Give Duensing and Bullpen Day a Chance

The Minnesota Twins have pitching problems. It's a problem the team didn't expect coming out of spring training, but it is here and has been for the better part of the season. The team is 4.5 games out of first place and has a 63-64 record. The pitching has been consistently inconsistent. It will most likely remain that way for the rest of the year. Instead of searching for a magic bullet to help ignite the pitching staff down the stretch, here is a "radical" suggestion.

The Twins should announce the starting rotation for the rest of the year as this: Baker, Blackburn, Pavano, Duensing and a Bullpen Day. Yes, a bullpen day. I'll explain later. The top 3 pitchers in that rotation will probably give you solid pitching the rest of the way. Brian Duensing has done everything the Twins have asked of him. He has spot started once, pitched in long relief and short relief with fairly positive results. His ERA as a starter is 3.60 in only ten innings and 5.34 as a reliever in 30.1 innings. He started 101 games in the minors with an ERA 3.61 and a WHIP of 1.28. Those numbers are solid and worth a look as a consistent starter. The Twins should consider anything over 5 innings a start as a bonus with Duensing. It is a job he is capable of.

Now the Bullpen Day. The team has had many bullpen days this year, but they weren't scheduled. Now they would be. Due to injuries and poor performances the Twins will not have five reliable starters at any point this year. They may not even have three right now. Gardenhire should do what Tony LaRussa did with his Oakland team briefly in the early/mid nineties and what the 2007 Colorado Rockies did as well. Designate a day in the rotation as Bullpen Day. Assign pitchers to certain innings through the 6th inning. Then turn the game over to the typical relievers that finish the game: Mijares, Guerrier and Nathan. Liriano and Perkins once healthy would be in the bullpen in this scenario. Either could start a game and go 2 or 3 innings, then give the ball for the next two innings to Manship or the half of the Liriano/Perkins combo that didn't start the game. Finally, pitch the fifth and sixth innings with whomever is fresh that day. Would the Twins do well under this system? No one knows, but it would bring some stability to the entire pitching staff. Baseball is a sport that seldom embraces change and the Twins franchise is no different. What are the chances the team changes their philosophy and adopts this "solution" to their pitching woes? Zero to none, but I would enjoy watching it as the team pushes for a division title.