September isn’t far off, and neither are the September call-ups for the Minnesota Twins. The big name many fans are wondering about is pitching prospect Alex Meyer, who’s with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.
Meyer is 7-6 with Rochester this season with a 3.41 ERA. Meyer has struck out 153 hitters in 129 1/3 innings so far. The Twins have Meyer on an innings limit, so if he is called up he would likely be used out of the bullpen.
Meyer isn’t the only pitcher the Twins are considering adding in September, according to the Pioneer Press.
Righthander Lester Oliveros could also return. Oliveros, 26, who was acquired in 2011 when the Twins traded Delmon Young to Detroit, has posted a 1.44 earned run average and recorded 16 saves in 47 combined appearances between Triple-A Rochester and Double-A New Britain. He has been recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2012.
Neither is currently on the Twins’ 40-man roster, but the team does have two openings after the trades of veterans Kevin Correia and Josh Willingham. If they needed a third spot, pitcher Yohan Pino (elbow) could be moved to the 60-day disabled list.
Other players the Twins may consider, who are on the 40-man roster:
- Kris Johnson, p
- Logan Darnell, p
- Stephen Pryor, rp
- Michael Tonkin, rp
- Josmil Pinto, c
- Chris Herrmann, c/of
- Aaron Hicks, of
- Chris Colabello, 1b/of
- Jorge Polanco, ss
- Pedro Florimon, ss
@onedrop_780 Hicks, Tonkin, Johnson, Pinto, Pryor, Herrmann are my guesses. Maybe Alex Meyer to pitch in relief.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) August 27, 2014
General manager Terry Ryan is in Rochester and will stay there through Friday, before he returns to the Twin Cities.
“He’s still looking at all the players and watching them, trying to make some decisions on a few guys,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told the Pioneer Press. “He’s got three more games down there that he’s watching and then he’ll come back with a plan.”
Rochester is two games out of a wild-card spot in the International League. Gardenhire said if the Red Wings make the playoffs, any potential call-ups would wait until after their season ends.
