Why Did the Twins Really Option Jorge Alcalá This Weekend?

[Ted Schwerzler]

Prior to Sunday’s matinee in Detroit, the Minnesota Twins opted to make a roster move that sent Jorge Alcalá to Triple-A St. Paul. The decision was a curious one.

 

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Through the Twins' first 14 games this season, Rocco Baldelli called Jorge Alcalá in from the bullpen six times. That’s despite Alcalá being unavailable for a couple of games, while he was dealing with a bout of soreness, and he wasn’t even on the roster for Sunday's contest. To put it mildly, the Minnesota reliever has been a key part of their pitching staff.

Throwing 8 1/3 innings this season, Alcalá has already accumulated nearly half of the total innings he threw for the Twins a season ago. He's spent far too great a share of his Twins tenure unavailable due to injury. He pitched just 2 1/3 innings during the 2022 season, and it was really only in 2021 that he was consistently available.

Alcala’s injury history is why the Twins have options with him--literally. Despite being a 28-year-old with more than four years of service time and six big-league seasons under his belt, he still has a minor-league option year remaining. Although a perennial candidate for the Opening Day roster, he's spent long stretches on the 60-day injured list, only technically a big-leaguer.

After rehabbing to be an option late last year and coming to camp healthy, Alcalá competed on a consistent enough basis during spring to earn a job. That meant throwing strikes, getting ahead in counts, and generating outs from the opposition. His 31% strikeout rate is a career high, and his 10.3% walk rate is acceptable if he's missing that many bats. To date, he looks like a credible high-leverage reliever for a team badly needing them.

So when the bullpen doesn’t have Jhoan Durán, Justin Topa, or Josh Staumont, why was it Alcalá sent out in favor of the returning Caleb Thielbar? Well, that answer gets more confusing after Baldelli’s pregame comments Sunday.

If we’re taking Baldelli’s comments at face value, they're little more than eye wash. Maybe that’s what the manager is ok with saying to the media, but in reality, Alcalá was doing all of that and then some. More realistically, the assignment to St. Paul should be about getting the reliever a breather after being used so heavily.

Alcalá threw 22 pitches for Minnesota on Saturday, and had thrown three of the past five days for the Twins. He wasn’t going to be available for Sunday’s game, and with Bailey Ober starting, Thielbar could be brought back as a fresh arm. With Matt Bowman as the only other reliever without big-league pitches on him, the pen had been relatively tapped out.

Earlier this week, Thielbar completed his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, and once he was ready to go, reinstating him was a no-brainer. That could have come at the expense of Kody Funderburk, had the team opted against keeping three lefties (with out-of-options Steven Okert as the other). Funderburk doesn’t have the injury history, though, and there is less worry about protecting his arm. The Orioles are also a heavily lefty-swinging lineup, which incrementally increases the value of that third southpaw.

We’ll see how often Alcala is used with St. Paul over the next week or so. It stands to reason that it will be sparingly, and although we saw him in multi-inning roles for the Twins, that’s not something he should ever do on the farm. Letting him reset (de-load, they would call it in spring training) could help him stay ready deep into this season.

Minnesota’s best bullpen unquestionably includes Alcalá at this point, and he should be back as soon as he is eligible. Bowman will be exposed to waivers when he is jettisoned from the roster; he’s just a warm body they needed to have fresh for the immediate future.

This has been the year for Alcalá thus far, and keeping him healthy is the top priority for him and the team as a whole. If they need to give his arm some rest and let him work on things in a controlled setting for a couple of short stints, so be it. Let's just not pretend it's purely about performance, and the fine margins over small samples therein.

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[DJL44]

Don't be surprised if Funderburk goes down for Staumont soon. 

[Ted Schwerzler]

22 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Don't be surprised if Funderburk goes down for Staumont soon. 

Could be Bowman too. I am told the plan for Staumont was to go on the road trip this week with St. Paul.

[Linus]

I think you are overthinking this. They just want a fresh arm and they don’t view him as so clearly superior that he is worth keeping for the next week over the fresh arm. He has done fine but it’s not like his innings are that clean. 

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Could be Bowman too. I am told the plan for Staumont was to go on the road trip this week with St. Paul.

Bowman would have to be released. No options remaining. I don't know why they would bring Bowman up, sit him, then release him. They could have kept Tonkin instead if that was the plan.

[jorgenswest]

He pitched in three of the last five days. He has been injured since 2021. He has options. Part of the motivation might be managing his workload. They are going to need him this year.

[HerbieFan]

I 100% think the move was about load management

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Yeah, I don't think there's much more to it than meets the eye. They need to be careful with Alcala. Coming off a doubleheader with Varland and Paddack pitching, you're going to need as many fresh arms as you can get.

