Postgame: Span to DL; Pridie recalled
Posted on June 16th, 2009 – 10:23 PMBy Joe Christensen
The Twins placed leadoff man Denard Span on the 15-day disabled list after tonight’s 8-2 victory over Pittsburgh, recalling Jason Pridie from Class AAA Rochester.
Span has an inner-ear infection, officially called vestibular neuritis of the right ear. Manager Ron Gardenhire said the medical staff told him Span wouldn’t have been available to play until the weekend. Since he last played June 9, he will be eligible to come off the DL on June 25. (Corrected)
Pridie was batting .255 for Rochester.
48 Responses to "Postgame: Span to DL; Pridie recalled"
Is it July already?
JimC on the money. Pridie is on the 40 man roster hence his promotion over Winfree and Huber. t98 with the hookup about the injury so I know what to say. Here’s hoping for the best.
Pridie?
Pry-dee?
He is hitting .252/.283/.332 (that’s a .615 OPS) in Rochester.
Why? Over Winfree and Huber?
gee
Pridie has had better AAA numbers in years past. Also, MLB pitchers might not know the holes in his swing yet. Pridie may be productive for a month or so. That’s the optimistic point of view at least. Think Dustin Mohr or Lew Ford.
Pridie is questionable, but to me the bigger question is, why do you play short a man for over a week, when this was almost a forgone conclusion?
Poor roster mgmt, if you ask me.
USAF: you’re right, but does the past mean more than the future?
It’s not like he’s going to get regular playing time. I’m assuming he’ll fill a PH and late inning defense role, almost exclusively, for a bit over a week (assuming Span is back then). For that period of time, it makes sense not to have to make any changes to the 40-man roster.
Pridie has put in his time, he deserve a chance.
Winfree and Huber are barely servicable corner guys, whereas Pridie is a plus defender at all 3 OF spots. Whose the backup CFer again? Oh, this does make sense.
JA, I’d like to see the fielding stats that give you so much confidence. In the short term, I see why Pridie is up, but the lack of Span really hurts. I don’t see any Twins OF minor leaguer putting up a .380 OBP in the majors.
Good points JA. Now just work on your spelling.
Stopgap is the word for Pridie. I had hopes that he would make a decent fourth OF, but his Rochester numbers the last two years give me pause. There’s also that error at Toronto that probably cost the Twins a game last year.
while i wouldn’t mind span in the lineup, i’m happy delmon will see more playing time. i know there are haters on this blog, but i’m fairly positive that the more delmon plays the better delmon plays. funny, we were all complaining about too many outfielders before the season started, and what a blessing in disguise that has been. this is starting to remind me of a few years ago when interleague play gave the hitters and pitchers the confidence to get something started. fun stuff.
Pridie plays all three outfield positions. That means Cuddyer playing center field again is unlikely.
good point, tomizuka. This is exactly WHY you don’t trade away your ’surplus’ outfielder. Because they don’t end up being ’surplus’ for long.
Delmon gonna get his ABs, I also think this well help. DY in LF, Go-Go in CF and Cuddy in RF. Get used to it, but, given time, that may be OK. Again, optimism drives my hope, but it ain’t entirely unreasonable. The young cats gonna get their ABs, and hopefully, do something with them.
Yeah, JC, just like Garza was “surplus” rotation depth for the DY trade. The result is not uncommon for a high risk (bye bye Garza) high reward (D Young) trade. DY in LF will never be an all-star. Hopefully, he may be serviceable. Overall, the Twins lost.
gomez with back to back 2 hit games, he’s playing better.
the starting pitchers have been quite good recently. hope they keep the groove.
i looked the other day and the bullpen has been charged with 11 of 33 losses.
Well, at least this should mean that Cuddyer isn’t going to start in Center anytime again soon. However if Pridie gets starts in Center over Gomez, I’ll flip out.
Don’t think they don’t know it. Go-go and Delmon know that RIGHT NOW is their opportunity. With Span out, PT goes to both Gomez and Young, perhaps a good thing. One positive I don’t doubt, they both got the confidence to grab that bull by the horns.
Thrylos, Because just straight numbers don’t tell the whole story and He’s most polished I would guess. I
hopefully Pridie will get some playing time and not just rot on the bench. So does any out fielders move up? Brandon Roberts to AAA?
i looked the other day and the bullpen has been charged with 11 of 33 losses.
Are those charges for losses went the bullpen is brought in with a lead only or does it include ties?
I’d like to know how that compares to the rest of the league.
twins have offense already (minus delmon young, of course)… defense is the right call in this situation. good move.
5 times GIDP tonight. bah! at least we won!
Wasn’t Pridie named Defensive Outfielder of the Year last year in the American Association, or something like that?
I dont know if anyone has noticed , but the Twins are playing better and Nick Punto is back on the squad-coincidence?? I think not! Forget Mauer –we need Nick Punto! Go Punto lips!!!!!!!
Amazing……….Buscher is a survivor.
