Twins Take Another Hit to Starting Pitching Depth With Kendry Rojas Injury

The Minnesota Twins have spent much of this season trying to piece together enough starting pitching depth to get through the final months of the season. Unfortunately, another piece just took a hit.

Left-hander Kendry Rojas exited his Triple-A St. Paul start on Friday after apparently grimacing following a pitch in the second inning. After a meeting at the mound, Rojas left the game after throwing just one inning. He allowed one walk and did not surrender a hit.

The diagnosis came Saturday, and it wasn't particularly encouraging. The Twins placed Rojas on the Triple-A injured list with a right oblique strain. That puts another dent in an already thin group of starting pitching options. More importantly, it puts Rojas' potential role down the stretch into question.

Rojas Was Starting to Make a Case

Before the injury, Rojas was doing exactly what the Twins wanted to see after sending him back to St. Paul at the beginning of August. In three starts since the demotion, the 23-year-old had thrown 11 innings while allowing just one earned run. He struck out 11, walked only two and held opposing hitters to a .180/.220/.256 slash line. Those are the kinds of numbers that force an organization to pay attention.

Rojas has also already gotten a taste of the majors this season. He has made four appearances for Minnesota, including some outings in an opener-type role. Across 12 1/3 innings, he owns a 2.19 ERA with 14 strikeouts and seven walks. The most intriguing part might be how opponents have performed when Rojas has been used as a starter. They have produced just a .430 OPS against him.

The question has never really been whether Rojas can get major-league hitters out. The next question was whether he could do it while handling a legitimate starter's workload.

The Workload Was Supposed to Increase

That was going to be the next phase of Rojas' development. On Sunday's episode of Inside Twins, general manager Jeremy Zoll said the organization planned to ramp up Rojas' workload in his upcoming starts. That made sense.

The Twins don't simply need another pitcher capable of giving them two or three innings. With the rotation already dealing with injuries and uncertainty, they need someone who can potentially take the ball every fifth day and provide meaningful length. Rojas was beginning to get that opportunity.

Now, the oblique injury interrupts the process. The hope, obviously, is that this is a relatively short-term setback and Rojas can get back on the mound soon. But oblique injuries can be tricky, particularly for pitchers. The Twins will have to be careful about rushing him back simply because they need pitching.

Joe Ryan's return timeline remains an important variable for the Twins' rotation, and any additional injury could create another opening. Before Friday, Rojas looked like one of the more logical internal candidates to fill it.

If Rojas can return quickly and resume building up his innings, he could still become an intriguing September option. But with the Twins already short on rotation depth, this is another injury the organization could have done without.