Bradley settles in after rough beginning; Ohl shows off knuckler

CHICAGO -- Jitters, some bad batted ball luck and some shaky location added up to a rough first two innings in a Twins uniform for Taj Bradley. But by the time he was done, the right-hander had something to hang his hat on.

Bradley lasted five innings in his Minnesota debut, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced after allowing seven runs before the end of the second. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t without redeeming aspects either. The Twins lost to the White Sox, 8-0.

“I think it was just settling in,” said Bradley, who was acquired from the Rays for Griffin Jax on July 31. “I had a lot of nerves in the first inning, but it was also a little frustration with the weak contact, the singles, and then not able to find the zone early on. But I think the later I got into the game, I just felt more comfortable and I was able to find the zone.”

In the first inning, Bradley was victimized by a string of groundball singles, including one that was initially called a force out at second before replay overturned it. In the second, he was hurt by an error, but he also permitted a no-doubt two-run homer to Colson Montgomery.

It was 7-0 after six outs. It was still 7-0 after five innings.

“If you’re going to start out not throwing the way you want but then you find it, it gives you something to look towards and to be somewhat pleased about,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “Overall, obviously the beginning of the outing, they plated some runs. It clearly wasn’t all ideal but it was actually encouraging by the end of the outing.”

Bradley was pleased with his splitter, which has been a point of emphasis from the Twins since the trade. He got four foul balls on the pitch, and it had the lowest average exit velocity against it among his four pitches.

“I thought it was good,” he said “I thought it was great. Third, fourth, fifth [innings], I got good swings on it, weak contact. A lot of it was the swings, swing and miss, foul balls that were weak.”

Ohl throws knuckler

Right-hander Pierson Ohl has made a positive impression in his relatively short stint in the big leagues, impressing the Twins with his poise and maturity. His results have been mixed, but on more than one occasion he’s soaked up multiple innings while pitching effectively.

And one way he’s done that? With a knuckleball. Ohl said he toyed with the pitch for a while before first beginning to throw it last year, incorporating it more in games in the Minors this year. He only breaks it out in two-strike counts and knows it’s not his bread and butter, but it’s an intriguing extra wrinkle for him.

“With how often I was 0-2 or 1-2, it was like, 'I have room to throw a pitch that either is going to get me a strikeout or is going to be ball one or ball two,'” he said. “The first one I threw this year was a strikeout, the second one I threw was a strikeout, the third one I threw was a strikeout and I was like, ‘This might be something here.’ And so it’s a less than 10 percent pitch but it’s something that generates strikeouts that I see myself doing it in the future.”

Ohl threw one for a ball to Chase Meidroth in the sixth inning Sunday before retiring Meidroth on a liner to first on the next pitch.

Twins tidbits

Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober will start the first two games of the upcoming series in Toronto. Wednesday’s starter is listed as TBA, but it lines up well to start Simeon Woods Richardson, who has been sidelined since late July due to illness. Woods Richardson, who was in the clubhouse in Chicago, made a rehabilitation start on Aug. 20, so Wednesday would mark five days’ rest.

The Twins designated Erasmo Ramírez for assignment to make room on the roster for Bradley. That means they have seven days to trade Ramírez or place him on outright or release waivers.