CHICAGO — It was just over three weeks ago that the Twins’ front office went on a trading spree, shipping players north, south, east and west as they tried to reshape and retool a roster that had been underperforming for nearly a full calendar year.
They received, in return, a handful of players years away from reaching the majors and some much, much closer.
Among that group, Mick Abel, considered to be the best pitching prospect received at the deadline and Taj Bradley, who has lost his top-prospect status because he has spent large parts of the past three seasons in the majors.
And yet, the Twins left those two in Triple-A, choosing to patch together the rotation for weeks around Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober and Zebby Matthews. No more.
Now, finally, the Twins are getting their first looks at two players whom they believe will be a big part of their rotation moving forward.
Abel, acquired for Jhoan Duran from Philadelphia, started the second game of the series against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday and Bradley, acquired for Griffin Jax from Tampa Bay, is in Chicago and is expected to start on Sunday.
“When you see something new and exciting in a lot of ways and guys that you feel like can really help you going forward for a long time, you’re going to show up to the field in a real good mood. And it’s also going to give you a lot to talk about and work with going forward, too,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.
The Twins opted to leave both of them in Triple-A to begin their stint in the organization, letting them settle in in a lower-pressure environment. Baldelli reached out to both, connecting over the phone to welcome them. Each made three starts with St. Paul before the Twins came calling.
Now, they’ll both have a chance to show the Twins what they can do over the final weeks of the season.
“I just think the ability to get my feet wet in a new organization, new philosophies, new adjustments that need to be made … the pitching side of things and how they look at the scouting reports and the stuff they value as a starting pitcher in their organization. It was great to do that in a less stressful environment,” Bradley said.
Bradley arrives
A day after Abel showed up in the Twins’ clubhouse, Bradley followed suit.
“It felt like a long time coming,” he said. “I was excited when I got the call.”
Bradley had spent most of the season in the majors with Tampa Bay before being optioned to Triple-A shortly before the trade deadline. He has made at least 21 starts in each of the past three seasons and this season, he has a 4.61 earned-run average through 111 1/3 innings.
His focus has been on refining his splitter, which he said he had always called his changeup.
“Everything else seems solidified, and they trusted it enough,” he said. “The split was just where they thought I could take my game to the next level.”
Briefly
The Twins and White Sox will wrap up their series in Chicago on Sunday, after which the Twins will travel to Toronto to finish their road trip.
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