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With Zebby Matthews, David Festa, and Simeon Woods Richardson all appearing to hit a wall near the end of their longest professional campaigns to date, the Twins went outside the organization for a last-minute reinforcement to their pitching staff Monday afternoon. In Cole Irvin, 30, they scooped up a pitcher who has pitched all the way to the ends of MLB seasons before, and who was an important cog for the Orioles as recently as early this season. Irvin was a late-bloomer with the A's a few years ago and an upside play when Baltimore dealt for him prior to 2023, but now, he's just a stopgap in a rotation that has shown too much wear and weariness lately.
Irvin has a legitimate six-pitch mix, with all three flavors of fastball (four-seam, cutter, and sinker), a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. His cutter is a bit more of a true bridge than it is for most pitchers, behaving neither as a true heater nor as a de facto breaking pitch. He's had a very hard time finding the utility of that pitch, or of his change, despite being a lefty starter and seeing a lot of right-handed batters. His best offerings have been the four-seamer, sinker, and curveball, this season.
Were this more of a long-term acquisition or made earlier in the season, you could envision the Twins making some substantial tweaks here. Instead, it's likely that they'll mostly allow Irvin to do what he's been doing, albeit with a slightly greater emphasis on the gyro slider that has played up since his recent move to the bullpen for Baltimore. That's the pitch that best suits what the Twins like to do in terms of pitch types and shapes, and it's the one with which he can be an effective flipper of the lineup card.
Irvin won't be eligible to pitch for the Twins in the playoffs. This move is purely about ensuring that they get that far, by making up for the walls into which their younger starters all seem to have run recently. They'll try to get everyone the rest to which they've been accustomed--the Twins have sent 111 starters out on at least five days' rest this year, fourth-most in MLB--even as they put the pedal down to get across the finish line of the regular season ahead of the Tigers, Mariners, and Red Sox. Irvin can round out their rotation mix, and/or act as a long reliever to patch a bullpen short on healthy, live arms.
He doesn't throw hard, and won't rack up strikeouts. In his most recent outing against the Red Sox, he gave up two homers in an inning of work. However, Irvin has just enough in his tank to make him appealing to a team chockablock with right-handed starters who appear not to have much in theirs. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the team designated Randy Dobnak for assignment, and they'll wait until Tuesday to create an open space on their 28-man active roster.
At that point, Irvin could come in for immediate use, as he last pitched on Sept. 9. It's a low-wattage addition, but when a team is scrambling to secure a playoff spot, all additions are welcome. If things pan out especially nicely, despite not being able to pitch for them this October, Irvin could be under team control for two more seasons.
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