The Twins announced Wednesday that they’ve designated left-hander Joey Wentz for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to fellow left-handed reliever Anthony Misiewicz, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A St. Paul.
Wentz, 27, was claimed off waivers out of the Pirates organization a bit less than a month ago. He’s been used in long relief and mop-up work with Minnesota and been hit hard. The former Braves top prospect has appeared in six games as a Twin and been scored upon in five of them, working to a disastrous 15.75 ERA (14 runs in eight innings). He’d previously pitched to a 4.15 ERA in 26 frames with Pittsburgh and now has an overall 6.88 ERA on the year.
Originally drafted 40th overall by Atlanta in 2016, Wentz was a well-regarded prospect who went from the Braves to the Tigers in the 2019 Shane Greene swap. He made his big league debut with Detroit but has never found much success in the majors as either a starter or reliever. He’s pitched in parts of four seasons and tallied 239 2/3 innings with a 5.75 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate. Home runs (1.50 HR/9) and an inability to strand runners (66.5%) have been the primary undoing for Wentz.
Wentz is out of minor league options, so the Twins (like the Pirates before them) couldn’t simply send him to the minors without first designating him for assignment. Minnesota will either place Wentz on waivers or trade him within the next five days. Waivers would be another 48-hour process, meaning his DFA will be resolved in a maximum of seven days. Wentz has never cleared waivers before and has under three years of service time, so in the likely event that he’s unclaimed this time around, the Twins can assign him outright to St. Paul and hope to get him on track in Triple-A.
In place of Wentz, the Twins will turn to another lefty with a fair bit of MLB experience — but more success. The 30-year-old Misiewicz signed a minor league deal over the winter and has pitched decently with the Saints, logging a 4.02 ERA, a 24.2% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate for the Twins’ top minor league club. He’s picked up eight saves and a hold along the way. Misiewicz was cruising along with a sub-3.00 ERA before a five-run hiccup against the Reds’ top affiliate in late June. He’s bounced back with a pair of perfect innings.
The Twins will be Misiewicz’s sixth big league team. He’s previously suited up for the Mariners, Royals, D-backs, Tigers and Yankees. From 2020-24, Misiewicz has pitched 115 2/3 major league innings and delivered a 4.67 ERA, a 22.8% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate. He’s been using a three-pitch mix in St. Paul, brandishing a four-seamer that sits 91.6 mph, a cutter that sits 87.6 mph and a slow curve that’s averaged 78.5 mph.
Like Wentz, Misiewicz is out of minor league options, so he’ll either need to stick in the ’pen or else be designated for assignment himself. Misiewicz has three years of big league service, which technically makes him controllable for three more years beyond the current season, but he has a long ways to go before that future control is any real consideration.