Twins spring training brings rotation questions

Published 8:02 am Thursday, February 15, 2018

FORT MYERS, Fla. — On the first day of spring training for the Minnesota Twins, it was difficult to watch the drills on the field without thinking about the potential starting pitchers who weren’t there.

Twins pitchers and catchers held their first official workout on Wednesday, but there’s room for more.

“It’s not hard to see, even if you’re not trying, that we have a need, rotation-wise, where we will have to fill some spots,” manager Paul Molitor said.

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The Twins in 2017 became the first team in major league history to reach the postseason after losing 100 or more games the year before. Molitor is the AL Manager of the Year award holder, entering his fourth season. There’s a strong nucleus of drafted-and-developed players who are entering their peak years.

The glaring omission, however, is a front-line starting pitcher or two to lead a rotation that was improved last season but still ranked just 19th in MLB with a collective 4.73 ERA. The tenuous depth was thinned further when Ervin Santana underwent surgery on his middle finger, which will keep him out until at least mid-April.

The Twins were uncharacteristically open about their interest in Yu Darvish, widely considered to be the best free agent pitcher available this winter, but he recently signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. Free agent possibilities like Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn remain unsigned, though. Then there are potential targets like Chris Archer or Jake Odorizzi of the Tampa Bay Rays, but baseball’s trade market has been moving even slower than free agency.

Until a reinforcement or two arrives, the Twins must move forward with their in-house options to fill out the top five.

“I think we will just have to proceed with who you have,” Molitor said. “We know that there are a lot of people out there. We know that there are people we are still interested in so we can’t predict which way it’s going to go.”

The early absence of Santana leaves Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia as the only holdovers who made at least 20 starts in 2017. Berrios, who had a breakout second season with a 14-8 record with a 3.89 ERA in 2017, will likely slide into the top spot for now. Santana, who was in New York for a follow-up visit with his surgeon, and Gibson, who was attending his salary arbitration hearing, were not on the field the first day at the CenturyLink Sports Complex.