Twins Closer Jhoan Durán Activated From Injured List, Matt Bowman Designated For Assignment

[Lou Hennessy]

The red-hot Minnesota Twins are getting their closer back, after the fireballer missed the last six weeks of action with an oblique strain. He’ll be available Tuesday night in Chicago, as the club tries to extend their winning streak to nine games. 

Image courtesy of © Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Twins are activating Jhoan Durán from the injured list, which should improve the back end of an already solid bullpen picture. To make room on the active roster, the club is designating righty Matt Bowman for release or assignment, per their announcement.

Durán has been one of the premier arms in the American League since making his debut in 2022, and there’s a case to be made for him being the most electric arm in club history. In his first two seasons of action at the major-league level, the righty has dazzled with a combined 2.15 ERA and a stellar 33.2% strikeout rate. His fastball has touched 104 MPH, and his high-90s splinker and hard curveball have proven to be excellent complements to that heat. He’ll join Griffin Jax and Blake Stewart as high-leverage arms in the club’s relief corps.

Durán’s return is pretty much right on schedule, based on the club’s comments at the onset of his injury diagnosis. The speculation was that it would be a four- to six-week recovery period, making early May a target for his return. But after two rehab outings in St. Paul last week, the club decided to send him straight to Chicago to join the major-league unit.

The team is taking a risk by designating Bowman for assignment, as it will expose him to other teams who could be interested in submitting a waiver claim. The veteran hurler was surprisingly effective in his five games with the Twins, pitching to a 2.35 ERA across 7 2/3 innings, with six strikeouts against four walks. His underlying metrics left much to be desired, though, as he had trouble missing bats (20% whiff rate) and gave up plenty of hard contact (47.4% hard-hit rate). In the unlikely event that every other team passes on their opportunity to claim the 32-year-old, he could theoretically remain in the Twins' organization, albeit off the 40-man roster. 

Other speculated candidates who could have been removed from the major-league roster to make room for Durán include lefty Kody Funderburk (2.38 ERA) or righty Cole Sands (1.35 ERA). Both have minor-league options remaining, and could therefore avoid being exposed to the waiver wire.

The club will likely have to make another roster decision shortly, as righty Justin Topa has started a rehab stint with the Saints, and assuming all goes as planned, he should be ready for activation in the coming week. For now, though, they'll keep the impressive Funderburk and Sands around and risk losing Bowman.

What do you think? Can Durán reclaim his throne as the hardest-thrower in baseball? Was designating Bowman for assignment the right call? What should the club do when Topa returns? Let us know what you think in the comment section, and as always, keep it sweet.

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[weneedneshek]

His first action back being closing out our 9th straight win sure would be sweet

[CRF]

Love it!

[Dman]

Bowman was the right choice.  They still have reserve arms as it is so even if Bowman is lost they are fine. Just rip the band aide off and get it over with.  Odds are he is still the same pretty average to below average pen arm he always has been so just let it play out.  Keeping the best arms in the pen is the way to go.  Good job FO!! 

[arby58]

It's the right move - both Funderburk and Sands are part of the Twins future, and Bowman much less so. I sort of expected Funderburk to do well and have been pleasantly surprised by Sands. Perhaps the idea of sending Sands down to 'stretch him out' has some merit, although Sands might be following a long line of so-so starters who did well coming out of the pen. Speaking of so-so starters, Louie Varland's first start at St. Paul went pretty well - 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 1 walk, 5 Ks. 

[LonelyseatinMOA]

Bowman will be missed, it isn't surprising that some advanced stats didn't like him as they tend not to like groundball pitchers like Bowman. However, I'll be more upset when they send Funderburk back down for Topa as they really don't need three lefties. What concerns me is that the other two, Okert and Theilbar, haven't exactly been inspiring. But then again I don't need to nitpick what has been the best bullpen in baseball so far.

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, Dman said:

Bowman was the right choice.  They still have reserve arms as it is so even if Bowman is lost they are fine. Just rip the band aide off and get it over with.  Odds are he is still the same pretty average to below average pen arm he always has been so just let it play out.  Keeping the best arms in the pen is the way to go.  Good job FO!! 

Agreed!

[Dman]

12 minutes ago, LonelyseatinMOA said:

Bowman will be missed, it isn't surprising that some advanced stats didn't like him as they tend not to like groundball pitchers like Bowman. 

No question Bowman pitched well for the Twins.  A zero ERA at AAA which is no small thing with the Auto K zone there and while a bit ugly with the walks he did well at the MLB level too.  He helped himself with that great start.  Another team will pick him up so it will work out for him in the end.

