Minnesota Twins’ search for fifth starter nears conclusion

The Minnesota Twins could name a fifth starter as early as next Monday, with Tyler Duffey and Ricky Nolasco the lead candidates.

Like many teams, the Minnesota Twins planned to determine their fifth starting pitcher during Spring Training. As Opening Day draws ever closer, that process appears to be winding down. According to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, Twins manager Paul Molitor is likely to make a decision at the beginning of next week:

The primary candidates are Tyler Duffey and Ricky Nolasco. The 25-year-old Duffey seemed to have an early edge in the competition. He’s eight years younger than Nolasco and is coming off a solid showing in his debut season. The right-handed Duffey made ten starts in 2015, working a 3.10 ERA over 58 innings.

That success hasn’t carried over into the spring, unfortunately. Duffey has allowed six runs on ten hits in 8.1 frames in Spring Training. While Minnesota will hope he can turn things around, the lackluster performance thus far has presumably put a dent in his stock entering 2016.

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Nolasco has been nothing short of a disaster since inking a four-year, $49 million deal with the Twins prior to the 2014 campaign. Coming off a 13-win, 3.70 ERA season with the Marlins and Dodgers the year before, Nolasco fell flat on his face in his first year in Minnesota, posting a 5.38 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 3.03 K/BB ratio in 159 innings of work.

Elbow and ankle injuries limited Nolasco to just nine appearances last year, but on the surface his results were even worse. He managed a bloated 6.75 ERA and 1.71 WHIP over 37.1 frames. There were a couple brighter points, though. After allowing 1.2 home runs per nine the season before, the righty nearly cut that rate in half to 0.7 HR/9. His K/9 also rose from 6.5 to 8.4.

So far, Nolasco has been building on those good habits to turn in a solid, if unspectacular spring. He has surrendered six runs on 14 hits in 13.1 innings (4.05 ERA) while striking out 14. He has handed out five walks and plunked a batter, however.

Those numbers aren’t exactly tantalizing, but Nolasco has definitely outpitched Duffey to this point in Grapefruit League action. With two more years at $12 million apiece remaining on Nolasco’s contract, you’d think the Twins would try hard to get something of value out of him.

Phil Hughes, Ervin Santana and Kyle Gibson make up the top three in the rotation, while Tommy Milone has wrapped up the number-four role with a surprisingly stellar preseason (2.00 ERA in 9 IP). Minnesota starters were middle-of-the-pack last season with a 4.14 ERA (16th in MLB), a number they will aim to improve in 2016.

Whoever lands the fifth starter job may end up simply keeping the spot warm until a better option presents itself. One of those options could be top-rated Twins pitching prospect Jose Berrios, who could be a legitimate Rookie of the Year contender if he makes his debut this year.

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Minnesota was unexpectedly competitive in 2015. Though they finished 12 games behind the eventual World Series champion Royals in the AL Central, they missed the second Wild Card spot by just three games. The Twins will try to do even better this season, and a solid rotation in a pitcher’s paradise like Target Field could be a key advantage.