Article: Twins Claim LHP Adam Wilk From Mets

[Doug ogilvie]

Twins picked up Wilk because they thought they would have a doubleheader on Thursday and they could have 26 on the roster. When they scheduled the doubleheader for August they had Wilk who has no options, jumped the gun.

Edited May 11, 2017 by Doug ogilvie

[Danchat]

I can see it now - in a few years from now, in some sort of trivia of guessing the players who played for the 2017 Twins, we'll all be stumped when we're told we forgot Nick Tepesch, Drew Rucinski, and Adam Wilk.

 

Now that I thought this up, I'm going to create a short section of pitchers you forgot ever pitched for the Twins.

 

Who's He? Twins pitchers you forgot existed

2012: Esmerling Vasquez, Matt Maloney, Luis Perdomo

2013: Shairon Martis

2014: Kris Johnson, Logan Darnell

2015: Tim Stauffer, Aaron Thompson

2016: Neil Ramirez, Pat Light

2017: Nick Tepesch, Drew Rucinski, Adam Wilk...

[benny]

 The Minnesota Twins have claimed left-hander Adam Wilk off waivers from the New York Mets.

The Twins announced the move on Wednesday. The 29-year-old Wilk was the Mets’ emergency starter on Sunday when Matt Harvey was suspended. He started six games for Triple-A Las Vegas this season, going 2-3 with a 5.91 ERA.Minnesota has been in the middle of a shuffle of the starting rotation after sending Kyle Gibson down to Triple-A Rochester last week. The Twins currently have an opening in the rotation for the game Saturday at Cleveland and Will could slide into that spot.

Will will join the Twins on Thursday in Chicago, where they are playing the White Sox.

[HitInAPinch]

 

He makes Pat Dean look like Cy Young.

Maybe "Sigh Young"?

[HitInAPinch]

 

Like everyone else, I'm not sure what the point is with this move.

 

I could only guess as to what they could be thinking....

IMHO:  Kicking the tires.  I mean, why not?  I think it best to make sure Berrios is really ready this time around.  Remember late last season, when the Twins started re-working Berrios' windup, while playing for the Twins?  

 

Not sure if this is a Falvey indictment on Twins past development of starting pitching.....

[HitInAPinch]

 

I don't think it's the Twins "punishing" Berrios for playing in the WBC as much as it is the Twins being super super super beyond conservative when it comes to young pitching prospects.

Yes, new leadership etc etc etc but the majority of the old regime is still around. It takes a lot of time to change process and thinking that has been going on for the last 20 some odd years.

 

Yup, but with Falvey's late start, could we realistically expect anything else?  I'm betting there will be changes, maybe starting around the All Star break.

 

btw:  Always like reading your comments.

[Oldgoat_MN]

Buddy Boshers has a lower WHIP and a higher K/9 in his MLB career than Wilk. We already have the incredibly talented Justin Haley who must be great because Flavine picked him up in a Rule 5 ‘coup’.
.
I don’t understand how anyone can defend this move.  If he comes in and is a great pitcher out of the bullpen, well that would be nice. There is no statistic anywhere that suggests that is likely to happen.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I don't think it's the Twins "punishing" Berrios for playing in the WBC as much as it is the Twins being super super super beyond conservative when it comes to young pitching prospects.

Yes, new leadership etc etc etc but the majority of the old regime is still around. It takes a lot of time to change process and thinking that has been going on for the last 20 some odd years.

 

Probably some of this.  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a certain amount of taking steps back on the developmental side too, forcing kids in the minors to spend more effort controlling their FB.  I'm not sure what made Berrios so hittable in the majors last season, but I am not too worried just yet if they want him to get a few more starts in to help reinforce the new behaviors they are trying to teach.

 

I doubt, at this point, it has anything to do with the WBC.  That may have cost him a spot this spring, but once that decision was made, Berrios is now in a position where he has to earn it.  I think the retaliation/punishment angle is way overblown.

[Riverbrian]

The Twins started spring training with 8 sensible defensible SP options:

 

Santana

Santiago

Gibson

Hughes

May

Mejia

Berrios

Duffey

 

May is out with injury

Duffey was moved to the pen

Gibson and Mejia have been tried and sent down.

 

This starting pitching tank is on "E" and there isn't a gas station to be found.

 

Wilk... That's our front office walking around with a gas can... looking for drips of fuel... in the couch cushions.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I think fans rate prospects a lot higher than established major league players do.

 

They were on the team last year when Berrios pitched.

It wouldn't even have to be about Berrios, though. What do you think as a player when a Rule 5 pick makes the team and has a game like last Sunday? Or when you turn to a starter like Tepesch last Saturday, despite no recent injuries on the staff?

