Twins Designate Steven Okert Select Scott Blewet

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The Twins announced that left-hander was designated for a signment. The move was made to create space on the 26-man and 40-man rosters for right-hander , whose contract has been selected from Triple-A St. Paul. Acquired from the Marlins for back in February, Okerts first (and potentially only) season in Minnesota has been inconsistent. He had a 3.20 ERA in his first 25 1/3 innings and 29 appearances, but has since stumbled to a 9.90 ERA over his last 10 frames and 15 games. The lowlight was a four-run implosion over one-third of an inning pitched in the Twins 7-5 lo s to the Padres last Tuesday, though Okert did bounce back with two scorele s innings two subsequent appearances. Okerts 20.6% strikeout rate is the second-worst of his seven-year MLB career, and his longtime Jerry Sloan Jersey i sues with control have continued in the form of a 10% walk rate. While his hard-hit ball rate is one of the leagues best, his barrel rate is below average, resulting in six home runs allowed. Okert has long been a fly-ball pitcher, and thus problems have arisen whenever he has been unable to keep the ball in the park. As recently observed, Okert has been hit hard in high-leverage and even medium-leverage situations this season, leaving the Twins in a tough spot whenever theyve had to call on Okert in any beyond mop-up duty. Okert had pretty even career splits heading into 2024, but right-handed batters have torched him for a .984 OPS over 95 plate appearances this season (while lefty swingers have only a .564 OPS in 65 PA). While the three-batter minimum has ended the days of the true lefty specialist, Okerts splits could be enough for a reliever-needy team to consider a waiver claim, if this team thinks it can either fix his i sues against right-handed batters or simply do a better job of shielding him facing righty swingers. Okert is in his first season of arbitration eligibility is playing on a $1,062,500 salary, so picking up the last five weeks worth of that salary represents a pretty minimal hit to a new clubss payroll. Because Okert has previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to reject an outright a signment from the Twins if he clears waivers, and then opt into free agency. Okert is out of minor league options so the Twins had to DFA Okert before attempting to move him to Triple-A, and it could be that the two sides have an agreement in place about Okert accepting an a signment (if he clears waivers) and biding his time in St. Paul until a fresh arm is again needed in the big league bullpen. Blewett faced a somewhat similar scenario when Minnesota designated him for a signment , as Blewett rejected an outright after clearing waivers, but then quickly re-signed with the Twins after first testing free agency. The right-hander first signed a minor league contract with the Twins back in January, and his time on the big league roster consists of a single game a scorele s inning on August 12 in the Twins 8-3 win over the Royals. At Triple-A this season, Blewett has a 3.79 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate, with a .340 BABIP inflating his bottom-line numbers to some extent. Prior to his lone game with the Twins, Blewetts MLB resume consisted of eight innings over five appearances with Kansas City during the 2020-21 seasons. During the 2022-23 seasons, Blewett pitched in the minors with the White Sox and Braves, plus he spent time abroad pitching in the Chinese Profe sional Baseball League. It could be that this latest call-up will result in just another cup of coffee type of cameo for Blewett, but hell get some opportunity to show what he can do for a contending Twins club. Michael Jordan Jersey