Alex Meyer to rotation

[Nick Nelson]

Alex Meyer will start on Tuesday, with Tommy Milone being bumped to the rotation after an unimpressive month of April. 

 

 

Obviously, I'm a fan of this move. What do you think? Does Meyer have a chance to stick? 

[SF Twins Fan]

There is only one way to find out if he'll be able to stick in the rotation and that's letting him go out there for at least 5 or 6 straight starts. Hopefully he can take the rotation spot and run with it.

[Riverbrian]

Better get him some innings tonight... or he is going to be extremely fresh armed on Tuesday. 

[sftwinsfan]

I like it!  Tommy Milone isn't bad, but I don't believe he's part of the future of this team.  Alex Meyer may not be either, but there is a chance he could be.  The Twins need to find out and right now they do not appear to be in a playoff race this year so why not.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Looks like the Twins are having an open audition for a rotation spot and who ever pitches best between Berrios, Duffey, and Meyer gets the spot. If all three pitch poorly Milone will get his spot back.

[Platoon]

We know where Milones ceiling is. And my vertically challenged significant other would have to duck to get below it. Meyers is much higher. If you're gonna find out, there is no better time than the present. I hope they give him some time to settle, his upside is worth it. And as a frequent critic of Mr. Ryan, it would seem only fair that I give credit for what seems a logical forward looking move.

[Mr. Brooks]

Obviously I'm a fan of the outcome, but baffled by the process.

If this was the plan, why wasn't he in AAA in the meantime, so he'd still be close to his normal schedule instead of pitching on 11 days rest? Or at the very least, piggybacking off Milones short start?

I'm worried he's going to need a couple starts to get back in a groove, and I'm not sure Mollie has much patience for him.

[TheLeviathan]

I like this....would've preferred we realized this before we sent May to the pen. I hope they learn this freaking lesson for good this year.

 

So many classic Twins moves have backfired I hope we'll take some lessons from it. Tired of defaulting on low ceiling veterans and moving kids around the defense to accommodate vets. Learn the lesson this time Ryan. Please.

 

So good news, hope he pitches the hell out of it the rest of the year.

[goulik]

One thing to remember, Ryan calls up the players, the manager fields the team.

[TheLeviathan]

One thing to remember, Ryan calls up the players, the manager fields the team.

Ryan doesn't just call people up randomly with no plan, you're going to have to try harder if you want to exclude him from blame.

[Mr. Brooks]

One thing to remember, Ryan calls up the players, the manager fields the team.

True, but they have to be on the same page, if they aren't then one has to go.

[d-mac]

One thing to remember, Ryan calls up the players, the manager fields the team.

Ryan is the manager's boss... So...

[Rosterman]

You can only hope that he will be really strong and fresh in his first start. Good for the Twins. I hope they give all three of these guys at least 3-4 opportunities and then go from there.

[Danchat]

Ideally I'd like to switch Meyer and May's positions, but let's not talk about that. I don't think Meyer is ready to stick as a starter in the MLB, and he's gonna have control issues. I don't hate Meyer - I like him and I want him to succeed, but I'm not convinced he'll pitch well.

 

On the other hand, I think Tommy Milone can be a good long reliever. He's been bad against lineups on the third time around, so having him face batters for shorter periods of time makes sense. He'll never be a late inning guy but he can eat innings and slide back into the rotation in case of more injuries.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Ideally I'd like to switch Meyer and May's positions, but let's not talk about that. I don't think Meyer is ready to stick as a starter in the MLB, and he's gonna have control issues. I don't hate Meyer - I like him and I want him to succeed, but I'm not convinced he'll pitch well.

 

On the other hand, I think Tommy Milone can be a good long reliever. He's been bad against lineups on the third time around, so having him face batters for shorter periods of time makes sense. He'll never be a late inning guy but he can eat innings and slide back into the rotation in case of more injuries.

nope, May and Hughes needs to switch roles. Meyer might be a long term bullpen guy, but I'd rather know for certain he won't be a better starter first

[Mike Sixel]

I endorse this move.

[DocBauer]

I am probably as excited about this as Berrios's first start. But I absolutely baffled they called him up, didn't pitch him for even an innjng, and now he gets to start. Isn't part of pitching maintaining a rhythm?

 

I don't expect miracles the first time out, but hope for the best. My biggest concern is him getting more than a single start before any decisions are made.

[Danchat]

After today's outing in the bullpen (why he was pitching there in the first place was very questionable), I hope you guys can see what I mean by saying Meyer isn't ready to start. 

[bluechipper]

 

After today's outing in the bullpen (why he was pitching there in the first place was very questionable), I hope you guys can see what I mean by saying Meyer isn't ready to start. 

I like it that he got some pitches in before he makes the start. He would've had to do some throwing between now and Tuesday anyway.

 

Also, if he's not ready now, are you thinking his age 27 or maybe his age 28 season would be better?

