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  • 6 Potential Non-Roster September Call-ups Who Could Impact Games


    Jeremy Nygaard

    For the last time under the current rules, teams will be able to add as many as 15 players to their active bench once the calendar turns to September.

    Teams won't add that many, but we can certainly expect the bullpen shuttle to finally stop when rosters expand. Players like Devin Smeltzer, Lewis Thorpe, Kohl Stewart, Cody Stashak and Randy Dobnak will know where they'll spend the entirety of September relatively early in the month.

    Image courtesy of Patrick McDermott-USA TODAY Sports

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    There are other players currently on the 40-man that may receive the call as well. Will Willians Astudillo conveniently be brought back from his rehab on September 1st? Will Nick Gordon be recovered in time to finally experience his first major league clubhouse as a player?

    Today, we'll look at six players who are not currently on the 40-man roster who could help the Twins wrap up the AL Central pennant. While not all of these players - and perhaps most - will not join the team, they all offer something that could make an impact on the current team.

    RHP Brusdar Graterol - With Graterol, it's not a matter of if he joins the Twins, but when. After missing a few months earlier this year with a shoulder ailment, he has returned to Pensacola and pitched in three games, all relief appearances. In those games he's thrown five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out four. Of the 64 bullets he's fired, 43 (67.2%) have been strikes. Most impressively and famously, Graterol threw a fastball 103.8 mph in his last outing. He joined the Red Wings on Monday. He spent 10 days in Pensacola after recovering from his injury. How long will he be in Rochester?

    OF Alejandro De Aza (pictured) - Before being placed on Rochester's injured list on Sunday with a hand contusion, De Aza slashed .333/.410/.588 (.998) in his 28 games with the Red Wings. De Aza, 35, has not played in the MLB since 2017, but does have postseason experience which could help in September. In 2014, De Aza went 7-for-21 with three doubles and three RBI for the Orioles, who fell to the Royals in the ALCS. De Aza would be limited to below-average defense in an outfield corner (or DH), but would provide both experience and depth in the form of a left-handed bat who hits righties well.

    OF Ian Miller - Miller came to the organization in August from Seattle in a minor-league trade. The potential value of adding Miller to the big-club comes exclusively from his legs. Over his seven minor league seasons, Miller is 240-for-289 (83%) on stolen base attempts. The Twins this year - without Byron Buxton - are 11-for-28 (39%). I'm not suggesting the Twins bring up Miller to have him steal a bunch of bases. But the lack of successful stolen bases suggests that the team doesn't have a ton of speed. And there's going to be an occasion (again!) where a game will hang in the balance with a runner on first with one out or nobody out... and we'd all prefer that runner (or pinch-runner) is someone actually fast, not someone that is fast compared to the TwinsDaily writing staff. (Jeremy's note: When TwinsDaily writers competed at the mascot race a few seasons back, I won. And it wasn't even close. Believe me, these other guys aren't fast. They made me look like The Freeze.)

    LHP Ryan O'Rourke - Since ROR last pitched the for the Twins in 2016, he's had Tommy John surgery and bounced around baseball, eventually recently bouncing back into the organization. O'Rourke has always been death to left-handed hitters and could be a very useful commodity in September.

    RHP Jorge Alcala - Along with Graterol, Alcala joined Rochester on Monday. Acquired in the Ryan Pressly deal last July, Alcala has been a less-heralded prospect than many and his results haven't done a lot to make people take notice. In 26 AA games (16 starts), Alcala went 5-7 with a 5.87 ERA. He allowed a WHIP of 1.47 and opponents hit .284 off of him. But since moving exclusively to the bullpen in late July, Alcala has been a different dude. In 10 2/3 innings, Alcala has allowed seven hits and two walks (0.84 WHIP) and has struck out seven. Like Graterol, he's pounded the strike zone - 106 strikes in 165 pitches (64.2%). Pre-season scouting reports had Alcala up to 98 mph as a starter. In short stints, he'll be over 100 mph. Combine that with an above-average slider... and this bullpen might be OK after all.

    C Wilin Rosario - Like De Aza, it's been a bit since Rosario was a major-league baseball player. After hitting 28 home runs and finishing fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting as a 23-year-old in 2013 with Colorado, Rosario had three years that increasingly got worse before playing the last three years in Korea and Japan. Back in America in 2019, Rosario has hit .307/.347/.527 (.874) in 385 plate appearances. He's a liability behind the plate, but could play there in a pinch. While it's not likely for Rosario to come up with the pending addition of Willians Astudillo, Rosario would be a phone call away if any of the three catchers go down to injury.

