FORT MYERS, Fla. — The battle for spots in the Twins' rotation is down to six.
Two days after deciding to move Trevor May back to the bullpen, the Twins reassigned their top pitching prospect, Jose Berrios, to minor-league camp Friday morning. Berrios was one of nine players cut from the spring roster, a list that also included hard-throwing bullpen candidates Alex Meyer and Nick Burdi.
Kennys Vargas, who has 14 home runs over parts of the past two seasons for the Twins, was optioned to Class AAA Rochester, as was infielder Jorge Polanco. Veteran outfielder Joe Benson was reassigned to minor-league camp, along with catchers Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, and left-handed reliever Aaron Thompson.
The decision to send Berrios to Rochester, after two subpar performances in spring camp, essentially leaves Tyler Duffey, Tommy Milone and Ricky Nolasco to battle for the final two spots in the Twins' starting rotation, behind veterans Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson. Duffey will start Friday's game against the Red Sox at jetBlue Park, while Nolasco stays in Twins camp to face the Red Sox's Class AAA team, Pawtucket. Milone starts Saturday at Bradenton against the Pirates.
The decision to option Meyer leaves the 26-year-old's career in limbo; after spending the final four months of the 2015 season in the bullpen at Rochester, it's possible Meyer might return to starting again.
"It's kind of 50-50 right now. They're trying to decide," Meyer said, shortly after being told he was being sent down again. "They asked me — I told them I enjoy relieving, but obviously I'm going to do whatever [they] want me to do. So I don't really know."
Meyer, once regarded as a potential top-of-the-rotation prospect after being obtained in a trade with the Nationals, remains optimistic that his persistent hangup — command of his fastball — can be solved. Meyer walked four batters in 4 2/3 innings this spring, striking out three, and allowing three runs.
"It's the same as always — If I'm throwing strikes, I'm fine. If I get behind, no one is going to be successful [that way]," he said. "I felt way better my last two times out with it. I finally said, look, I'm going to try something a little different. I'm not going to think about it as much, just stay back and just throw it. Since then, I felt better."
Burdi had allowed only one hit in three innings this spring, but with only one strikeout. Thompson has had a difficult spring, however, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in just 5 1/3 innings.
Officially, Berrios owns a 0.00 ERA this spring, but he pitched with evident nerves in his debut and was hit hard by minor-leaguers in an intrasquad game on Tuesday. Berrios has only 12 games of experience at Class AAA, so the decision was made to give him more time.
Being cut was disappointing news for the players — Tony Oliva spent 10 minutes consoling Vargas shortly after he received the news — but it's not all bad, Meyer said. "It's all right. I get an off day," he joked. "I get to go watch basketball."
Friday's nine cuts leave the Twins with 43 players in camp, 20 of them pitchers.
