What an Altered Season Could Mean for the Rest of the Roster

[Patrick Wozniak]

It’s looking increasingly more likely that we’ll get some form of Major League Baseball come late June or early July. One of the interesting aspects will be expanded rosters and the possibility of having players on the 40-man in close proximity to be called upon as needed. With that in mind, today we’ll take a look at players on the Twins 40-man and what roles they may play if baseball returns.First, there are the players who had a decent chance to make the 26-man roster and should be locks to make a slightly expanded roster:

 

The Locks: Jake Cave (OF), Willians Astudillo (C,UTL), Randy Dobnak (RHP)

 

One of Jake Cave or Willians Astudillo would have been the 26^th man, with the other likely an injury away. Now they both look like locks to make the team. Randy Dobnak was less certain, due to the presence of veteran camp invitee Jhoulys Chacín. Dobnak may have still had the upper hand, but now seems all but certain to make the team. Chacín’s role might be less certain than it appears as Minnesota may choose to roll with Dobnak since Rich Hill is expected to be available sometime in June or July anyway.

 

The Expanded Hopefuls: Lewis Thorpe (LHP), Devin Smeltzer (LHP), LaMonte Wade Jr. (OF)

 

One of the obvious consequences of a limited spring training is less time for pitchers to build up to full strength. Coupled with potential doubleheaders and fewer off-days, teams are going to need a plethora of arms, and the Twins should be in pretty good shape. None of this group was likely to make the original 26-man roster, but with expansion they should be the favorites. Thorpe and Smeltzer could serve as starters, multi-inning relievers, or as LOOGYs, providing plenty of versatility. And although Minnesota is already well stocked with backup outfielders (Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Cave), Wade Jr. could provide value as a pinch runner or defensive replacement and is capable of playing a passable center field.

 

The Booster Club: Sean Poppen (RHP), Jorge Alcala (RHP)

 

Like everyone listed thus far, Poppen and Alcala have some MLB experience, though significantly less than the others (8.1 IP for Poppen and 1.2 for Alcala). Both are former starters with lively arms who now make their living out of the ‘pen. Neither are likely to make the expanded rosters but would fit well with the Twins philosophy of shuffling arms. And again, much like a Hindu God, the more arms the better.

 

The Replacements: The remainder of the Twins 40-man seems more likely to play the role of injury replacements. We’ll break it down by position.

 

Infield: Nick Gordon (2B, SS), Travis Blankenhorn (2B, 3B, OF)

 

Had he not gotten injured, there is a good chance it would have been Nick Gordon and not Luis Arraez that was called up to fill in for an injured Jonathan Schoop. But Arraez got the call and the rest is history. However, should an injury occur, Gordon would be the favorite to fill in. Travis Blankenhorn offers more power (18 AA home runs in 93 games) and the ability to play outfield (but Cave, Gonzalez, and Wade Jr stand in the way) but his defense is questionable and his bat might not be MLB-ready either.

 

Outfield: Gilberto Celestino (CF)

 

Celestino is an exciting prospect who gained a lot of steam after a sensational second half in 2019, but he’s only played eight games of high-A ball, so he’s a long-shot to see any MLB action in 2020. The one thing he does have going for him is being the best defensive center fielder outside of Byron Buxton on the 40-man roster. Buxton is no stranger to injuries, so one could make an argument for Celestino as an emergency replacement for Buxton, but it’s definitely a long shot.

 

Pitchers: Jhoan Duran (RHP), Dakota Chalmers (RHP)

 

Jhoan Duran is arguably Minnesota’s best pitching prospect and finished 2019 pitching in AA, so he’s not all that far away. Ideally, the Twins would probably target 2021 as his debut year, but if they are in need of a high-upside starter or reliever Duran could fill that role. Dakota Chalmers is a much greater stretch to premier in 2020 as he pitched just 34.2 innings in 2019 between rookie ball and High-A after returning from Tommy John surgery. At this point he is more potential than a finished product though theoretically he might work out of the ‘pen with an upper-90’s heater.

 

That wraps of the list of Twins 40-man players would could potentially see action in 2020. Who do you see having the biggest impact or look most forward to watching? Please leave your comments below.

 

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[IndianaTwin]

Remember that Thorpe and Smeltzer can't be LOOGYs. Now they have to be LTO(OETI)GYs.

 

That's Lefty Three-Outs (Or End The Inning) Guys. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?  

[Patrick Wozniak]

 

Remember that Thorpe and Smeltzer can't be LOOGYs. Now they have to be LTO(OETI)GYs.

