Morillo's big arm to get tryout

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: April 18, 2009 - 8:26 AM

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Righthander Juan Morillo has a fastball that has been clocked in the mid-90-miles-per-hour range. Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla said his fellow Dominican can throw 96 and above with a power slider. "Nasty," Casilla said.

That remains to be seen. But if Morillo can control his pitches, he could be the type of power arm the Twins bullpen sorely needs.

The Twins on Friday claimed Morillo off waivers from the Colorado Rockies as they tinker with their overworked bullpen. Minnesota had a couple of long relievers in knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and righthander Philip Humber. And righthander Matt Guerrier might be more of a middle-innings guy than a late-innings guy.

The Twins decided to bring in someone who might be better suited to match up with power hitters late in games.

"We had done some research on him," Twins General Manager Bill Smith said. "He's a power arm, so ... we were looking to add power arms to this organization."

Morillo, 25, is 0-0 with an 11.42 ERA in 8 2/3 innings in his career. Control has been a problem.

He walked 158 batters between 2005 and '06 while in the minors. Last year, he walked 56 batters and gave up 53 hits in 59 2/3 innings at Class AAA Colorado Springs.

This spring, he had a 3.29 ERA in 13 2/3 innings -- with 10 walks and 11 strikeouts. He was designated for assignment on April 10.

The Twins hope that pitching coach Rick Anderson can help Morillo -- pronounced Moh-REE-yoh -- find the plate more often.

"They said he throws very, very hard, a very good arm," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He has his issues, all power guys have those. We're talking a very powerful arm. Great kid. We'll see what happens."

Twins relievers entered Friday with 34 innings pitched, third most in the majors. Their 6.88 ERA is the fifth-highest.

Humber loses his place

Humber, the third overall draft pick in 2004, was designated for assignment to make room for Morillo.

The Twins have 10 days to trade Humber, release him or send him to the minors if he clears waivers. Smith made it clear he has no intention of releasing Humber, who joined the Twins as part of the Johan Santana deal with the Mets in 2008.

"Unfortunately, we have a lot of guys in our bullpen who are out of options," Smith said. "These are tough decisions any time. We had a short window of observation and evaluation."

Humber gave up six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. "What he needs to do is pitch more," Gardenhire said.

Guerrero injured

Scouts have wondered about Vladimir Guerrero's declining bat speed this season. There might be an explanation.

The Angels masher has a torn pectoral muscle and will miss at least a month. He had been the designated hitter through nine games because he was unable to play in the outfield.

Etc.

• Righthander Jesse Crain was the best thing going in the Twins bullpen, entering Friday's game with a 1.59 ERA. That ERA jumped to 7.50, however, after he gave up four runs in a third of an inning Friday.

• Gardenhire said he will give leadoff hitter Denard Span today off and might try to jump start Carlos Gomez by batting him leadoff. Gomez entered Friday in an 0-for-11 skid.

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