Tough decisions as pitchers return from DL

Anthony Swarzak is a good pitcher with a major-league salary, but a strong showing by Twins relievers early in the season may make it hard for him to crack the roster again after cracking a rib.

Glen Perkins, Jared Burton and Brian Duensing are all proven veterans, guaranteed to stay on the roster. Casey Fien has been pitching the living fire out of the ball, striking out the side in his first inning of work this year and getting the final out of a bases-load jam two days later. Josh Roenicke was wicked movement and a solid track record. 

It seems the only vulnerable pitchers would be Tyler Robertson and Ryan Pressly. Problem is, the intimidating, Paul Bunyan-like Robertson is death to left-handers, striking out Price Fielder with the bases loaded in his first appearance. Pressly, meanwhile, must remain on the roster all year or the Twins will lose his rights as a Rule V player.

My, how times have changed on the Twins staff.. additionally, Rich Haren, Tim Wood and Rafael Perez are all highly thought of veteran pitchers on the mend soon, while Luis Perdomo, Anthony Slama and Bryan Augenstein have all pitched in the big-leagues and would do respectably well for the big-league club.

In the rotation, Liam Hendriks and Cole DeVries will be competing for a spot once Scott Diamond returns from the DL, and World Baseball Classic star, Samual Deduno, will be waiting in the wings at AAA if anyone falters. Beyond that? PJ Walters, Kyle Gibson and Pedro Henandez make up what appears to be a team with good, experienced depth in AAA.

Pressly looks like a keeper

Whomever scouted Rule V pick, Ryan Pressly, should get a big pat on the back for finding a largely unheralded AA pitcher that has a chance to contribute now in the majors.

At the end of the third game of the season, the Twins were locked neck-and-neck with the Tigers, depleting the entire bullpen besides Pressly and closer, Glen Perkins. With two outs in the ninth and the Twins clinging to a slim, one-run lead, Perkins stood on the bullpen mound waiting to enter the game as the rookie, Pressly sat alone on the bullpen bench.

Suddenly, the Twins strung together an amble of runs and the Twins called Pressly to take Perkins’ place on the bullpen mound. He ambled up to the rubber, noticeably shaking, vibrating almost, and things did not look pretty. His curves were hanging and at one point he bounced two straight fastballs about six feet in front of the plate.

Then, just before the call, he scrambled for a stick of bubble gum, slipped the wrapper in his back pocket and took a long, cool jog into what would be his first major league game. 

And then, everything seemed to click. He gave up a quick single but settled down to retire the next three batters, including striking out Torii Hunter on one of the best curveballs anyone had thrown all day. His fastball was clocked at a respectable 92mph with movement, and he challenged the hitters with no fear or apparent jitters. Like night-and-day from what could have been foreshadowed in the bullpen, pitching like a veteran.

It’s way to early to say if Ryan Pressly will make it through the whole season, or even if he’ll remain when several veteran pitchers, like Anthony Swarzak, Scott Diamond and Rich Harden return from the Disabled List, but the Twins sure did pick a good arm hiding out of nowhere.

Pressly began the 2012 season by posting a 6.28 ERA in 76 innings in high A ball. On the verge of possible release, he was converted to a reliever and suddenly improved to an 2.93 ERA over a small sampling of 14 games and 27 innings pitched in AA. That’s quite a turn-around in a short amount of time, and he comes to the majors as one of the more unlikely contributors in recent Twins history.

2013 Twins roster full of depth, potential

Although most pundits predict a poor 2013 season for the Minnesota Twins, the team has quietly accumulated depth and respectability in most regards, and could be a surprise contender in the American League Central. 

The starting pitching staff was terrible in 2012, but has added Vance Worley, Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey, to go along with Scott Diamond and at least one of a stew of last years holdovers, headed by Liam Hendriks and Cole DeVries. Unlike last season, the team has plenty of pitchers to choose from if their veterans falter, and it seems like SOMEBODY out of ten or so major league-ready starters will have a break-out season.

The offense is not a problem, with a killer row middle-of-the-lineup in Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit. The key here will be getting solid years out of right fielder, Chris Parmalee, and third-baseman, Trevor Plouffe. Both players should be ready to step up if they are to become quality regular players.

The middle infield consists of defensive whiz, Pedro Florimon at shortstop and line-drive hitting, Brian Dozier, at second base. Jamey Carroll and Eduardo Escobar provide good defense for spot starts or the late innings. The Twins have lacked consistent infield defense over the past two years, and this year’s more experienced squad should be much improved, and should improve the overall pitching numbers.

The bullpen should be one of the best in baseball, although it was fairly solid last year. If fact, 26-year-old Alex Burnett was recently let go, which is a sign of healthy times. Burnett had been with the team for three seasons and posted a respectable 3.52 ERA in 2012, but was simply not good enough to crack the 40-man roster with so many new additions this year, such as Josh Roenicke and promising Rule V pick, Ryan Pressly.

All in all, expect the Twins to fair much better than expected. They should be at least a .500 team with an outside shot at a Wild Card.