 

That's Lefty Three-Outs (Or End The Inning) Guys. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?  

Yeah, not quite the same ring . Though they could still come in with two outs to face one lefty assuming they're replacing a pitcher who already faced three batters but that probably won't happen much.

[Doctor Gast]

Depending how intense the season will be, hopefully it will be quite condensed. That way a lot of our MLB ready prospects (Lewis, Kiriloff, Larnach) will have an opportunity to get in some valuable time. Although Kiriloff & Larnach are closer to make that transition, Lewis would be more needed as a mid fielder bench. Although I believe Gordon will improve in AAA, I don`t see him making that transition to the bigs. We have an abundance of MLB pitchers w/ a condense season we could utilize all of them. We have a great need for future aces so our focus should be preparation to that goal, not shoving them in the BP. Hopefully the BP will live up to their recent success where we don`t need them.

[rdehring]

The biggest question is what are these guys going to be doing when the Twins are playing?  Seeing there isn't going to be a minor league season, they are going to need to be creative to keep X number of players active and ready when injuries occur.  

 

Although not on the 40-man roster, I suspect that Kirilloff and Larnach would get added before players like Celestino and Blankenhorn.  That assumes they are playing wherever the replacements are.  

 

If there is a three week spring training 2, will FSN televise all of their games?  Would sure hope so.

[mikelink45]

good speculation.  I think the pitchers have the best opportunity in this strange year.  you can only use so many OFs so it depends upon injury for most of them.  I will take the first three and then the next two pitchers.  That should do it unless a major injury.

[mikelink45]

In 1981 we had a split season - how did they prepare for the second half?   I cannot remember the prep, but it is analogous to this season with the layoff since spring training.  There is a lot to learn from that season.

[Trov]

Since minor league baseball is unlikely to happen, or at least like we expect.  I bet teams will seek to have their players come to spring training facilities and work out there with inter team scrimmages to stay sharp and work on things.  

 

One thought I just had to get full games in and would test the full depth of a team's system.  You play double headers almost every day, but allow for 60 man roster where players can be interchanged regularly, and no 15 day list, only 60 day to get someone on 60 man roster.  You pick 22 guys per game to be on active roster, the 4 less is for the starting pitchers that would normally not be available, but if a game goes into extra innings you can bring in 2 additional pitchers. 

 

This would allow teams to get the games in, but not overwork the players.  If you wanted you could even have an A team and a B team, but would not have too.  How do you social distance, you only have those 22 guys at the field any given game, and have the potential extra pitcher near by in club house or hotel room ready to run over should he be needed.

 

Would lead to some interesting resting and subbing decisions for teams.  It would really test the depth of a system as well.    

[SkyBlueWaters]

 

In 1981 we had a split season - how did they prepare for the second half?   

 

Great question. The Twins' last game of the '81 first half was June 11. Pete Redfern lost to Dan Petry of the Tigers. The Twins were 17-39, which goes part of the way to explaining the 4,623 in attendance at the old Met. (The day before they drew 5,495.)

Not a very long wait for a Hamm's.

 

The two sides reached an agreement on July 31. Negotiations were so acrimonious that Marvin Miller of the players association and owners' negotiator Ray Grebey refused to pose for the usual peacemaking photo. 

 

They played an all-star game on August 9th, and on August 10th Roger Erickson beat Rick Langford of the A's 6-2. Jerry Koosman threw 4 innings in relief to get the save in front of 15,414 at the Met.

 

You get the sense that each team got back together, prepared as best they could, their all-stars going to Cleveland for the prelude, then each team traveling as necessary to resume their regular season games the next day. 

 

 

[SkyBlueWaters]

BTW, leadoff hitter Hosken Powell had a hit, two ribbies, and scored a run.

John Castino had a double.

Mickey Hatcher (in CF) scored a run and had a ribbie.

Rob Wilfong and Butch Wynegar both had 2 hits.

The only Twin in the lineup slugging over .400 was SS Roy Smalley.

 

But the cavalry was coming. At the end of the year they got 24 games out of 21-year-old Kent Hrbek (up from single-A Visalia) and 22-year-old Gary Gaetti (up from double-A Orlando for 9 games in the bigs). 

 

Other call-ups included Tim Laudner, Lenny Faedo, Mark Funderbunk, and Ron Washington.

[DocBauer]

Were I to guess, I'd say there will be a multi-level Cactus and Grapefruit milb season even with expanded ML rosters. Even abbreviated, there has to be some sort of milb season.