The Twins, amid their rough start to the season, made a change to their starting rotation Monday.
Louie Varland was demoted to Class AAA St. Paul one day after the shortest start of his career. Varland owns a 9.18 ERA through four outings, the second-highest ERA in the American League among pitchers who have thrown at least 15 innings this season.
The Twins promoted reliever Ronny Henriquez to give themselves an extra option in the bullpen until they need to fill the vacant spot in the rotation. Simeon Woods Richardson, who made a spot start in a doubleheader on April 13, is the leading candidate to replace Varland.
In addition, right fielder Max Kepler (knee) was activated from the 10-day injured list and third-string catcher Jair Camargo was optioned to St. Paul.
Varland yielded four runs in 2⅔ innings during Sunday’s 6-1 loss while issuing four walks and hitting a batter. He threw only 35 of his 74 pitches for strikes, a concerning lack of command for a pitcher who is known as a reliable strikethrower.
“He’s got some work to do, for sure,” Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli said Sunday. “He’s not afraid to look at himself in the mirror and acknowledge how things go when they don’t go his way. He’s not afraid to make an adjustment when you talk to him about it. He’s going to have to be open minded right now, because he’s had a few outings where he’s gotten hit pretty good and then today was just very uncharacteristic of him to go out there and pitch like that.”
Varland, the 26-year-old North St. Paul native, wasn’t oblivious to losing his grip on a spot in the rotation with how much he struggled through the first three weeks of the season.
“It’s pretty easy to overthink,” he said. “I try not to, but I think it’s human.”
Henriquez hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022. In seven relief appearances at St. Paul, six that spanned multiple innings, he’s allowed 12 hits and six runs in 13⅓ innings (4.05 ERA) with 14 strikeouts and two walks. To add Henriquez to the 40-man roster, Daniel Duarte was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Jorge Alcala, who has pitched well in the majors, must spend 10 days in the minors after he was optioned on April 14 unless he was replacing an injured pitcher, so he wasn’t a candidate to return.
Woods Richardson, 23, has pitched with more velocity this year. He permitted two hits and one run across six innings in his lone major league start. In his last outing with St. Paul, he allowed two runs in five innings.
The Twins don’t have much proven starting depth at AAA. Brent Headrick is on the injured list with a forearm strain. Pitching prospect David Festa has recorded a 1.46 ERA through four starts, but he’s walked 11 batters in 12⅓ innings and he hasn’t topped four innings in an outing. Randy Dobnak and Caleb Boushley are other options.