NEW YORK — Pierson Ohl admits he was initially “a little skeptical” when he was introduced to a new plan shortly into his minor league season that would shorten him up — pitching generally three to four innings rather than the length of a typical start — and have him out on the mound every four days.
“There’s some good marketing going on. Like, ‘Hey, you’re going to throw harder, you’re going to punch more guys out. You might even throw more than starters,” Ohl said. “It’s a learning curve.” But his body soon adapted and, eventually, the new plan got him to the big leagues, following in the path of Travis Adams, who reached the majors about a month earlier.
Adams suffered the loss as the Twins fell 9-1 to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night in the Bronx in a game in which the Twins collected just one hit, but the two newly-minted major leaguers are proof that the Twins’ plan has been working.
Since the deadline, Adams has made a pair of starts and pitched once in relief. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday, chased early after giving up a pair of home runs — a solo shot to Aaron Judge in the first inning and a three-run blast to Anthony Volpe an inning later.
Ohl has pitched three times since the deadline, making one start and appearing twice in relief. His outings have lasted up to three innings and have come on the same every-four-days schedule that he has become accustomed to.
The Twins introduced the concept to a handful of minor leaguers this year, believing it would benefit them. Now that Adams and Ohl have reached the major league level, they plan to continue it with the pair of rookies — at least for the time being.
“It’s gone as well as you could’ve imagined that it could go. And once you take them off of the four-day schedule, it’d be … near-impossible to get them back on the four-day schedule,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You might as well just keep them going.”
Ohl had a 2.17 earned-run average across three different levels while in the minor leagues. His strikeouts, indeed, went up. His WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched) went down. Adams, in a mix of starting and relieving, had a 3.68 ERA at Triple-A St. Paul this year and was one of the Saints’ most effective pitchers.
The Twins have newly-acquired starters Taj Bradley and Mick Abel pitching in Triple-A and, at some point, are expecting both Simeon Woods Richardson and Pablo López to return from the injured list. But for now, they have plenty of innings to be pitched, and Ohl and Adams have benefitted from that — and seemingly will continue to, every four days.
“We have a lot of innings to cover. We have two out of five days where we’re running bullpen days,” Baldelli said. “Let’s keep these guys built out in the best fashion we can, and then we’ll see what September looks like. Maybe we keep it going through the rest of the year, and maybe we alter it in some way. But I see no reason or benefit to really altering it in the near term.”
Related Articles
As role expands, Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers feeling “best I’ve felt”
Byron Buxton returns from injured list but Twins fall to Yankees
Carlos Correa plays first game in Houston since trade with Twins
Carlos Correa reflects on Twins tenure: ‘Never thought I would get traded’
New-look Twins winning, and Luke Keaschall has been at the center of it
Leave a Reply