Three notable starting pitchers the Twins obtained at the trade deadline — Mick Abel from the Jhoan Duran trade, Taj Bradley from the Griffin Jax trade and Kendry Rojas from the Louie Varland trade — combined to allow just one earned run in 16 innings over their first starts with the Class AAA Saints.
That’s good early news for the Twins given how much of their future might be riding on those three arms.
But before we zoom too far ahead, let’s also take a look at the players who are gone. The Twins traded 10 major league players last week, and all of them have carved out roles on their new teams.
I talked about all of them on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Let’s examine each in a little more detail now in today’s 10 things to know. (All stats through Thursday’s games):
- Carlos Correa, Houston: Ostensibly dealt away in a salary dump (the Twins are paying about a third of the more than $100 million still owed over the rest of this year and the next three seasons), Correa predictably has been on a hot streak after a rough year with the Twins. He’s hitting .346 with a .931 OPs, including three multi-hit games. The Astros, though, are just 2-4 in starts by Correa, who is mostly playing third base.
- Jhoan Duran, Philadelphia: He’s only pitched twice so far, but both were clean innings in which Duran earned a save for the Phillies. He’s also already endeared himself to fans, who are thrilled that his elaborate entrance was given by the Twins to the Phillies.
- Griffin Jax, Tampa Bay: Credited with two holds in three appearances so far, with one total run allowed. He got out of a big mess Wednesday after loading the bases on a hit, walk and catcher’s interference before striking out three straight Angels batters.
- Louie Varland, Toronto: The most surprising of the traded Twins, Varland has allowed one run in three innings so far for the Blue Jays. The one run was costly, though, as it allowed the Royals to tie Sunday’s game in the eighth inning before eventually winning in extra innings.
- Brock Stewart, L.A. Dodgers: It’s been a rough go for Stewart, who has not solidified a shaky Dodgers bullpen. He was tagged with a loss against the Cardinals after allowing a run in the ninth inning of a tie game and allowed another run later in the series in another close game.
- Danny Coulombe, Texas: Before we get to his performance with the Rangers, I insist that you read Phil Miller’s Extra Innings newsletter with humanizing observations about Coulombe and several other traded players. OK, now that you are back it’s not a surprise that Coulombe has given up just one hit and no runs while striking out four in three innings with the Rangers.
- Chris Paddack, Detroit: The Tigers have gotten the full Paddack experience so far. He was great in his first start (six innings, one run) and bad in his second (four runs in four innings against the Twins earlier this week). He’s rotation depth and not much else.
- Willi Castro, Cubs: It’s been a slow start in Chicago for Castro, who is just 4-for-20 since the trade. He has shown off his defensive versatility, though, already starting games at four different positions (second, third, center and right).
- Harrison Bader, Philadelphia: He’s just 2-for-14 so far, but one of the hits was a tiebreaking three-run homer against Baltimore in a Phillies win earlier this week. Bader has a knack for dramatic dingers.
- Ty France, Toronto: He got on base six times Wednesday against the Rockies (four hits, two hit by pitch) to raise his average to .353 and OPS to .950 since the trade.
