MINNEAPOLIS – The Twins added to their relief options and eased their logjam off the field Thursday night by acquiring Giants right-hander Shaun Anderson in exchange for LaMonte camper Wade Jr.
Anderson, 26, posted an ERA of 5.44 in 2019 in his debut, but improved to post an ERA of 3.52 in 18 appearances at the San Francisco Bullring last season. In July 2019 he became a downloader and focused more on his hard slider last season. Given his relative success outside of the bullring and his history as a reliever at the University of Florida, he is likely shaping up to remain a reliever with the Twins.
This makes sense given that the bullring was the area of greatest need for the twins this offseason, even after their recent activity. Minnesota has now acquired Hansel Robles, Alex Colomé and Anderson as bullpen options alongside Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Cody Stashak, Jorge Alcala and Caleb Thielbar, a solid group that sold out with the departures of Trevor May, Matt Wisler, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard in free agency.
Given Anderson’s relative lack of experience, his place in a Minnesota bullring will likely not include high leverage situations, but manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson have consistently shared the burden. of work among its lifeguards with a focus on limited use and rest last two seasons.
Anderson is also adapting to the recent twin model to emphasize the use of sliders, as the right-hander threw the slider on 53 percent of his throws last season, generating 39.7 percent with a whiff bid. . It is a hard slider that averages 88.3 mph and is used as an outside pitch.
By winning a controllable young stranger, the twins had to separate from a controllable young camper, which luckily was an area of excess for Minnesota.
Wade saw time on the field offside and at first base in 2019 and 20, and showed strong eye and plate discipline. His bat’s lack of power limited Wade’s playing time, with Jake Cave serving as the fourth favorite camper for much of his time with the Twins. Cave remains on the team, and the long-awaited establishment of the best possible Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker and Trevor Larnach in the Majors throughout this season could have removed Wade from the list anyway.