Sweep by Brewers emphasizes need for rotation help

MILWAUKEE -- The Twins opened the season with seven starting pitchers on their active roster and no room to fit them all in a rotation. Four months later, they could probably use another at the Trade Deadline.

Chris Archer has mostly pitched well in shorter stints for the Twins this year, but the veteran right-hander had none of his stuff working on Wednesday against the Brewers, when he matched a season-high with six walks and allowed six runs in the Twins' 10-4 loss at American Family Field which handed them a two-game series sweep to their Border Battle rivals.

The Twins have gotten the performance they’d hoped for from Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan atop their rotation, and while Archer and Dylan Bundy, the club’s short-term free-agent signings, have had runs of success in 2022, Minnesota’s stature in the stretch run -- and, they hope, into the postseason -- would see a boost from another top-to-mid-tier starter in the mix who could give the team consistency and take pressure off the bullpen.

Manager Rocco Baldelli leaves much of that to the front office, though, as he has to deal with managing the players who are currently in his clubhouse.

“We avoid distractions at all costs, and discussions and constant thought and letting your mind wander and things like that,” Baldelli said before the game. “That's a distraction. If we do bring any new players in this week, then we'll adapt and we'll get them caught up and try to win games with that player or those players. Until that point, we're just honest-to-God trying to worry about Corbin Burnes and the Brewers right now and what we need to do today.”

Minnesota’s starting rotation was seemingly its biggest question mark entering this season, but that group was a surprising beacon of stability early in the year.

Since then, the Twins have seen Chris Paddack undergo the second Tommy John surgery of his career, knocking him out into next season, while Bailey Ober has only made three starts since the end of April while dealing with a persistent right groin strain that still leaves him without a solid timetable for a return.

“I don't actually know what the timeline is or if there even is a timeline,” Baldelli said of Ober. “But it's not like we're looking at it with a particular schedule in mind at this point, because you can't. You just have to react to what he can do."

Either Ober or Paddack could have been a potential No. 3 to pair with the top two of Ryan and Gray -- as, perhaps, could rookie Josh Winder, but the right-hander is once again down with the recurring shoulder problem that has plagued him since last year.

Meanwhile, Bundy has struggled of late with a 5.55 ERA across his last five starts, and while Archer’s outings have largely been stingy -- Wednesday notwithstanding -- in shorter stints due to his limited workload from last season, the Twins largely haven’t been using him for a third time through the order, especially as he has already more than tripled his innings count from 2021 after not pitching at all in 2020.

Where could help come from, then?

Top starting prospects like Jordan Balazovic, Cole Sands, Ronny Henriquez and Drew Strotman have either been injured, ineffective or both, which leaves the possibility of external additions from what’s sure to be a highly competitive market for pitchers in the next week by the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline.

The Twins had interest in top arms like the A’s Frankie Montas back in the spring, too, but didn’t get much engagement in trade talks. With several big-market teams also seeking the likes of Montas or the Reds’ Luis Castillo at the Deadline, prices could be sky high. The Twins haven’t hesitated to trade for controllable starters like Gray, Paddack and Kenta Maeda under this current regime, and pitchers in that group on this market could include the Marlins’ Pablo López or Merrill Kelly of the D-backs.

The market has been slow thus far, but the Twins are in search of pitching help. Could they swing a deal for a starter by the Deadline?

“Right now, there’s probably a couple of additions we could make,” Archer said. “But I like the team that we have. We’ve been really successful so far. And like I said before the break, I don’t think we’ve played to our potential. So it would be nice to play to our potential soon.”