The Twins stayed with the original 13-pitcher staff until April 23, and then the new brain trust started maneuvering. On that day, the Falveyians acceded to manager Paul Molitor's desire to increase his bench to four players, adding DH/first baseman Kennys Vargas and also made three pitching transactions.
Over the past two weeks, the Twins made nine pitching moves, including two apiece for Buddy Boshers and Rule 5 draftee Justin Haley. They have sent two starters, Kyle Gibson and rookie Adalberto Mejia, to Class AAA Rochester. They also have brought journeyman Nick Tepesch and Drew Rucinski to the big leagues, and designated Michael Tonkin for assignment.
Temporarily, this has left baseball boss Derek Falvey with a very strange looking pitching staff.
There are three starters: Ervin Santana, Hector Santiago and Phil Hughes. There's a fourth if the Twins actually have the audacity to send out Tepesch again, after his brutal effort on Saturday vs. Boston.
OK, Jorge Polanco committed an error to extend an inning, but nowhere does it say that after a boot the starting pitcher should turn a game into batting practice – even if it's for a team with the hitting strength of the Boston Red Sox.
The departure of Tonkin left the Twins with this bullpen: closer Brandon Kintzler and setup man Matt Belisle, along with Tyler Duffey, Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers, Craig Breslow and Rucinski.
There were several guesses made after Saturday's game as to what pitcher would replace Tonkin in time for Sunday's homestand finale. There wasn't anybody guessing Haley, who was early in a rehab stint at Rochester and had made one appearance.
The original decision to put Haley on the new 10-day disabled list with "tendinitis'' looked like the kind of stash of a player that the overly ethical previous GM, Terry Ryan, would not engage in.