Varland Down, I didn't see Henriquez coming..

[Patzky]

Louis Varland optioned to St Paul, Rony Henriquez called up. Max Kepler will also replace Jair Camargo tonight against the White Sox.

 

Henriquez pitched 11 innings for the Twins in 2022.

[Mike Sixel]

Not Alcala? I really don't get this FO. Unless he hasn't been down long enough....

Otoh, SWR up in five days to pitch, so a RP goes down then...

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Makes some sense.  They don’t really need a starter until Friday and their bullpen is a little spent so some reinforcement would be useful for the next series.  Come Friday, they will send out a reliever and bring up a starter, likely SWR I assume.  

[IndianaTwin]

I doubt that Henriquez is up to start in Varland's place.

Rather, he's likely up to serve as an extra person in the bullpen for a few days. Barring injury to a pitcher, when they need another starter on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday*, Henriquez or another optionable reliever will be sent back down to bring up SWR. 

*Technically, they don't "need" a starter until Friday, which would be Varland's day. My personal preference is that they bring him up for either Wednesday or Thursday, so that he can be separated from Paddack in the rotation. SWR last pitched on Friday, so he could go as early as Wednesday. 

[weneedneshek]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not Alcala? I really don't get this FO. Unless he hasn't been down long enough....

Otoh, SWR up in five days to pitch, so a RP goes down then...

Yea I feel like they must not be able to bring Alcala up yet? I think there's a minimum time period they need to be at AAA barring injury but not sure what it is

[IndianaTwin]

52 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not Alcala? I really don't get this FO. Unless he hasn't been down long enough....

Otoh, SWR up in five days to pitch, so a RP goes down then...

Alcala was optioned on the 14th, so barring injury, he can't be brought up until he's been there 10 days. 

EDIT: 15 days, see below.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

7 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not Alcala? I really don't get this FO. Unless he hasn't been down long enough....

Otoh, SWR up in five days to pitch, so a RP goes down then...

Guessing that they need the bullpen arm short-term, and when they need the 5th starter, Henriquez is back to the minors and they call up SWR. But why Henriquez over Staumont? Confusing to say the least.

[Mike Sixel]

6 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Alcala was optioned on the 14th, so barring injury, he can't be brought up until he's been there 10 days. 

Ya, also, as I sort of pointed out, they don't need another starter for five days

[Craig Arko]

Are pitcher options only 10 days, or 15 like the IL stints? That one always confuses me.

[wabene]

40 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

My personal preference is that they bring him up for either Wednesday or Thursday, so that he can be separated from Paddack in the rotation. SWR last pitched on Friday, so he could go as early as Wednesday

👍👍👍 Split em up!

[IndianaTwin]

36 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Ya, also, as I sort of pointed out, they don't need another starter for five days

Great minds thinking alike. 

[IndianaTwin]

12 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

Are pitcher options only 10 days, or 15 like the IL stints? That one always confuses me.

Oops. You are correct. Pitchers are 15 days, so we're talking early next week on Alcala (barring an IL-related move). 

For all the gory details: https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/minor-league-options

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Not Alcala? I really don't get this FO. Unless he hasn't been down long enough....

Otoh, SWR up in five days to pitch, so a RP goes down then...

Alcala has to stay down for 15 days and it's only been 8 days.

Edit:  Oops.  Someone already answered.  Should have read on before responding.

[Linus]

We burned through the bullpen depth in a hurry. 

[Vanimal46]

Varland needs to get right as a starter, and quickly. Headrick heading to the 60 day IL so it’s Varland and SWR as the only starter depth already on the 40. We may see the return of Dobnak before we know it. 

[akmanak]

This is just like a trade!

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Varland needs to get right as a starter, and quickly. Headrick heading to the 60 day IL so it’s Varland and SWR as the only starter depth already on the 40. We may see the return of Dobnak before we know it. 

Headrick?

Headrick is on the 60 day?

[jkcarew]

58 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Varland needs to get right as a starter, and quickly. Headrick heading to the 60 day IL so it’s Varland and SWR as the only starter depth already on the 40. We may see the return of Dobnak before we know it. 

Hopefully, Festa’s phobia of the strike zone has passed before it comes to that.

[Vanimal46]

39 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Headrick?

Headrick is on the 60 day?

Sad but true. 

 

[Vanimal46]

31 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Hopefully, Festa’s phobia of the strike zone has passed before it comes to that.

Or we could call up old friends Chi Chi Gonzalez or Dereck Rodriguez for some spot starts 

[FlyingFinn]

17 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Chi Chi Gonzalez or Dereck Rodriguez for some spot starts

Combine them and get Chi-Chi Rodriguez!

[Vanimal46]

2 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Combine them and get Chi-Chi Rodriguez!

Little did you know I had to double check on B-Ref because I typed Chi-Chi Rodriguez first. 

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

20 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

Barring injury to a pitcher, when they need another starter on Wednesday/Thursday/Friday*, Henriquez or another optionable reliever will be sent back down to bring up SWR. 

*Technically, they don't "need" a starter until Friday, which would be Varland's day. My personal preference is that they bring him up for either Wednesday or Thursday, so that he can be separated from Paddack in the rotation. SWR last pitched on Friday, so he could go as early as Wednesday. 

20 hours ago, wabene said:

👍👍👍 Split em up!

Having SWR start on Wednesday or Thursday not only would split up the less "trusted" part of the rotation (although Paddack was good last night, even allowing for weak competition), but also would keep SWR from facing Detroit two starts in a row. Seems like that could help boost his confidence and performance.

Edit: Nope. I didn't read the schedule and just assumed that since the Twins had a homestand against DET and CWS and road games coming up in Chicago, the road trip included Detroit as well. Friday is against the LAA of A. Never mind.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

16 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Varland needs to get right as a starter, and quickly. Headrick heading to the 60 day IL so it’s Varland and SWR as the only starter depth already on the 40. We may see the return of Dobnak before we know it. 

Geez. Nothing says 'we screwed up this off-season' like a Randy Dobnak mention.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Am I alone in like Henriquez? Was surprised to see him get the call, but I always thought he has good stuff and with a few tweaks, could be a decent late inning option. 

[stringer bell]

4 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Am I alone in like Henriquez? Was surprised to see him get the call, but I always thought he has good stuff and with a few tweaks, could be a decent late inning option. 

Henriquez has a good arm. It appears he is healthy. I think he has a chance to be a pretty good reliever. He can be optioned back to St. Paul. Guys with options have to be looking over their shoulders with Durán, Topa, Staumont, Alcalá all looking like they could be promoted or activated in the next ten days to two weeks. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

3 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Henriquez has a good arm. It appears he is healthy. I think he has a chance to be a pretty good reliever. He can be optioned back to St. Paul. Guys with options have to be looking over their shoulders with Durán, Topa, Staumont, Alcalá all looking like they could be promoted or activated in the next ten days to two weeks. 

Obviously Duran is a huge add, but excited to see Staumont. Always did well against the Twins when he was with Kansas City and if he's healthy, he lines up well with Stewart and Jax as high-leverage RHP late in games.

[stringer bell]

16 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Headrick?

Headrick is on the 60 day?

To be clear, since Headrick was on optional assignment to St. Paul, he wasn't placed on the major league 60-day IL and taken off the 40-man roster. 

I should say that is my understanding of the rules, perhaps I am wrong. The Twins website still shows Headrick as being in the minors.

[Dave Borton]

22 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Alcala has to stay down for 15 days and it's only been 8 days.

Edit:  Oops.  Someone already answered.  Should have read on before responding.

I just about posted the same thing. Thanks for making me seem more of an arse than I already am <grins>.