[Danchat]

 

I like it that he got some pitches in before he makes the start. He would've had to do some throwing between now and Tuesday anyway.

 

Also, if he's not ready now, are you thinking his age 27 or maybe his age 28 season would be better?

Yeah, I know he's getting old. I was really hoping he would get called up and start near the end of the 2014 season when he was 24.

 

Even though he's 26 now, he's not ready to start in the majors. I'd rather see him start at AAA and call him up in June if he's pitching well. But as things have played out, I'm intrigued to see how he'll do. I'm cheering for him, but I just don't think things are going to go well.

[Rosterman]

I would like to see him get at least two starting opportunities. Just to get the feel, before heading back to work some more on stuff. Maybe he won't need to do that. Maybe he will. But he can't be any worse than sending out Milone.

 

But what is it with the Twins relief corps. Don't we have a Swarzak, a long-guy, We want ALL the bullpen arms to have 60-70 appearances this year...with maybe only 50 innings under their belt to show for it.

 

Is this the pitching coach or manager making these situational calls.

 

[Kwak]

 

Yeah, I know he's getting old. I was really hoping he would get called up and start near the end of the 2014 season when he was 24.

 

Even though he's 26 now, he's not ready to start in the majors. I'd rather see him start at AAA and call him up in June if he's pitching well. But as things have played out, I'm intrigued to see how he'll do. I'm cheering for him, but I just don't think things are going to go well.

There is more than one way to interpret "not ready"--mine is:  "Not good enough--period".  I am ​opposed

​to​ "open mic" concept.  The are 7 people who can make a solid claim to being in the rotation--use them!  Rotate if necessary (like they are doing now), sticking with the rotation until the "injured list" is cleaned-up. 

[goulik]

I was more referring to Meyer NOT getting the long relief and riding the pine for a week than the other decisions

Besides,. How do we know Ryan didn't call Molitor and say "I called him up because I want Meyer to start instead of Milone"? As was stated, he is the boss...

I don't mind ripping people for valid complaints and mistakes. I don't like the retread veterans when we have guys that need the time in the field. (David Murphy? Really?) I do get annoyed by assumptions about things we don't know.

[FormerMinnasotan]

I'm still okay starting Meyer. I feel this is the season Meyer actually "gets it", so if there is a chance to start Meyer you should. I won't be too upset if Meyer can't make it. We still have Berrios, Duffey, Gonsalves, Stewart, Jay, and Thorpe. So I'm sure at least one of these pitchers will make it and be good. If Meyer continues to struggle, he'll just have more time in AAA to figure it out.

[stringer bell]

Big kid, big arm, but man.....the times I've seen him pitch, he's been well......not ready at best. Seldom have I heard a Bremer comment so right--his arm slot is all over the place and command seems to be a constant issue. He looks more like Hoey than the Big Unit.

[bluechipper]

I think Meyer could be a case in command vs. control. He's got a lower minor league BB/9 than Trevor May, for example, but I would guess that Meyer just pitches in the general area of the strike zone, where May appears to be able to actually locate the ball where he wants (generally speaking, I'm not saying that Trevor May has great command).

 

It'll be interesting to see how Alex Meyer fares when he gets at least 5 innings (hopefully), as opposed to the 1 inning stints that he's been given so far.

[USAFChief]

I think Meyer could be a case in command vs. control. He's got a lower minor league BB/9 than Trevor May, for example, but I would guess that Meyer just pitches in the general area of the strike zone, where May appears to be able to actually locate the ball where he wants (generally speaking, I'm not saying that Trevor May has great command).

 

It'll be interesting to see how Alex Meyer fares when he gets at least 5 innings (hopefully), as opposed to the 1 inning stints that I've seen so far.

He's going to need to do better than the 1 inning stint if he's going to see 5.

[nicksaviking]

After today's outing in the bullpen (why he was pitching there in the first place was very questionable), I hope you guys can see what I mean by saying Meyer isn't ready to start.

 

How is he supposed to get ready if not by starting?

[AlwaysinModeration]

After today's outing in the bullpen (why he was pitching there in the first place was very questionable), I hope you guys can see what I mean by saying Meyer isn't ready to start.

I don't think this proves what you think it proves. (Or anything, most likely.)

[Danchat]

 

How is he supposed to get ready if not by starting?

By getting more starts in AAA. A few starts in the majors isn't a bad thing, but he's not ready to run away with a starting role. I suppose he's got much more upside than Milone, so he might as well start instead.

 

 

I don't think this proves what you think it proves. (Or anything, most likely.)

Yeah, it's just an inning and a half. Long term it doesn't really prove anything, but short term I think he's getting thrown to the wolves a little early.

 

Also, having him throw that inning or so in the bullpen yesterday was OK. I completely forgot that his start is on Tuesday and for some reason I thought tomorrow was Tuesday (but it's actually Sunday). My bad.