 

I've seen it speculated that the team would be energized by the new FO turning over guys like Tonkin, but if they are turning them into guys like Tepesch and Wilk, I think their would be some doubts.

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Probably some of this.  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a certain amount of taking steps back on the developmental side too, forcing kids in the minors to spend more effort controlling their FB.  I'm not sure what made Berrios so hittable in the majors last season, but I am not too worried just yet if they want him to get a few more starts in to help reinforce the new behaviors they are trying to teach.

 

I doubt, at this point, it has anything to do with the WBC.  That may have cost him a spot this spring, but once that decision was made, Berrios is now in a position where he has to earn it.  I think the retaliation/punishment angle is way overblown.

The evidence that something has changes is right there. He has fewer K/9 but his K/BB is higher. He walked no one in his last outing. Maybe that's what they are looking for. (I'm grasping at straws here)

Pitch to contact?

[Otto von Ballpark]

This starting pitching tank is on "E" and there isn't a gas station to be found.

 

Wilk... That's our front office walking around with a gas can... looking for drips of fuel... in the couch cushions.

So what does Berrios represent, in this analogy? That extra tank of gas in the trunk that we refuse to use on principle, so we can always have a spare?

 

What does Duffey represent? That extra tank we already poured completely into our weedwacker, and now we're just too scared to try siphoning it out? (Perhaps we should have invested in an electric edge trimmer this past winter? It's not like we could have expected no weeds to grow in the bullpen this summer...)

Edited May 11, 2017 by spycake

[ThejacKmp]

 

David Hurlbut is left handed and breathing on his own.  And he hasn't been with 6 different MLB organizations (and one in Korea) over the last 5 years.

 

David Hurlbut is a starting pitcher thriving in AAA. That's actually more of a need for the Twins. After years of tons of mediocre depth, the Twins have a pretty bare stable of starting pitching. It's Santana, Hughes and Santiago at the MLB level and Mejia, Berrios and Gibson in AAA. Then you have Tepesch and Hurlbut. With Gibson struggling, Tepesch being Tepesch, Mejia being unproven and Phil Hughes a pretty big injury risk, the Twins need Hurlbut as emergency depth. It would not surprise me at all if he started a game or two for the Twins this year. He's likely #7 or #8 in the starting pitching ranks and teams regularly hit that guy. I wouldn't mind seeing what he can do.

 

I was pretty upset about Wilk when I first heard it. Then we heard he's not going to be starting. Then I looked at his splits against lefties. Then I looked at our current left handed relievers (Rogers and a bunch of trash). Then I realized I was wrong to be upset about Wilk. We overreacted ladies and germs. Apologies to the front office, they weren't wrong on this one. Way to do your homework.

 

(But if Tepesch starts more than one more game I'm going to poop in the glove outside Target Field. That man is not even hot garbage, he's frozen garbage you scrape off the driveway after the raccoons get into your trash in November.)

 

EDIT: I forgot Duffey. There is Duffey. But he'd likely need to be stretched out a bit and I like him in the pen. But there is Duffey.

Edited May 11, 2017 by ThejacKmp

[ThejacKmp]

 

Buddy Boshers has a lower WHIP and a higher K/9 in his MLB career than Wilk. We already have the incredibly talented Justin Haley who must be great because Flavine picked him up in a Rule 5 ‘coup’.
.
I don’t understand how anyone can defend this move.  If he comes in and is a great pitcher out of the bullpen, well that would be nice. There is no statistic anywhere that suggests that is likely to happen.

 

This is how you defend the move:

 

Thrylos posted his splits against lefties over the last three years in AAA. They are ridiculous - high K rates, low BA against. It's not crazy to see him as a reliever and though the Twins can't start him in the minors like you might prefer to, he's not going to be in high leverage situations. It's not like the Twins used him to replace Pressley, he replaced Rucinski. The Twins haven't been pressed for position players and are carrying 13 pitchers. With the lack of left handed pitching in the upper minors, it's not awful to take a shot on him with Rucinski's roster spot and use him as a low-leverage mop up man while experimenting with him as a LOOGY in the vein of Ryan O'Rourke.

 

P.S. While looking on BR, I saw that Wilk's minor league hitting features a .596 OPS. That's not bad for a pitcher. I'm going to file that away for when the Twins play a 14 inning game in a NL park this summer . . . 

[USAFChief]

The Twins started spring training with 8 sensible defensible SP options:

Santana

Santiago

Gibson

Hughes

May

Mejia

Berrios

Duffey

May is out with injury

Duffey was moved to the pen

Gibson and Mejia have been tried and sent down.

This starting pitching tank is on "E" and there isn't a gas station to be found.

Wilk... That's our front office walking around with a gas can... looking for drips of fuel... in the couch cushions.

I hear there's a station in Rochester.