Chief, I suppose if Crain didn’t clear waivers, they needed Span as the stopgap to immediately get Perkins back on the 25-man.
Pridie is called up because they need a solid defensive outfielder who can play center if need be. Moreover it would be silly to waste an option on somebody for what will likely be a stint of less than a week. He’s on the 40 man so he’s already ticked off an option year and this costs them nothing. Besides, it IS mid-June, which is when he started destroying every pitch in sight last year… maybe he’ll get unignorably redhot and Carlos Gomez will finally get what he so desperately needs: AAA at-bats.
romer: Crain didn’t have to clear waivers — he was optioned for the first time a month and a half short of his debut date in 2004 (i.e. 5 years of MLB service, when he could’ve [would’ve] refused).
Why did it take so long to diagnose this? I had it a couple years ago, went to the walk-in clinic and knew in 2 minutes. It’s not like it is a rare condition. Also not much you can do for it except ride it out and teach your body to adjust.
Twins need another reliever. There are 4 potential candidates in AAA right now, 3 righties and 1 lefty. I’m thinking they will go with a righty. They will have to send down Morales or Buscher to make room though. Tolbert stays because he can play up the middle, and Pridie will stay for the 4th outfielder.
“Why? Over Winfree and Huber?”
As Seth says:
Pridie is on the 40 man roster, no other outfielder down there is on it.
” potential candidates in AAA right now, 3 righties and 1 lefty”
4?
Which ones are you thinking about?
righties:
1) Keppel
2) Gabino
3) Morillo
lefty:
4) Gosling
All 4 of these guys have decent ERA, WHIP, and SO/BB.
Pridie, eh? What a great big freakin black hole the Twins minor league system must be.
Oh, Mr. Gardenhire will find ways to start this guy. Almost certainly on Thursday afternoon.
Gosling is no longer with the team. he asked for his release.
Better get that .429 guy signed quick!!!
“Pridie, eh? What a great big freakin black hole the Twins minor league system must be.”
How many times do we have to say it?
Pridie was the only outfielder on the 40 man. The Twins have other outfielders in their system, including a couple very good ones, but this move is only for one week.
He will be fine as a bench player. He fields well and wont be worse than Punto or Tolbert with the stick.
Last I checked there were only 39 players on the 40-man so theoretically anyone could be added without taking someone off.
That being said this doesn’t bother me since a) it is likely temporary…probably no longer than until after the weekend National League games; b) He really is the fifth outfielder if you count Kubel who will likely be on the field in Milwaukee; c) his role is only likely to be to provide a backup to Gomez if he fails to get up one time after crashing into the wall or, more likely, he will be used as a pinch runner. Better to have him run instead of Buscher and Morales and Tolbert since Tolbert backs up almost every position.
In the scheme of things this is no big deal. Of more concern would be not having the extra pitcher for the NL games.
Pirdie is the guy to be a late inning defensive replacement for Kubel or Delmon. Maybe, just maybe, one start in place of Gomez against a tough righty. Perhaps a PR stint for Red. That’s his limited role and he is the obvious choice.
“In the scheme of things this is no big deal. Of more concern would be not having the extra pitcher for the NL games.”
You could probably argue that it’s more important to have the extra bench player for the NL road games, so you have pinch hitters and defensive replacements (for double switches) available.
Fredo says:June 17th, 2009 at 8:32 am
“Last I checked there were only 39 players on the 40-man so theoretically anyone could be added without taking someone off.”
Isn’t the rule that to take someone off the 40 man roster, you have to subject them to waivers?
IF so, it would be a stupid move for a week or 10 day’s, just my humble opinion.
Regards,
Dragon,
I agree. I merely pointed out that it wasn’t the only move available. IF they felt that someone not on the 40-man served their purpose better or if the solution needed to be long term they wouldn’t HAVE to remove someone from the 40 man.
As I wrote I think this was the right decision given the situation.
Pridie will see little time IMO. You have to keep geting DY AB’s and he’s been better in the field. If Span is back by the end of next week then Pridie is fine as a PR/PH and defensive replacement for DY and an emergency starter just in case.
If you add someone to the 40 man roster and call them up, they use an option when they go back down; a one week backup role callup is a giant waste of said option.
Thanks for that infor at 4:02, toby.
Don’t forget what thry posted yesterday:
“Span was diagnosed with Vestibular Neuronitis (a viral infection of a nerve in the middle ear). Those things usually take weeks to clear and the therapy is symptomatic (medicine to decrease vertigo and nausea), since there not any decent anti-virals against those viruses.”
Pridie could get lots of playing time.
To Saam:
“How many times do we have to say it?Pridie was the only outfielder on the 40 man. The Twins have other outfielders in their system, including a couple very good ones, but this move is only for one week.”
Thank you so much for setting me straight on this. Ya know, my dear departed father always told me that I was born braindead, but I just was too stupid to get what he meant until now. Finally, the light comes on. I owe it all to you. Appreciate it.
