The Twins continued their bullpen shuffling on Wednesday, acquiring right-hander Yoendrys Gómez from the Rays for cash considerations.
Gómez, 26, was designated for assignment by the Rays on Saturday. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, Minnesota designated Triple-A right-hander Christian Roa for assignment. No move was made on the 26-man active roster yet, but Gómez is expected to be added in the coming days.
“It should be over the next couple days,” manager Derek Shelton told reporters Wednesday. “Logistically, travel-wise, when you acquire someone, it takes a little bit of time. What do we expect? I mean it’s a big arm. It’s a guy we saw in Spring Training a couple times. We really liked him, but it just adds some velocity to our bullpen.”
Gómez has averaged 94.9 mph on his four-seam fastball this year, up from 93.8 last year. He also throws a sinker, cutter, sweeper and occasional changeup.
He has appeared in parts of four Major League seasons for the Yankees, Dodgers, White Sox and Rays, making nine starts for Chicago last season. Gómez has been an inconsistent performer in the Majors, but he has 157 strikeouts in 130 career Triple-A innings.
Minnesota has a few options for how to make room for Gómez on the active roster. Veteran Luis García has scuffled, though he was effective in his most recent outing. García also does not have Minor League options, so he would have to be waived in order to be removed from the roster.
Another potential candidate is rookie John Klein (Twins' No. 20 prospect), who can be optioned. The Twins are currently light on starting pitching depth, so returning Klein to starting at Triple-A St. Paul would be potentially valuable for the organization.
Ryan throws again
Right-hander Joe Ryan threw a bullpen session as scheduled Wednesday, according to a team representative. That’s good news as Ryan works to return from being removed from Sunday’s game with elbow soreness.
Additionally, the Twins officially listed Ryan as Saturday’s probable starting pitcher against the Guardians in Cleveland. That can, of course, change at any time, but it’s the strongest sign yet that Ryan expects to take his next turn as initially scheduled.
Culpepper returns
Infielder Kaelen Culpepper, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect and No. 44 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, returned to action in a big way on Tuesday. Culpepper had been hit by a pitch and removed from St. Paul’s game on Saturday, then sat out Sunday’s home game. He was a late add as the designated hitter on Tuesday at Las Vegas, and went 2-for-5 with his seventh home run of the season.