Twins first-year manager Paul Molitor and his pitching coach Neil Allen are expected to make their biggest decision of the spring, to this point, on Saturday.
They are expected to announce who will be the fifth starter in the rotation when the team opens the season in Detroit on April 6.
Mike Pelfrey, Trevor May and Tommy Milone have been competing for the spot, and while all three have had decent springs, none of them closed spring training with their strongest performance.
Molitor said there will be roster cuts tomorrow that should provide some clarity, including naming 5th starter.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 27, 2015
May started on Friday and had the last chance leave an impression on Molitor and Allen, but he was tagged with the loss and gave up four runs in less than five innings of work.
The Twins-Pirates game ends due to weather here in the top of the 8th. The Pirates win 4-2 with May giving up 4 ER in 4 2/3 IP
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 27, 2015
May walks Sanchez and that's it for him after 4 2/3 IP. Wind is blowing out to right field but gave up 7 extra-base hits. Twins down 4-2.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 27, 2015
Milone didn’t have his best stuff in his final start either on Thursday either, he gave up three runs in five innings to the Red Sox. But he battled through the five innings and was happy with how he finished the outing.
Video: Tommy Milone after 5 innings vs #RedSox for #MNTwins http://t.co/gf74dbzVyB
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) March 27, 2015
“He did fine,” Molitor said on Thursday. “He minimized a few times. We got some outs that probably should’ve been hits, and they got some hits that should’ve been outs. The ball was carrying pretty good to left field and got a little bit of a boost, but that’s Fenway baseball. But he got through five and got his pitch count up close to 90, so I thought for the most part he was effective.”
It looks like Pelfrey is headed to the bullpen. Saturday would have been a day he was scheduled to start, but he is not listed as a scheduled starter for either game.
With Mike Pelfrey not listed in the upcoming probables & Trevor May's uneven start today, it seems Tommy Milone is favorite as 5th starter.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 27, 2015
