The Twins shortly re-signed right-hander Daniel Duarte to a minor league contract after passing him by means of outright waivers, per the group’s transaction log at MLB.com. Three different gamers who had been outrighted elected free company, together with right-hander Scott Blewett and former high prospects Josh Winder and Yunior Severino.
Duarte, 28 subsequent month, bounced from the Rangers to the Reds to the Twins by way of the DFA circuit final winter however wound up sticking in Minnesota and getting an early-season take care of a pleasant exhibiting in 12 1/3 spring coaching innings (2.92 ERA, 12 strikeouts, no walks). He made two appearances within the season’s first week, tossing a complete of 4 innings and permitting one run with three strikeouts and a stroll, however Duarte hit the injured listing with an elbow situation shortly thereafter. A month later, it was introduced that he’d require season-ending elbow surgical procedure.
Duarte has pitched 38 1/3 innings within the majors and turned in a 3.99 ERA, albeit with a sub-par 17% strikeout price and a bleak 14.5% stroll price. Duarte confirmed significantly higher command in his temporary look with the Twins, nonetheless, strolling simply one of many 61 batters he confronted between spring coaching and the common season. He additionally flashed a heater that averaged 96.1 mph. It’s a small pattern, clearly, but when any of the positive factors in command show sustainable, Duarte is pretty intriguing as a mid-20s reliever with a powerful fastball and a profession 47.3% grounder price. On a minor league flier, he’s a wise depth add.
Blewett got here to the Twins on a minor league deal final offseason and wound up pitching nicely each in Triple-A and the majors. The previous Royal logged a 3.79 ERA, 22.7% strikeout price and seven.1% stroll price in 54 2/3 innings with the Twins’ Triple-A membership in St. Paul and added one other 20 1/3 MLB frames with a 1.77 ERA. His strikeout and stroll charges had been each worse than common, nonetheless, and he benefited from a 90.5% strand price that isn’t sustainable over an extended pattern. Even with some anticipated regression, fielding-independent metrics felt he was a strong arm (4.00 FIP, 4.05 SIERA).
Winder, 28, as soon as ranked comfortably throughout the Twins’ high 10 prospects and even drew some top-100 fanfare again in 2022, inserting 78th on FanGraphs’ rankings. The 2018 seventh-rounder raced by means of the minors with standout showings in 2019 and 2021. Nonetheless, a sequence of shoulder accidents has often set the 6’5″ hurler again. He’s posted a decent 4.39 ERA in 110 2/3 MLB frames, fanning a below-average 18% of opponents in opposition to a pointy 7% stroll price. He’s additionally been on the injured listing 4 instances since 2022, owing to a shoulder impingement, shoulder pressure (twice) and a stress fracture in his shoulder.
Severino, 25, as soon as ranked as extremely as tenth amongst Twins farmhands at Baseball America. He belted 35 homers between Double-A and Triple-A as not too long ago as 2023 however did so with an alarming 32.8% strikeout price. He reduce a bit in 2024, fanning in 27.6% of his plate appearances, but additionally noticed a downturn in energy, with 21 round-trippers on the season. Severino is a .249/.337/.450 hitter in two Triple-A seasons. He clearly has plus uncooked energy however is a below-average defender and runner whose longstanding strikeout points nonetheless stay problematic.
