Matthews sent to Triple-A after stellar start amid rotation crunch

SEATTLE -- It’s the way things tend to go in baseball, but that doesn’t make it easier. Hours after he struck out 10 Mariners batters, the Twins optioned right-hander Zebby Matthews to Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday morning to make roster room for trade acquisition AJ Minter.

Matthews will continue to start for St. Paul, meaning that for the first time in quite some time, the Twins have more viable starters than they have rotation spots. That’s a result of trading for right-hander Dean Kremer on Friday night. Kremer is expected to join the team on Sunday, at which time another roster move will be needed.

“In the business side of it, it’s the best thing we should do,” said manager Derek Shelton. “On the personal side of it, it’s a tough conversation because the kid pitched really well last night and gave us a chance to win the game. And sometimes it comes down to availability and options and all those things. But yeah, the human side of it, it’s a very tough conversation. And I feel for him.”

With Friday’s trade, the Twins’ rotation consists of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Bailey Ober, Connor Prielipp, and Kremer. Kendry Rojas has been pitching long relief, keeping him available for a spot start, but he’s not currently stretched out in an ideal way to take a rotation slot if he were needed for it. So Matthews will continue starting at Triple-A.

Matthews is very likely to be needed at some point, because while Prielipp has pitched very well, the club is managing his workload aggressively and it’s possible that at some point he will hit an innings limit.

“We’re going to have to make two moves over the course of 48 hours,” Shelton said. “Very candidly, sometimes when you have options, and you’re the last guy to pitch, that’s where it ends up going. We’re going into an off-day. Zebby had a great outing last night, and I think part of the messaging to him was, ‘We’re going to need you over the next month.’”

Rojas, meanwhile, stays on the Major League roster as a reliever. His role remains somewhat undetermined. The addition of some starting depth could free him up to be used as a more conventional reliever, but the club may still choose to keep him pitching longer stints, available for a spot start or bulk relief outing when needed.