[ThejacKmp]

 

It wouldn't even have to be about Berrios, though. What do you think as a player when a Rule 5 pick makes the team and has a game like last Sunday? Or when you turn to a starter like Tepesch last Saturday, despite no recent injuries on the staff?

I've seen it speculated that the team would be energized by the new FO turning over guys like Tonkin, but if they are turning them into guys like Tepesch and Wilk, I think their would be some doubts.

 

I mean, all kinds of guys have bad outings. The indictment of a rule 5 pick shouldn't be one game. Haley hasn't been good but he is a Rule 5 pick. Those guys are overmatched and you're trying to sneak them through the year in a mop-up role so that you can send them down to the minors and work on things in a low-leverage position the next year. That's how Rule 5 is supposed to work.

 

Your Tepesch criticism is right on though. That was sad and that's what paved the way for Haley on Sunday -- the Twins used a lot of pitchers Saturday so Haley was in a game that was way too close for your Rule 5 pickup. 

 

Not sure who else they should be turning them into? Tepesch is pretty awful but I'm encouraged by Wilk's potential as a LOOGY. There just aren't amazing players floating around on the wire. I'd like to see Wimmers/Burdi/Chargois get a shot as the summer goes along but I'm willing to trust the FO that those guys aren't quite ready yet and indulge them throwing things at the wall to see what sticks with a guy like Wilk.

[Riverbrian]

So what does Berrios represent, in this analogy? That extra tank of gas in the trunk that we refuse to use on principle, so we can always have a spare?

What does Duffey represent? That extra tank we already poured completely into our weedwacker, and now we're just too scared to try siphoning it out? (Perhaps we should have invested in an electric edge trimmer this past winter? It's not like we could have expected no weeds to grow in the bullpen this summer...)

Berrios is a beautiful new gas station with a grand opening scheduled for June 29.

 

Duffey... You nailed it.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Buddy Boshers has a lower WHIP and a higher K/9 in his MLB career than Wilk. We already have the incredibly talented Justin Haley who must be great because Flavine picked him up in a Rule 5 ‘coup’.
.
I don’t understand how anyone can defend this move.  If he comes in and is a great pitcher out of the bullpen, well that would be nice. There is no statistic anywhere that suggests that is likely to happen.

 

Buddy Boshers was a reliever that whole time. Wilk was a starter. That's not an even comparison. Would you pick a random middle reliever from the mid 90s and choose him over Mariano Rivera while looking at his early career starting pitching stats (they're not good)? 

 

Nope. This is where stats can't explain everything. Wilk has been starting and the Twins see something in him they think will translate to relieving. It's that old adage of choosing between two guys with the same home to 1B time - one with perfect form and one with terrible form. You pick the guy with the terrible form because you can teach him to be better. We know what kind of a reliever Buddy Boshers is, we don't know what Wilk could be. I'd take Wilk every day.

[AWOLNATION_11]

I don't mind them using these stop-gap guys.  The Tepesch, Rucinski, Wilk moves all just look like the FO is buying some time and don't want to be forced to add Slegers, Wimmers, etc. to the 40-man in case it doesn't go well.   Would really tie their hands at that point because the 40-man would be full of guys we won't be able to get back through waivers.   I'd like to see Berrios or Mejia too, but I would imagine the FO has a plan in place for those two and want to stick to it.

 

Also interesting how quickly some folks are ready to turn back to Gibson.   

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I don't mind them using these stop-gap guys.  The Tepesch, Rucinski, Wilk moves all just look like the FO is buying some time and don't want to be forced to add Slegers, Wimmers, etc. to the 40-man in case it doesn't go well.   Would really tie their hands at that point because the 40-man would be full of guys we won't be able to get back through waivers.

Uh, Wimmers has already cleared waivers once last fall.  I am sure he'd clear again, although I have no interest in seeing him on the roster at this time.  Wheeler has cleared in the past too.  I'd guess some of the other AAA arms would fall into that category too and clear without much trouble.

 

If the best defense of these guys is "they will be able to clear waivers when we inevitably want to remove them from the roster" -- that's not a good defense.  Especially not of stockpiling guys like that.

Edited May 11, 2017 by spycake

[Otto von Ballpark]

My prediction is that Wilk's playing career will end in the near future, but he will go on to a distinguished career in radio, prompting some station or stadium to dedicate "Adam Wilk's Booth" in his honor.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I don't get the Wilk move. At all.

 

But I'll wait to see how long he's on the roster before getting too upset about it. The Twins had bullpen options in Rochester and Chattanooga (why they didn't call one is beyond me) and they don't need a fifth starter for over a week (again). We know Wilk isn't going to start so why he's here is even more baffling.

 

Not that I want Wilk to start a game for the Twins. God, no, I don't want that to happen.

 

This is all very confusing.

