The Twins have signed right-hander Scott Blewett and first baseman Yunior Severino to minor league offers, in keeping with the membership’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. Each gamers have been simply outrighted by the Twins a few weeks in the past earlier than electing free company. They’ll rejoin the group as depth choices now.
That is the second straight offseason Blewett, 28, has signed a minor league cope with Minnesota. He pitched properly each in Triple-A and within the majors for the Twins final season. He logged a 3.79 ERA in 54 2/3 frames with the Twins’ Triple-A membership St. Paul, fanning 22.7% of his opponents in opposition to a tidy 7.1% stroll charge. When the Twins summoned the previous Royals hurler to the massive leagues, he responded with 20 1/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball. Blewett’s strikeout and stroll charges have been extra pedestrian than that glowing ERA, and metrics like FIP (4.00) and SIERA (4.05) felt he had a good bit of excellent fortune, largely coming within the type of a 90.5% strand charge he’s not more likely to maintain.
The 25-year-old Severino as soon as ranked among the many Twins’ high 10 prospects however has seen his inventory drop as pronounced contact points have persevered. He socked 35 homers between Double-A and Triple-A as just lately as 2023 however fanned in almost a 3rd of his plate appearances that 12 months. He dropped that strikeout charge to a still-alarming 27.8% in Triple-A this 12 months but in addition noticed his energy output decline alongside together with his strikeout charge; he hit simply 21 homers whereas his ISO (slugging minus batting common) plummeted from .274 to .180.
Along with the contact considerations, Severino can also be a participant with no clear defensive dwelling. The previous center infielder has slid down the defensive spectrum as he’s crammed out. He’s now primarily a primary baseman and never thought-about to be a powerful defender there. He’s additionally a below-average runner. Nonetheless, there’s clearly spectacular uncooked energy in Severino’s bat, and he’ll get one other look in Triple-A at a time when the Twins’ first base scenario is in flux. Carlos Santana grew to become a free agent at season’s finish, and former high prospect Alex Kirilloff surprisingly retired at simply 26 years of age following a pair of wrist surgical procedures, a significant shoulder surgical procedure and a again damage which have resulted in him spending extra time on the injured checklist than on energetic rosters prior to now 4 seasons.