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    I believe Tortuga and Wade are more valuable on the IL. To make the playoff roster, a player must be on the 40 man by Aug 31, OR replace someone on the IL provided that player has served the minimum time on the IL. Wade and Tortuga could both be added added to the 60 day, and then anyone in the organization could come up and be post season eligible.

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    This article is about "non-roster" guys (meaning non-40-man roster guys).

     

    I expect most guys already on the 40-man, like Hildenberger, Smeltzer, Stashak, Littell, etc., will all be recalled.

    Forgot the original premise of the article!

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    I believe Tortuga and Wade are more valuable on the IL. To make the playoff roster, a player must be on the 40 man by Aug 31, OR replace someone on the IL provided that player has served the minimum time on the IL. Wade and Tortuga could both be added added to the 60 day, and then anyone in the organization could come up and be post season eligible.

    Who would you want to see in the postseason that won't already be on the 40-man on August 31st? There is still an open spot to add Graterol; another could be opened fairly easily for Alcala if he warrants it (I am thinking Diplan's or Stewart's spot). I don't really see anybody else -- the minor league season ends Sep. 2nd, so it's not like a guy like Rooker is going to change minds with a dominant September performance. And we're not going to call someone up to make their MLB debut in the postseason either.

     

    If someone gets injured *during* the postseason, we can also replace them with a non-roster player who was in the org on August 31st. We don't need any guys on the IL to do that. (Might come in handy for a true catching emergency -- Wilin Rosario? Or maybe if we had a Billy Hamilton pinch runner type who got hurt in the postseason, and we wanted to replace him with an Ian Miller in a similar role.)

     

    Edit to add: I suspect getting Astudillo and Wade some MLB reps in September is more important than trying to sneak other guys on the roster. Astudillo will be needed if there is any catcher injury, and Wade may be needed in case of an outfielder injury.

    Edited by spycake
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    Who would you want to see in the postseason that won't already be on the 40-man on August 31st? There is still an open spot to add Graterol; another could be opened fairly easily for Alcala if he warrants it (I am thinking Diplan's or Stewart's spot). I don't really see anybody else -- the minor league season ends Sep. 2nd, so it's not like a guy like Rooker is going to change minds with a dominant September performance. And we're not going to call someone up to make their MLB debut in the postseason either.

     

    If someone gets injured *during* the postseason, we can also replace them with a non-roster player who was in the org on August 31st. We don't need any guys on the IL to do that. (Might come in handy for a true catching emergency -- Wilin Rosario? Or maybe if we had a Billy Hamilton pinch runner type who got hurt in the postseason, and we wanted to replace him with an Ian Miller in a similar role.)

     

    Edit to add: I suspect getting Astudillo and Wade some MLB reps in September is more important than trying to sneak other guys on the roster. Astudillo will be needed if there is any catcher injury, and Wade may be needed in case of an outfielder injury.

    I mean, there are 6 guys referenced in this article alone... but really, for me it just insures roster flexibility. If Kepler goes down on September 1, Cave and DeAza might get shots, but I'd hate to rule out Larnach or Kiriloff. If Polanco got hurt I'd at least want the option of rolling with Nick Gordon or even Lewis. If Graterol gets sore and Alcala is wild, I'd want to consider an arm like Duran. It's the playoffs. We need our best players out there.

     

    I get that these scenarios may be unlikely, but the IL eligible for activation is the only way to add a playoff eligible player between Sept 1 and the playoffs. potentially you could roster a player then IL them when the playoffs started, but presumably you'd rather see them debut in the regular season them the playoffs...

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    I mean, there are 6 guys referenced in this article alone... but really, for me it just insures roster flexibility. If Kepler goes down on September 1, Cave and DeAza might get shots, but I'd hate to rule out Larnach or Kiriloff. If Polanco got hurt I'd at least want the option of rolling with Nick Gordon or even Lewis. If Graterol gets sore and Alcala is wild, I'd want to consider an arm like Duran. It's the playoffs. We need our best players out there.

     

    We already have a ton of depth and flexibility on our roster, though. At full strength, we have Marwin, Adrianza, Astudillo, Cave, and possibly even Arraez on our bench, collectively capable of playing anywhere in a variety of configurations. Even if multiple regulars go down, there is really no need to dip down into guys like Lewis or Kirilloff (who haven't exactly lit the world on fire at AA).

     

    Same on the pitching side -- while Graterol and Alcala are intriguing additions, we have about a bazillion other pitchers already. A ton of relievers, including some promising ones who can't even fit on our 25-man right now (Littell), and several capable of starting too (Thorpe, Smeltzer, Dobnak). I can't see any circumstances where you would need to reach down for Duran coming off a non-dominant AA performance.