The Twins have Alcala and Henriquez at AAA right now on the 40 man and I see it looks like WInder is on a rehab assignment.  So they have a fair number of arms in case of injury not to mention one more arm will be pushed down when Topa comes back.  Would be nice to get Bowman back, but if not there are plenty of farm arms waiting to come up.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

13 minutes ago, Dman said:

No question Bowman pitched well for the Twins.  A zero ERA at AAA which is no small thing with the Auto K zone there and while a bit ugly with the walks he did well at the MLB level too.  He helped himself with that great start.  Another team will pick him up so it will work out for him in the end.

The Twins have Alcala and Henriquez at AAA right now on the 40 man and I see it looks like WInder is on a rehab assignment.  So they have a fair number of arms in case of injury not to mention one more arm will be pushed down when Topa comes back.  Would be nice to get Bowman back, but if not there are plenty of farm arms waiting to come up.

I don't think its a guarantee he gets pick up but is a likely scenario.   In either case he is an arm to throw out there, that gave us 7 solid innings.  Ultimately can't complain with that.  He performed well.  Whether here or another team, he will likely get another opportunity.  

[CRF]

Yeah...somebody will pick him up. I doubt he clears and goes to StP.

[Parfigliano]

Bowman out Duran in.  What a great upgrade to the bullpen.

[Dman]

9 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I don't think its a guarantee he gets pick up but is a likely scenario.   In either case he is an arm to throw out there, that gave us 7 solid innings.  Ultimately can't complain with that.  He performed well.  Whether here or another team, he will likely get another opportunity.  

It is possible he clears as there is a reason he had to take a minor league deal.  His K9 is low for the MLB level as he is more of a ground ball pitcher.  Still any team looking for a hot hand or that has injuries or under performers in the pen, I have to believe they would be willing to use him to fill a 40 man spot.  He has generally been a mid 3 to 4 ERA arm.  His main issues are no options left and not a high K guy so the FIP and xFIP are gonna likely be higher.  Still with the success he has had to start I would be very surprised if all teams passed on him, but we will know in a week.

[stringer bell]

51 minutes ago, Dman said:

No question Bowman pitched well for the Twins.  A zero ERA at AAA which is no small thing with the Auto K zone there and while a bit ugly with the walks he did well at the MLB level too.  He helped himself with that great start.  Another team will pick him up so it will work out for him in the end.

The Twins have Alcala and Henriquez at AAA right now on the 40 man and I see it looks like WInder is on a rehab assignment.  So they have a fair number of arms in case of injury not to mention one more arm will be pushed down when Topa comes back.  Would be nice to get Bowman back, but if not there are plenty of farm arms waiting to come up.

Staumont is also at St. Paul. Honestly, I don’t think it would be a huge loss if Bowman is claimed. 

[2wins87]

A little more surprised by this one than Martin for Correa.

I still don't fully buy Bowman's numbers, but he did pitch well and will very likely get picked up by someone.  Sort of expected them to kick the can down the road a little bit by sending Funderburk down.

But with Topa also coming back soon, I don't think Bowman should have taken priority over both Funderburk and Sands.  Sands has not only been really good but he still is one of the best options for length out of the pen, so I think that would have been tougher to justify.

Probably the right move to just get it over with now.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, LonelyseatinMOA said:

Bowman will be missed, it isn't surprising that some advanced stats didn't like him as they tend not to like groundball pitchers like Bowman. However, I'll be more upset when they send Funderburk back down for Topa as they really don't need three lefties. What concerns me is that the other two, Okert and Theilbar, haven't exactly been inspiring. But then again I don't need to nitpick what has been the best bullpen in baseball so far.

Okert and Jackson are the two I'd get rid of first. I'm not protecting Thielbar just because he's a 'legacy' player, but unlike those two, his velocity hasn't decreased this year, which makes me think he's the more likely of the three to pick up the pace.

But yeah, let's not sweat losing (and paying) these gray beards at the cost of keeping the best players on the team.

 

[2wins87]

1 hour ago, LonelyseatinMOA said:

Bowman will be missed, it isn't surprising that some advanced stats didn't like him as they tend not to like groundball pitchers like Bowman. However, I'll be more upset when they send Funderburk back down for Topa as they really don't need three lefties. What concerns me is that the other two, Okert and Theilbar, haven't exactly been inspiring. But then again I don't need to nitpick what has been the best bullpen in baseball so far.

Thielbar was in a worse spot at this point in the season in 2022.  Then he was pretty much lights out for the rest of the season and finished with an ERA in the low 3s.  I am always wary of the aging curve catching up to him, but he's been one of the best lefty relievers in the game since 2020, so he's earned a chance to right the ship.

