Burning Bridges with Kevin Slowey

At this point, there seems to be little secret that Kevin Slowey has fallen out of favor with the Minnesota Twins. It seems that everybody within the general vicinity of Kevin Slowey hates Kevin Slowey. I have to admit ignorance on this one; he seems like a nice enough guy when he threatens to murder people. However, I can see how Slowey time traveling, kidnapping and then murdering the Lindbergh baby would not win him popularity points with anyone.

Twins Activate Kevin Slowey

It's been awhile but the Twins can finally welcome back Kevin Slowey to their bullpen. Before going to the DL, Slowey had easily been the Twins most effective reliever, albeit in an extremely abbreviated sample. Since being sent on a rehab stint, the team had been trying to stretch him out in order to potential take Francisco Liriano's place in the rotation. Of course, we all know how Liriano has delayed those plans.

Should Liriano falter again of course, that could put Slowey right back on track to rejoin the rotation. In the meantime, the team will utilize him out of the bullpen where he's been solid. In order to make room for Slowey, the team has optioned waiver pickup Dusty Hughes to AAA.

Central Arms On The Way Back

Yesterday the Tigers and reliever Joel Zumaya decided to go under the knife to try to determine why he was still experiencing pain in his surgically repaired elbow a month after the pain first manifested itself. But for other AL Central teams dealing with injuries to key arms, the news is better as those pitchers are getting close to returning.

In Toledo White Sox starter Jake Peavy made the last of his scheduled rehab starts today and will rejoin the team tomorrow. Elsewhere, Twins stater-turned-reliever Kevin Slowey, and Indians starter Carlos Carrasco are all nearing returns.

Francisco Liriano Throws No Hitter

Well, that was unexpected.

Off to a terrible start to his 2011 season, and with his back against the wall and his job rumored to be on the line, Francisco Liriano responded last night by throwing the first no-hitter of the 2011 season.

One of baseballs best pitchers during the 2010 season, I had fully expected Liriano to take yet another step forward in the eyes of fans around the country this year. Instead, he arrived to spring training reportedly not having followed his off season conditioning program, and has been a mess since spring training. His velocity was down, he wasn't missing bats like he has throughout his career and his sometimes spotty command had deteriorated to the level of abysmal.

Kevin Slowey To DL, Alex Burnett Recalled

The Twins have sent their second player to the disabled list in as many days as starter turned reliever Kevin Slowey has been sent to the DL two days after suffering a strained biceps muscle in his pitching arm. Slowey suffered a strained triceps injury last August and this marks yet another trip to the DL for the precision righty, something that's become an all too familiar occurrence for him.

Sorting Out The Twins Bullpen

Much like the Royals unsettled bullpen situation, the Twins too are looking at a lot of pitchers to try and fill out their bullpen. While the reasons for the two teams many bullpen holes are different, the predicaments is the same: how do you  construct an effective 'pen without many proven arms?

In the Royals case, the team has a lot of holes because there were so few capable arms last year, and they have a bevy of quality young options to chose from. In the Twins case however, they lost a bullpen's worth of quality arms this past off season with the departures of Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Jon Rauch, and Brian Fuentes. All the loses have left the franchise with a lot of holes to fill and few proven players to do so with.

Twins, Slowey Agree On One Year Deal, Avoid Arbitration

This even the Minnesota Twins announced that they and starting pitcher (for the time being) Kevin Slowey have agreed on a one year deal, avoiding arbitration in his first year of eligibility. With Slowey seeking 3.1m in arbitration and the Twins offering 2.3, they met in the middle and agreed on a 2.7m pact that comes in 200k above my 2.5m estimate.

Nick Blackburn Dealing With Shoulder Pain

After exiting yesterday's 6-5 Twins win in the 5th inning with the score tied and just 76 pitches thrown, Twins starter Nick Blackburn told pitching coach Rick Anderson that his shoulder was hurting too much to go out again. Blackburn missed time this spring with knee soreness issues that he's been battling for the past couple seasons.

The Twins faced a litany of injuries to their starting staff in 2009 with Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Francisco Liriano all missing a fair number of starts. Losing Blackburn who has been a rotation stalwart would certainly hurt. While the Twins could move Brian Duensing into the rotation if Blackburn indeed did need a trip to the DL, it would further exaserbate the issues their bullpen is currently facing.

Just today the Twins officially placed Jose Mijares on the 15 day disabled list where he'll join Clay Condrey and Joe Nathan. Pat Neshek could be headed there soon as well if the cortisone shot he received can't stop the pain in his middle finger. The Twins played with just five relievers today, but rookie Alex Burnett should be up by today to add depth. Burnett was demoted just a couple days ago after a pair of strong outings.

According to Star Tribune reporter Kelsie Smith;

"The starter said he deals with this particular shoulder pain often, that it comes and goes and that team doctors told him it is not concerning."

I've certainly never heard of it, and I don't recall it ever knocking him out of a game in the past. So saying that he deals with it all the time strikes me as disingenuous at best. Clearly this is something beyond the norm and could account for why Blackburn, a ground ball pitcher throughout his career has already given up six home runs in just three outings.

It's not quite time to push the panic button in Minnesota yet, but if Blackburn misses any serious amount of time, it might be. They're certainly having their depth tested early.