    Edited by spycake
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    Don't they burn an option year if they add players to the 40 man in September? After Buxton last year, I don't see them taking service years lightly and adding Graterol or Alcala.

     

    If they won't add impact players through FA or trades, then they damn well better not care about service time when it comes to adding some talent from your own system that has a chance to make a real impact on a winning season. 

     

    If they don't add Graterol, I'm pretty sure there will be some angry people. Why not use your best option? Who knows if the guy gets hurt in a year or two and is done? It's happened plenty before. If he is producing(which he has been) and they feel he is ready and can help the club, not getting him up here over service time is a disservice to the ML team and its fans. 

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    Same on the pitching side -- while Graterol and Alcala are intriguing additions, we have about a bazillion other pitchers already. A ton of relievers, including some promising ones who can't even fit on our 25-man right now (Littell), and several capable of starting too (Lewis, Smeltzer, Dobnak). I can't see any circumstances where you would need to reach down for Duran coming off a non-dominant AA performance.

     

    Referring to "Lewis", you were meaning Lewis Thorpe?

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    I wonder if Nick Gordon could find himself transferred to the MLB 60-day DL to open up another 40-man spot in September (assuming we fill our currently open spot first, of course). He seems to be the top candidate for such a move -- our other injured guys on the 40-man all seem to be near or hopefully returning (Buxton, Astudillo, Wade, Gonsalves, Poppen).

    Replying to myself:

     

    While Gordon could be moved to the MLB 60-day DL to open up another 40-man spot, it wouldn't be enough to make a non-40-man player eligible for the postseason. Apparently days on the minor league DL don't count toward him serving the minimum 60 days:

     

    "However, time spent on a minor league 7-day Injured List or minor league 60-day Injured List does NOT count toward the minimum number of days a player must spend on an MLB Injured List if a player is recalled from an optional assignment or has his contract selected and is added to an MLB 40-man roster prior to being reinstated from a minor league injured list."

     

    https://www.thecubreporter.com/book/export/html/3538

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    We already have a ton of depth and flexibility on our roster, though. At full strength, we have Marwin, Adrianza, Astudillo, Cave, and possibly even Arraez on our bench, collectively capable of playing anywhere in a variety of configurations. Even if multiple regulars go down, there is really no need to dip down into guys like Lewis or Kirilloff (who haven't exactly lit the world on fire at AA).

     

    Same on the pitching side -- while Graterol and Alcala are intriguing additions, we have about a bazillion other pitchers already. A ton of relievers, including some promising ones who can't even fit on our 25-man right now (Littell), and several capable of starting too (Thorpe, Smeltzer, Dobnak). I can't see any circumstances where you would need to reach down for Duran coming off a non-dominant AA performance.

    I mostly v agree. I have an irrational love of Jhoan Duran. But for the playoffs, going into Houston, with a choice of Cave, Wade, or Larnach... I think I'd roll the dice on Trevor's superior talent and CWS experience. I'm not usually a big "call up the prospects and see what we have" guy. But I think we know what we have. And I think Larnach and AK are better than Cave and better LH bats than Adrianza. Couldn't fault anyone for rather having Cave or Astudillo. Versatility means little in the playoffs.

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    If they won't add impact players through FA or trades, then they damn well better not care about service time when it comes to adding some talent from your own system that has a chance to make a real impact on a winning season. 

     

    If they don't add Graterol, I'm pretty sure there will be some angry people. Why not use your best option? Who knows if the guy gets hurt in a year or two and is done? It's happened plenty before. If he is producing(which he has been) and they feel he is ready and can help the club, not getting him up here over service time is a disservice to the ML team and its fans. 

    I don't disagree with you, but I do question if a player who hasn't thrown an MLB pitch is really the best option. Sometimes, yes. Always, definitely not. I'm not enough of a scout or prospect hound to make that call so I'm not getting personally worked up about it.

     

    I 100% agree that it's different this year (pennant race) than last year (lost season), even though I made the original comparison to not recalling Buxton last Sept.

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    You might be right. He might not be the best option. I just feel like if you can bring it over 100 mph and have any semblance of control paired with almost any off speed pitch, you are gonna have success.

     

    Either way, they would have time to audition him before they decide if they really wanted to use him in the playoffs. I think it's worth the try. A guy like that, if successful could be a huge piece for any playoff run.

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    But for the playoffs, going into Houston, with a choice of Cave, Wade, or Larnach... I think I'd roll the dice on Trevor's superior talent and CWS experience.

    But with our roster flexibility, it probably doesn't even have to come down to Cave, Wade, or Larnach in a starting role. There's still Marwin, Arraez, Adrianza, etc. Also Cruz for a real disaster injury corner OF scenario!

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