Pelf to DL; Hernandez recalled..

[Jeremy Nygaard]

...and will start today, per Morse. Lower back strain for Pelfrey.

 

I will look up to confirm, but I believe Pedro threw over 90 pitches four days ago. So expect a heavy dose of Josh Roenicke today too.

 

Edit: per Mackey tweet Hernandez threw 62 pitches on Wednesday.

[COtwin]

Of course Hernandez was recalled. Just ignorant. Hey Ryan I want my MLB TV subscription refunded!

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Gibson and Worley couldn't start today, having just pitched.

[bdodge22]

The Twins need to be looking for solutions to the starting pitching staff! Hernandez has proven to NOT be that, yet he is the one called up over Gibson and Albers. I've been much more patient than many about Gibson but this would have a perfect opportunity to get his feet wet at the major league level, 2-3 starts. Nothing to lose...

[COtwin]

Albers is pitching today.

[TheLeviathan]

I understand why for today it couldn't be Gibson...but why not Albers? From what I can see he started on the 18th.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Could have been Albers, probably had to do with 40-man being full. You DFA a guy in Rochester to call another up and they are short two guys minimum. Should gain some clarity when Gardy comes on ESPN1500 shortly.

[jorgenswest]

They will need a 5th starter again next Saturday. Hopefully, Hernandez will pitch well today and then be returned to the minors. They can add a bat for the week and plan on either Worley or Gibson next Saturday.

 

Will Ramirez be ready by Tuesday?

 

I don't get how the Twins were ignorant on this one. Who else on the 40 would start today? Do you mess with the 40 for one start? That would enable Albers who started the 18th. I think it might be a sign that we will see Gibson or Worley next Saturday. Otherwise they may have been more willing to add Albers.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Without the DH this week, will they add another bat or pull up another reliever (Tonkin? Does May make his start today?) before adding another starter later in the week?

[IdahoPilgrim]

Well, this is going to add fuel to the fire, even if it sounds like it was the most logical move possible given Gibson's recent start and the sudden, unanticipated need for a starter today.

 

Would still like to see Gibson replace Walters, though.

[Seth Stohs]

Yeah, can't really blame the Twins on this one. Late hour injury. Don't want to use a 40 man roster spot for one or two starts. Gotta be flexible in this situation.

[cmathewson]

Easy: DFA Hernandez, call-up Albers.

[IdahoPilgrim]

Easy: DFA Hernandez, call-up Albers.

 

I would not have a problem with that, but that sort of decision should probably be made after deliberation and not in reaction to a sudden injury.

[raindog]

I would not have a problem with that, but that sort of decision should probably be made after deliberation and not in reaction to a sudden injury.

Exactly. It's one start. I'll only become upset if it becomes more than that.

[cmathewson]

It's at least two starts, possibly three. Hernandez is not and never will be a capable major league starter. That much was plain in his last stint. He got shelled in AAA and is the worst of the five guys down there. This will not go well. I can't believe they don't have contingency plans in case of injury.

[maxisagod]

It's at least two starts, possibly three. Hernandez is not and never will be a capable major league starter. That much was plain in his last stint. He got shelled in AAA and is the worst of the five guys down there. This will not go well. I can't believe they don't have contingency plans in case of injury.

 

Well their contingency plan is hiring a sniper to take out the others team starter, but from what I'v seen from Hernandez, he's not good a hitting his spots so it's not him behind the barrel. No contingency plan is not having any starters on your 40 man you can call up and having to use an over worked long reliever. Henderks and Hernandez are spots starters at this point in their careers Gibson is a long term solution. I wish they had 4 long term solutions in the AAA rotation right now too.

[cmathewson]

Well their contingency plan is hiring a sniper to take out the others team starter, but from what I'v seen from Hernandez, he's not good a hitting his spots so it's not him behind the barrel. No contingency plan is not having any starters on your 40 man you can call up and having to use an over worked long reliever. Henderks and Hernandez are spots starters at this point in their careers Gibson is a long term solution. I wish they had 4 long term solutions in the AAA rotation right now too.

 

Hendriks is another on who could easily be DFAed. For that matter DeVries could as well. Getting shelled in AAA means they will pass through waivers with ease.

