in April is the correct answer. Wouldn't be surprised if they give a few guys an extra days rest during this stretch and throw Ober 1 more start before sending him back down. Will definitely be interesting to see how they manage these 2.

Yeah, totally agree ... of all things, I never thought they'd have this 'problem' with the starting rotation! But not moving Ober back to St. Paul, then we are short a BP arm ... hopefully it won't be needed today or tomorrow ... 

[chpettit19]

Just now, Squirrel said:

Yeah ... of all things, I never thought they'd have this 'problem' with the starting rotation! But not moving Ober back to St. Paul, then we are short a BP arm ... hopefully it won't be needed today or tomorrow ... 

It's been a while since this was something they could even think about having a problem with! I'm not too worried about the pen short term. Headrick is around for any sort of 3+ inning needs, and if they're running 4+ 1 inning guys out there today they can change plans and call someone back up tomorrow. Hopefully they have a nice little stretch of only needing 3 one inning guys and can maybe think about going with a 12 man staff in the future. I'd consider calling Kirilloff up for Ober right now if sending Ober down is the plan.

[KirbyDome89]

13 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't disagree with this premise, I just don't know how you manage the rotation overall with them both in it since I don't think you want to mess with Lopez, Gray, or Ryan and their routines. Mahle, too, but he's a step below those other 3 right now so not as worried about him. You don't want to go changing between 5 man and 6 man rotations a bunch. Starters have pretty strict routines between starts on how they workout and prepare for their next start. A 6 man rotation is hard to maintain all season, and even harder if 2 of those pieces are guys you worry about holding up for the season. But I also don't think sending Ober back to St Paul is a great option. There isn't a great answer, and that's why I stick with Maeda until he gives me a reason not to and worry about the rest from there.

I think that's our answer; they likely won't have to worry about the difficulties of maintaining that 6 man rotation for a large part of the season. I'd kick that can as far down the road as I could and if it got to the point where the number of starters in the rotation is "a good problem to have," then you make a decision.

[chpettit19]

Ober optioned back to St Paul. Not sure who they'll call up tomorrow.

[DocBauer]

I disagree with the OP 100%..at this time. Later in the season, OK.

Maeda has had a very solid ML career as a SP. FOR THE RECORD....yet again...he didn't go to the Dogers BP due to small contract numbers, but because they had so much rotation depth and limited BP depth they moved him there. And he WAS good there.

Despite no wins, Maeda had a couple  good starts before he got hit on his ankle. They say he's ready to go. I'm trusting in that. I'd bet nobody in baseball has a 6th and 7th SP pitcher better than Ober and Varland. And so far, the Twins are "protecting" Maeda by giving him a day off here and there to use Varland and Ober. So far, it's been a way to use a 6 man rotation without actually doing so.

What's wrong with that? They've been very smart and had actually planned, per rumors, to do so at this point with a long stretch 

At some point, the Twins, even with good health, will need 7 or 8 SP. And they've used 7 so far, but smartly, and not out of desperation. At some point...and it's only April...they will need a couple more. Does anyone believe Ober won't get at least 20 GS before the season is done? But we are to believe that barely 4 weeks in the key to the season is to remove rotation depth for the pen?

Umm...NOPE.

CRAP is going to happen. We need the rotation depth. Ober and Varland are going to get chances. Despite mixed results in a bad loss, I'm pleased that SWR got a chance to throw at the ML level.

I love sticking with Moran because I don't think he's going to get better at AAA. I'm kinda pissed at Alacala being sent down because I'm not sure he was used right. He is a 1 IP, but asked to do more. And that wasn't right.

I appreciate having the LAST spot being a long reliever, even though we've seldom needed that so far. Sands took a few, so did SWR, and that might help them in the future. But in SSS, Headrick has surprised me. Maybe he's part of the top 6?

Even then, with Alcala getting his stuff together, who else would you trust? I'd toss him a few IP and get him right back up.

I'd then dump Pagan ASAP, and he NEVER should have been brought back, and use that last spot for the "rotation" spot in the pen. 

But it's a LONG SEASON and NO WAY I'd be looking at Maeda in the pen until mid season, despite Ober and Varland, only because I know how this seems to ALWAYS work out. At some point, someone always gets injured. And even IF...for some crazy, miraculous reason...the rotation somehow stays intact...Maeda can be moved to the pen in August.

The FO blew Pagan and adding ONE QUALITY BP ARM that was way better than him. But no way I'd move Maeda at this point.