[IndianaTwin]

52 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

He pitched in three of the last five days. He has been injured since 2021. He has options. Part of the motivation might be managing his workload. They are going to need him this year.

 

51 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

I 100% think the move was about load management

He's at 8.1 innings through 16 games, which is pace for more than 80 innings for the year. That ain't happening. 

Add to that the schedule, which unfortunately includes the reality that an extended outing from the pen isn't out of the realm of possibility while facing Baltimore in these three games, followed by three more against a team he's just seen. And as someone noted, the Baltimore lineup is lefty-heavy, so three lefties in the bullpen isn't a bad thing.

So yeah, load management. I'm guessing he'll have about three or four one-inning outings in the next two weeks and be back in the minimum number of days, unless an injury happens sooner. 

[Mai.K]

Jorge Alcala Service Time 4.014...???
LOL

[Ted Schwerzler]

4 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

He pitched in three of the last five days. He has been injured since 2021. He has options. Part of the motivation might be managing his workload. They are going to need him this year.

That’s absolutely what they’re doing, but using him for multiple innings at a time is a weird way to follow that process.

[Ted Schwerzler]

3 hours ago, Mai.K said:

Jorge Alcala Service Time 4.014...???
LOL

Isn’t that insane?!

[Fatbat]

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Bowman would have to be released. No options remaining. I don't know why they would bring Bowman up, sit him, then release him. They could have kept Tonkin instead if that was the plan.

Probably trying to get tonkin thru waivers and taking a chance that bowman will stick in mlb for awhile. If he doesn’t do well, then send him away.  Duran will also be back in a couple weeks so they need bowman to sink or swim before that. Alcala has options and needs rest so its a win win if bowman is even moderately successful.

[mikelink45]

Alcala loses service time and we have to put up with Bowman - not a good decision.

[stringer bell]

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Alcala loses service time and we have to put up with Bowman - not a good decision.

Service time might be a consideration. In Alcalá's case. Getting another year of team control might have value if he has found a way to be effective. To be fair, Alcalá has spent most of the last two years on the major league Injured List, accruing service time while not contributing. 

Bowman might be a DFA candidate, although he was pretty effective last night. Funderburk could be optioned but it doesn't appear that the Twins' debut of Staumont (or Topa) is imminent and I also think before Funderburk is optioned, the Twins would like to see Thielbar get through an effective outing.

[Brandon]

14 hours ago, Mai.K said:

Jorge Alcala Service Time 4.014...???
LOL

So if he goes down just long enough for the Twins to keep him an extra year……

[mikelink45]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Service time might be a consideration. In Alcalá's case. Getting another year of team control might have value if he has found a way to be effective. To be fair, Alcalá has spent most of the last two years on the major league Injured List, accruing service time while not contributing. 

Bowman might be a DFA candidate, although he was pretty effective last night. Funderburk could be optioned but it doesn't appear that the Twins' debut of Staumont (or Topa) is imminent and I also think before Funderburk is optioned, the Twins would like to see Thielbar get through an effective outing.

I thought we were getting past the service time manipulation.  Alcala was effective, Thielbar and Jax were not in their last outings. Funderburk has exceeded expectations.  If I were making the choice I would keep the younger arms.

[Whitey333]

Twins manipulate Alcala to their benefit like they do to most young players.  8 innings and he needs rest?  Oh please.  Roc os explanation was sophomoric at best.  Why would any young player want to have a career with the Twins?  They get used and abuses here then spit out when Twins don't need them.

[Hubie29]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I thought we were getting past the service time manipulation.  Alcala was effective, Thielbar and Jax were not in their last outings. Funderburk has exceeded expectations.  If I were making the choice I would keep the younger arms.

This isn't about winning and losing, it's about the bankroll.

[jmlease1]

I don't think this has much to do with service time manipulation, more about utilization of options to keep fresh arms in the bullpen. The good thing is with the AAA club being in Saint Paul, it's less of a burden on the player than it used to be getting sent down for a short stint and called back up or vice-versa. Between injuries and the doubleheader, the Twins were in a bit of a squeeze.

I expect Alcala back soon. I've been pleased with his output so far, and I think he's going to be an impact arm this year. 

Is it worth sending a good arm down and having him not available until the recall time passes to have a fresh arm vs going short for a couple of days when that pitcher isn't available because of extra work? YMMV. Not sure if was worth it for a "fresh" Bowman, but who knows.

[jkcarew]

Gotta be an XL conspiracy theorist to come up with manipulating Alcala’s service time. We’re talking about a guy who’s been hurt forever and hasn’t even proved he has value yet. And turns 29 in a couple of months.

Weird response from Rocco…but, they’re resting him. Kind of a desperate move…not willing to be a guy short for a couple of games. Then again, when you’re losing frequently, and you’re trying to win while scoring 2 or 3 runs…you do desperate things.