Happy 28th Birthday to the catcher of the Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer!
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Following last night's 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Twins continued their bullpen transition by optioning Alex Burnett and recalling Eric Hacker. With the demotion of Jeff Manship to Rochester and the injury status of Kevin Slowey, the Twins were left without anyone in their bullpen that could pitch several innings. Hacker can do that.
Many Twins fans, myself included, were confused when the Twins decided to sign Hacker last November and add him to the 40 man roster. Last year for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Triple-A affliate of the San Francisco Giants, he went 16-8. Terrific, but his ERA was a middling 4.51 and his WHIP was 1.47. Factor in that he pitched in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and those numbers were just slightly below league average. But was that worth a 40 man roster spot? Or was this just part of the offseason plan to bring in veterans for Rochester?
Probably a little of both. Did they need to give him a 40 man roster spot, as opposed to just signing him to a minor league deal? Apparently, otherwise they would have signed him to a minor league deal. The Twins scouts really like Hacker and thought he could contribute to the big league team. Of course, that wasn't going to be out of spring training, and frankly, his numbers last year in the Pacific Coast League still would have been better than anyone else that the Rochester Red Wings threw out there.
My assumption would be that the Twins would not want to bring up Kyle Gibson early in the season, to allow him to continue to develop and to keep him from Super-2 status. If there was a need in the starting rotation, Hacker could be a possible call up to make a few starts early in the season.
And then came spring training. As a member of the 40 man roster, Hacker reported to big league camp with the pitchers and catchers. His performance in big league games wasn't exactly awe-inspiring. In six innings (5 games), he posted a robust 13.50 ERA. In those six innings, he gave up 13 hits and two walks for a solid 2.50 WHIP. He was demoted with the first group of players to minor league camp.
But that saying about spring training stats meaning nothing, ironically, is true so often. Hacker went to minor league camp and worked hard to prepare for a starting role for the Red Wings to start the season. As I wrote in this space yesterday, he has been tremendous as a starter for the team. In his two starts, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.36 WHIP. In 11 innings, he has given up just four hits, walked none and struck out ten.