After pitching in the eighth inning on Saturday, Twins lefthander Tyler Rogers is unlikely to be used today if the Twins need to protect a lead. Twins manager Paul Molitor indicated that he might use him to face one or two batters, but not a full inning.
This is the latest example of how the Twins need to add depth to their bullpen. Rogers is the best thing going right now, with a 2.15 ERA with good batting average numbers against lefties (.233) and righties (.245). Righties were hitting .234 against him before Justin Upton whipped that home run off the foul pole last night.
But Molitor only has Rogers and Tyler Duffey he's comfortable with to help protect leads (Duffey has been a little hit and miss lately) and he can't afford to run them into the ground. While the Twins are talking to the Braves about Jaime Garcia (after a deal fell through Friday morning) they should also be looking to add relief help.
A couple other things from last night:
Jose Iglesias' grounder down the third base line in the ninth inning was ruled fair, and it was a lock that either Molitor or Detroit manager Brad Ausmus was going to ask for a review. Iglesias was thrown out trying to stretch for a double, so Ausmus came out and asked for him. The play is not reviewable because it happened in front of the third base umpire.
Ausmus came out of his dugout anyway, hoping the umpires would take a look anyway, but they didn't. Molitor said he was going to go out and argue his case if Iglesias would have been called safe at second.
Kyle Gibson pitched into the eighth inning on Saturday in what was his longest stint of the season. The players know that the Twins nearly closed on the Garcia deal, and there was a chance Gibson would be the one to leave the rotation to make room for him.
Gibson is realistic. He knows if he lands in the bullpen he would have to deal with it. But his goal now is prove that the Twins don't need to trade for starting pitching, that the answers are in the clubhouse.
