How does Twins' pitching staff reset with injuries?

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After a fairly healthy camp, Monday brought a barrage of bad news on the injury front for the Twins.

Anthony DeSclafani (forearm strain), Jhoan Duran (right oblique strain) and Caleb Thielbar (hamstring strain) will start the 2024 season on the injured list, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey announced ahead of the Twins’ 5-2 win over the Red Sox.

DeSclafani, dealing with the flexor soreness that sidelined him in 2023, is slated to be evaluated by Dr. Meister in Texas before the Twins decide on a course of action.

“Obviously, disappointing for him,” Falvey said. “He had a really great offseason. He was throwing the ball well early in camp. Things were tracking in a good direction, but it’s unfortunate that he’s dealing with the flexor soreness again.”

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Duran was shut down after the hard-throwing reliever felt a tightness sensation in his right oblique while warming up for a live batting practice session on Sunday. An MRI exam on Monday revealed a moderate oblique strain, prompting Duran to be shut down for the foreseeable future.

The Twins hope to have a better idea of his return timeline within the week.

In his buildup from a left hamstring strain sustained during his conditioning exercises in late February, Thielbar felt some tenderness and tightness toward the end of a throwing session late last week. While Falvey said this wasn’t a “re-strain,” Thielbar will be shut down until they feel he is “closer to full strength.”

With the Twins’ pitching staff taking a hit as camp winds down, here’s a look at what these injuries mean for the rotation and ‘pen.

Who slots in 5th?

When DeSclafani came to Minnesota via the Jorge Polanco trade to Seattle in January, the fifth spot in the Twins’ rotation appeared to be his for the taking.

After two seasons marred by injury, the 33-year-old right-hander finally felt “100 percent and ready to go” when he arrived at camp this spring. Two bullpen sessions into his Twins’ tenure, DeSclafani was delayed by a recurrence of soreness, but he and the club were hopeful of his Opening Day status.

Over the past couple of weeks since the soreness first cropped up, DeSclafani threw a number of bullpens and live BPs without any issue, before he returned to game action on Saturday in a Minor League outing. DeSclafani recorded three strikeouts on 36 pitches across two innings.

“As he built back up, velo was good, everything was kind of tracking in a good direction. But he did feel some soreness coming out of his last outing again,” Falvey said.

With DeSclafani sidelined, a path has emerged for Louie Varland to slot in as the fifth starter.

Despite his strong performance as a reliever down the stretch last season, Varland was stretched out as a starter this spring. In four outings (three starts), Varland has given up just six hits to go with 11 strikeouts over 11 scoreless innings.

“We knew coming into this camp that he would be a guy that was going to help us this year at the big league level,” manager Rocco Baldelli said of Varland. “We don't like to bestow spots on the team to anyone, even when you've had some success the previous year. There are some young guys, they have to continue to earn those spots year after year.

“He's just done nothing but work hard and keep his head down, and not get distracted by his situation and other people's situation.”

Bullpen depth tested

As Falvey put it: “There’s no sugar-coating feeling good about when Jhoan Duran goes down.”

But even with Duran and Thielbar sidelined, the Twins have a strong relief crop to work with, thanks to a number of offseason acquisitions, including Justin Topa (via trade) and Jay Jackson (free agency).

Falvey mentioned guys like Griffin Jax -- who dominated in 2023 and spent the spring developing his secondary pitches, and Brock Stewart -- who Falvey said, “has a chance to really pitch well towards the back end,” -- as players who have stepped up this spring.

“There are a lot of guys in the mix right now,” Baldelli said. “The multi-inning component, it was important before and it’s still very important. We are going to need guys to go out there and throw two or three innings at a time in order for us to win and to stabilize our group over a stretch of games.

“... We’re going to keep watching this group pitch and I bet some of the decisions may go down to even the last day,” Baldelli said.