Nobody will blame the Twins for not being able to tell the future, but the very next day Tyler Mahle left in the third inning and the Twins turned to Emilio Pagan in the role Sands was supposedly brought up to fill. Rather than deploying Emilio Pagan who two outings prior gave up a walk-off home run and had yet another longball pulled back by Nick Gordon in his most recent appearance, the Twins turned to their so-called “long reliever.” In his last outing, the Twins led 9-0 against Kansas City in the 9th inning and Sands was called upon for mop-up duty. Perhaps a long relief opportunity hasn’t presented itself, but his recent usage may say the bullpen hierarchy isn’t what it probably should be at this point. Since that first outing back on August 7th, however, Sands has pitched twice, both in one-inning stints. Spinning three innings of shutout ball, Sands was able to save the bullpen. Sands’ first outing back in Minnesota was impressive and just what we had in mind. Through a week and a half, however, the Twins aren’t using Sands in the way we expected. As a result, Cole Sands was called up to avoid having to use 4-5 relievers every time one of these starters takes the mound. Between Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer, and even Joe Ryan, the Twins don’t have many pitchers that can be pushed into the late innings. It made sense, after all, considering the way the Twins have chosen to construct their pitching staff. Some people have been calling for a long reliever to be added to the roster for much of the season.
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