[Twins Twerp]

This is the time. Hernando will start today and Gibby will take Pelfreys spot in rotation. The wrting is on the wall. The other options people are talking about are downright silly. I could even see Gibby pitching on on his regular four days rest and pushing everyone back a day. Would make the most sense instead of pitching him on a weeks rest next Saturday.

[Seth Stohs]

Hendriks would get claimed. I think Hernandez would get claimed. De Vries would not.

[jorgenswest]

What evidence is there that Albers is clearly better than Hernandez? So much better that they would DFA a player?

 

At this point there may be enough sample to look at strike out rate, walk rate, ground ball rate this year. I am not sure that the same threshold levels apply to minor league numbers. In any case, Albers really does not stand out this year or any year. His ground ball rate is below average. He isn't likely to have a good strike out rate in the majors. Does that sound like a good mix for success? He does have a good ERA in AAA this year. It isn't predictive of success at the major leagues.

[cmathewson]

This is the time. Hernando will start today and Gibby will take Pelfreys spot in rotation. The wrting is on the wall. The other options people are talking about are downright silly. I could even see Gibby pitching on on his regular four days rest and pushing everyone back a day. Would make the most sense instead of pitching him on a weeks rest next Saturday.

 

Makes sense. According to Lavelle, they don't see Hernandez as the ultimate replacement, just a one-start stop gap. That's comforting.

[nicksaviking]

Considering our knowledge of the timing, Hernandez is a practical choice. However, when did Pelfrey hurt his back exactly? He pitched five days ago, are we to assume he hurt himself getting out of bed this morning?

[cmathewson]

Considering our knowledge of the timing, Hernandez is a practical choice. However, when did Pelfrey hurt his back exactly? He pitched five days ago, are we to assume he hurt himself getting out of bed this morning?

 

According to LaVelle, it happened shagging fly balls yesterday.

[Nick Nelson]

Hopefully Hernandez makes the start today and Gibson replaces him for the next turn.

[FanFromAffar]

I don't really know what I'm talking about, just throwing out the idea here. Why not try some of the relievers as starters? Casey Fien seems to do a decent job and I'm sure he could last longer as a starter than PJ Walters did yesterday.

[Oxtung]

Pelfrey has been sent to the 15 day DL with back spasms. Pedro Hernandez has been recalled to replace Pelfrey in the starting rotation.

 

*Grabs a bag of popcorn*

Me thinks there might be a few upset fans with this move.

[nicksaviking]

According to LaVelle, it happened shagging fly balls yesterday.

 

Can't fault anyone for DL mismanagement then. The DL is retroactive to Wednesday though, I wasn't aware they could do that when they publicly disclose the injury happened after that date.

[nicksaviking]

I don't really know what I'm talking about, just throwing out the idea here. Why not try some of the relievers as starters? Casey Fien seems to do a decent job and I'm sure he could last longer as a starter than PJ Walters did yesterday.

 

Swarzak likely would have gotten consideration had he not pitched yesterday.

[kab21]

Hopefully Hernandez makes the start today and Gibson replaces him for the next turn.

 

Yep.

 

Pedro's on the 40 man and he was scheduled to start today. This is how it works.

I'm not going to get too excited about this until Gibson isn't called up for the next start. At that point this place will already have temporarily crashed due to a firestorm of hate messages to Ryan.

[Badsmerf]

I don't really know what I'm talking about, just throwing out the idea here. Why not try some of the relievers as starters? Casey Fien seems to do a decent job and I'm sure he could last longer as a starter than PJ Walters did yesterday.

Relievers have train their body/arms for short stints. Relieving and starting are different. Relieving you are only throwing 20 pitches, starting your goal is to throw 100. They train differently and asking a reliever to turn on a dime and start is asking a lot. Swarzak and Duensing are more long relievers that go 3 innings or so, but when they've had spot starts it hasn't gone too well.

 

I completely believe this is an incompetent move. Albers could have been called up to pitch this game and might as well send Walters back down in favor of Gibson while you're at it. I realize it is a short term thing, but why call-up a AAA filler over a guy that might actually give your team a chance to win long term? If I was Albers and got passed up I would be frustrated as hell. This has been another example of the Twins terrible handling of young players. I get that Gibson will probably get the call after this start, but it just doesn't make it any better.