MINNEAPOLIS -- As the Twins continue to add starting pitchers to their active roster, they have to figure out how to deploy them all. A decision point came this week, and the results were mixed.
Taj Bradley’s second start in a Minnesota uniform was quite encouraging. Mick Abel’s second appearance, intended to be a “piggyback” outing behind Bradley, was less so.
Bradley, continuing the form from the latter part of his Twins debut on Saturday, allowed one run on one hit over five innings. He struck out six, walked three and averaged 97.2 mph on his four-seam fastball. Bradley threw his offspeed pitches frequently and effectively, especially his splitter, providing plenty of reason to be intrigued by what he can do for the remainder of this season and beyond.
Abel, however, struggled in what was intended to be a lengthy outing. He needed 39 pitches to get out of his first inning and didn’t get an out in his second, finishing with six runs allowed (five earned) on seven hits, striking out one and walking one in the Twins' 12-3 loss to the Padres at Target Field.
For Bradley, acquired from the Rays on July 31 for Griffin Jax, it wasn’t just the results that had people in the Twins' clubhouse encouraged. It was how he got there, both in preparation and approach.
“He threw some really good pitches with literally his entire arsenal,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “The cutter was good. The curveball was good. The split was, I mean, it was really good.”
And then there was Bradley's pregame preparation. He revealed that he took a new step in his pitching development, studying scouting reports and opposing hitter tendencies more than he ever had before.
“I just never did it at all,” he said. “I was kind of out there blind the whole time. After my last outing, I had a lot of soft contact, so I figured now is the time.
“Get your head in the books, learn a bit about the hitters you’re going up against. Learn their weaknesses, and now we can be on the same page and just attack the zone.”
Combine improved preparation with impressive stuff and you get an effective outing. Bradley’s splitter, the pitch that the Twins have emphasized as an area for growth, had increased velocity and decreased spin rate (which is good for a splitter), and the results were excellent as well.
“I thought it was great,” Bradley said of his splitter. “I got a lot of swing-and-miss. People were out front, off the heater. It was just a good pitch to throw with conviction and get a good outcome.”
Things turned after Bradley came out of the game, though. Abel once again suffered from plays not being made behind him, but he also allowed a great deal of hard contact. Of the eight batters who reached against him via hit or error, five hit the ball over 100 mph, and none were under 90 mph.
Abel, one of the key return pieces in the Jhoan Duran trade with the Phillies, pitched in relief for the first time in his Major League career. The Twins have, at least for now, shifted him to relief work, though not short relief. The idea is that Abel will pitch multiple innings on multiple days of rest, allowing him to get something similar to a starter’s workload as they attempt to fit six starting pitchers into a five-man rotation.
“It was tough,” Abel said of his outing Saturday. “Not executing in two-strike counts, or at least getting the ball down when I wanted to, or getting it up like I wanted to. I still had some deep counts, but I think today was more about the two-strike execution. It’s within my control.”
Things will get even more complicated for the Twins soon. Right-hander Pablo López is scheduled to make what should be his final Minor League rehabilitation start on Sunday for Triple-A St. Paul. After that, he’s likely to join the rotation for the upcoming series in Kansas City. Right-hander David Festa has also begun a rehab assignment and could be around two weeks behind López.
Baldelli has said the club has no plans to go to a six-man rotation, so each time Minnesota brings back another member of its rotation from earlier this year, another decision will need to be made.