The disparity between the Twins' top relievers and lower-leverage guys is striking.
Taylor Rogers, Trevor Hildenberger, Trevor May and Blake Parker — who have all appeared in at least seven games and tend to get the highest-stress situations — had a combined 1.46 ERA in 24⅔ innings entering play Tuesday.
The bullpen ERA for everyone else? 9.28.
That bears watching as the Twins start to play almost every day and won't be able to keep their top four guys fresh simply with off days. We got a glimpse of the downside Monday when Adalberto Mejia gave up four runs in the eighth inning of a 5-3 loss to Toronto, one day after all four top relievers had to pitch in a win over Detroit.
"We're gonna need all of our guys to step up along the way, and I'm sure they will," manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters after Monday's loss.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.