[USAFChief]

 

I don't mind them using these stop-gap guys.  The Tepesch, Rucinski, Wilk moves all just look like the FO is buying some time and don't want to be forced to add Slegers, Wimmers, etc. to the 40-man in case it doesn't go well.   Would really tie their hands at that point because the 40-man would be full of guys we won't be able to get back through waivers.   I'd like to see Berrios or Mejia too, but I would imagine the FO has a plan in place for those two and want to stick to it.

 

Also interesting how quickly some folks are ready to turn back to Gibson.   

I guess I don't see the difference in

 

1.  Being afraid to use AAA depth because then you won't have depth, and 

 

2.  Not having any AAA depth.

 

Functionally, they're the same thing, no?

[ashbury]

Is it my imagination, or do Falvey and Levine not speak much in public? Terry Ryan used to have regular spots on somebody's radio show, didn't he? "What's the plan with WIlk" is something Ryan would have been asked, and he would have answered straightforwardly (even if he couldn't tell the complete story). With the present regime we're left to wonder. Or... are they speaking somewhere and I'm not picking up on it, being out of town as I am?

[drjim]

It wouldn't even have to be about Berrios, though. What do you think as a player when a Rule 5 pick makes the team and has a game like last Sunday? Or when you turn to a starter like Tepesch last Saturday, despite no recent injuries on the staff?

 

I've seen it speculated that the team would be energized by the new FO turning over guys like Tonkin, but if they are turning them into guys like Tepesch and Wilk, I think their would be some doubts.

I don't think the players are unaware the pitching is problematic.

[drjim]

Is it my imagination, or do Falvey and Levine not speak much in public? Terry Ryan used to have regular spots on somebody's radio show, didn't he? "What's the plan with WIlk" is something Ryan would have been asked, and he would have answered straightforwardly (even if he couldn't tell the complete story). With the present regime we're left to wonder. Or... are they speaking somewhere and I'm not picking up on it, being out of town as I am?

There's a front office person on the radio each week.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Back to Wilfk:

 

What could have possible the Twins seen in him?   I'd ignore his last 2 MLB games.  I'd ignore his numbers at PCL this season.  And I cannot get Korean splits.  Here are the splits I get at his last 3 seasons in International League (AAA) against lefties:

 

2016: 0.57 WHIP, 29.3% K%, 0 BB%
2014: 1.07 WHIP, 25.7% K%, 5% BB%
2012: 0.97 WHIP, 29.1 K%, 5.1 BB%

 

As a starter.  I'd say that's quasi eye opening.   And might get better as a reliever. 

 

Rogers, Breslow and Buddy B are the LHRPs the Twins have right now.  I don't mind them rolling the dice for possible something better here.

 

That's all.  Dice roll...

 

Why would we ignore Wilk's MLB numbers in this exercise?  Presumably we didn't claim him to be a LOOGY in Rochester.

 

MLB career vs LHB: 2.11 WHIP, 10.4% K%, 10.4% BB%, and .845 OPS

 

And while it's a small sample (48 PA), it's still equal to 70% of his 2016 AAA vs LHB sample.

 

Also, why would we ignore PCL numbers, if we're looking at K rates and relative platoon effectiveness?  K rates are relatively comparable between the PCL and the IL, and even if the overall numbers are worse due to offensive environment, he should still be better vs LHB relative to RHB.

 

2017

vs RHB: 1.24 WHIP (.795 OPS), 24.4% K%, 6.1% BB%

vs LHB: 1.68 WHIP (1.011 OPS), 15.5% K%, 0% BB%

 

2015

vs RHB: 1.67 WHIP (.859 OPS), 15.8% K%, 7.3% BB%

vs LHB: 1.32 WHIP (.768 OPS), 17.2% K%, 2.5% BB%

 

Heck, even his stats vs LHB in the IL haven't been consistently great.  2016 was the only dominant year (also the smallest sample, only 69 PA).  In 2014, he gave up a decent but not dominant .647 OPS vs LHB, and it was similar in 2012 too (and virtually identical vs RHB that year).

Edited May 11, 2017 by spycake

[ashbury]

There's a front office person on the radio each week.

Then our speculations should be answered soon. I hope someone jots down the Wilk info here.

[USAFChief]

 

I don't think the players are unaware the pitching is problematic.

That's not the question, is it?

 

The question is, do they feel the front office is doing everything possible to augment it?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Remember Sean Gilmartin?

2014 vs LHB: 0.77 WHIP, 31.4% K%, 2.6% BB%

(in a sample over twice as large as Wilk's 2016 vs LHB)

 

Remember Tommy Milone?

AAA career vs LHB: 0.79 WHIP, 29.2% K%, 2.2% BB%

(in a sample over 3 times as large as Wilk's 2016 vs LHB)