I'm not crazy about Okert either.  His career HR rate isn't much better than Pagan's and his command has been pretty iffy.  Still, it's way too early to give up too much bullpen depth.  If guys like Okert or Jackson are struggling come midseason, I would hope they are willing to make moves.  For now I think hording depth is still smart.

[Twins GFP]

Sure, he pitched well during his time here.  But we are talking about potentially losing the last guy in the BP.  This is seriously not an issue...

[Jocko87]

This was the easy call I guess, it gets interesting when Topa is ready.  I am a bit surprised they didn't use an option but that may speak to their view on him passing waivers.  

[Shaitan]

2 hours ago, CRF said:

Yeah...somebody will pick him up. I doubt he clears and goes to StP.

He's better than Tonkin, who I believe costs more and keeps getting picked up.

[ashbury]

An aspect of the move I didn't notice being discussed it that it opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, which would not be the case had they optioned one of the younger players.  The 26-man active roster is full at the moment, but next time there is an opening, might they add someone who currently isn't on the 40?  Waiver-wire pickup, or is there someone in the minors who is making the case for a promotion?  (I count 20 pitchers and 19 position players, so my bet would be a pitcher to take the empty spot eventually.)

[darwin22]

Just asking:  What is the argument to keep Jay Jackson as part of this bullpen when Topa is ready to be activated?

[Dman]

36 minutes ago, ashbury said:

An aspect of the move I didn't notice being discussed it that it opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, which would not be the case had they optioned one of the younger players.  The 26-man active roster is full at the moment, but next time there is an opening, might they add someone who currently isn't on the 40?  Waiver-wire pickup, or is there someone in the minors who is making the case for a promotion?  (I count 20 pitchers and 19 position players, so my bet would be a pitcher to take the empty spot eventually.)

WInder is rehabbing in low A so if\when they have to add him I assume they will use that spot when he comes off the IL. I was kind of surprised they added Henriquez back to 40 man so fast.  They must believe he is ready, but they could have waited on that move IMO.

[ashbury]

14 minutes ago, Dman said:

WInder is rehabbing in low A so if\when they have to add him I assume they will use that spot when he comes off the IL. I was kind of surprised they added Henriquez back to 40 man so fast.  They must believe he is ready, but they could have waited on that move IMO.

Oh, good point, I forgot about there being players on the 60-day.  That would be a clear use for the spot.

[ashbury]

57 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Just asking:  What is the argument to keep Jay Jackson as part of this bullpen when Topa is ready to be activated?

Jay Jackson is earning $1.3M this season, plus a $200K buyout for the club option on 2025.  Topa is earning only $1.25M.

You didn't say it had to be a good argument.  😀

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I was kind of surprised they added Henriquez back to 40 man so fast. 

I believe the Twins think they can pass Henriquez through to St. Paul when they DFA him. Didn't he get DFA'd over the winter and nobody took him?

[Shaitan]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

An aspect of the move I didn't notice being discussed it that it opens up a spot on the 40-man roster, which would not be the case had they optioned one of the younger players.  The 26-man active roster is full at the moment, but next time there is an opening, might they add someone who currently isn't on the 40?  Waiver-wire pickup, or is there someone in the minors who is making the case for a promotion?  (I count 20 pitchers and 19 position players, so my bet would be a pitcher to take the empty spot eventually.)

Time to start the Dobnak rumors.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, ashbury said:

Oh, good point, I forgot about there being players on the 60-day.  That would be a clear use for the spot.

Festa pitched really well tonight. He is probably next in line for the rotation and a 40 man spot if the need arises soon.

[stringer bell]

Topa allowed three runs in one inning tonight. Meanwhile, Jackson and Thielbar were effective tonight, Funderburk threw two innings and allowed a two-run homer. The are choices to be made. Personally, I think any pitcher on the 40-man is a major league quality arm. Until today, I thought Topa for Funderburk was a good call. 

[jorgenswest]

2 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Topa allowed three runs in one inning tonight. Meanwhile, Jackson and Thielbar were effective tonight, Funderburk threw two innings and allowed a two-run homer. The are choices to be made. Personally, I think any pitcher on the 40-man is a major league quality arm. Until today, I thought Topa for Funderburk was a good call. 

After his first outing his velocity was down and I expected he would need the full rehab. Did you watch tonight? How was his velocity?

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

9 hours ago, LonelyseatinMOA said:

Bowman will be missed, it isn't surprising that some advanced stats didn't like him as they tend not to like groundball pitchers like Bowman. However, I'll be more upset when they send Funderburk back down for Topa as they really don't need three lefties. What concerns me is that the other two, Okert and Theilbar, haven't exactly been inspiring. But then again I don't need to nitpick what has been the best bullpen in baseball so far.

Advanced stats love groundballs because OPS is like .400 on grounders