Six-man Starting Rotation in Twins Future
With the recent signing of Mike Pelfrey to a two-year, $11 million deal, I can’t imagine the Twins going with the traditional five-man starting rotation. They have such a surplus of pitching there almost has to be another starting spot, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea given their arms, namely Hughes, Correia, and Pelfrey, who would benefit from an extra day off. Hughes could even pitch at home or in pitcher-friendly parks, and going with six starters is the only way I see the Twins tossing a few lefties out there. So, here’s a potential six-man starting rotation for the Twins:
- Ricky Nolasco
- Johan Santana/Samuel Deduno
- Kevin Correia
- Phil Hughes
- Scott Diamond/Vance Worley
- Mike Pelfrey
I’ve thrown Santana and Diamond preference because they’re lefties, and if the Twins have any interest in throwing a lefty or two, and judging by their offseason decisions they don’t, there’s really only a few options. Personally, I’d like to see a few lefties in the rotation even though Target Field is so advantageous to the right-handed pitcher.
Now the bullpen, which remains relatively unchanged:
- Glen Perkins
- Jared Burton
- Caleb Thielbar
- Casey Fien
- Michael Tonkin
- Brian Duensing
- Anthony Swarzak
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Pelfrey move to the bullpen if he struggles in the rotation, but I’m optimistic he’ll be better than last year. So if the Twins go with 13 pitchers, we have 12 spots for position players:
- Brian Dozier, 2B
- Joe Mauer, 1B
- Josh Willingham, DH/LF
- Aswaldo Arcia, LF/RF
- Trevor Plouffe, 3B
- Josmil Pinto, C
- Ryan Doumit, RF
- Alex Presley, CF (vs. RHP)
- Pedro Florimon, SS (vs. RHP)
- Eduardo Escobar, SS (vs. LHP)
- Chris Hermann, C/RF (only vs. RHP)
- Eric Fryer, C (only vs. LHP)
As you can see I kept Aaron Hicks, Chris Parmelee, Chris Colabello, and Darin Mastroianni off the roster. I don’t have anything against men with the first name, Chris. Parmelee had his chances and has blown them all. Colabello didn’t do enough in 2013 to impress, and got some bad news when Mauer decided to move to first base. The acquisition of Presley makes Mastroianni expendable, especially with Hicks knocking on the door in AAA. You can also have Willingham play a game here and there in left field to give Arcia a breather at DH, though I’d hate for that to be the norm.
So, without making many more moves, and I don’t expect many, the 2014 Minnesota Twins should look something like this.
