Tyler Duffey was annoyed at himself as he walked toward the Twins' dugout Tuesday, having surrendered a run that was charged to starter Bailey Ober on a ground ball that just found a hole. He was pleased, at least, that left fielder Trevor Larnach had thrown out another runner at the plate, or he might have been seething.
Either way, it was an awkward moment for umpire Jim Wolf to stop him and ask him to hand over his glove and cap for inspection. But those are the rules now.
"I don't love that. That's going to be the worst — coming off the mound at a big moment, good or bad, your mind's still reacting to that and now you're stopping me as I come off the field," Duffey said Thursday. "And let's say maybe you missed a strike call that cost me. Now I'm fired up. I'm a competitive guy. [Tuesday] wasn't the worst, but I can see how there are going to be some bad ones."
Plenty of pitchers around the game have raised objections to the new inspections, as umpires look for evidence that players are using banned substances to make their pitches move more sharply. Duffey said he doesn't want inspections to become part of gamesmanship on the part of managers, as Washington's Max Scherzer claimed was the case when Phillies manager Joe Girardi requested extra inspections during Tuesday's game.
"I agree with what [Dodgers pitcher] Clayton Kershaw said — if you ask for a guy to be checked, and he's got nothing, you lose a challenge," Duffey said. "You're ultimately delaying the game, right? Which is what they want to prevent."
Whether the crackdown on sticky substances is warranted, Duffey said he questioned the necessity for having on-field inspections and the emotions they will inevitably trigger. "There are four umpires. You can have people in New York watching. There are cameras everywhere. And if you see something, OK, let's check," Duffey said. Besides, he added, the penalty — a 10-day suspension, without the ability for a team to replace the suspended player — is deterrent enough.
"You're hamstringing your team," Duffey said. "It's a big penalty."
And if more than one pitcher is caught, or a position player is accused of helping load up a ball, that punishment "gets even bigger. You could have more than one person popped for one guy throwing a baseball," he worried.
In his case? Well, Duffey's glove is embroidered with "Teddy B," his son's name. Does he worry about getting the 14-month-old implicated in a scandal?
"Not really," Duffey said. "He mostly just sucks on the laces."
Delay for Dobnak
Randy Dobnak's scheduled start Friday, a chance for him to build upon his five effective innings in Texas last Saturday, has been scrubbed. The middle finger on Dobnak's pitching hand has "some pretty severe soreness," manager Rocco Baldelli said after the Twins placed him on the 10-day injured list.
In his place, the Twins recalled Griffin Jax, who is 3-1 with a 3.33 ERA for Class AAA St. Paul but has posted an 8.64 ERA in three appearances in the majors. Jax was a candidate to start in Dobnak's place, but the Twins decided late Thursday to make it a bullpen game and give the start to lefthander Danny Coulombe, a six-year MLB veteran.
Coulombe, who pitched 2⅔ shutout innings for the Twins in 2020, owns a 1.77 ERA in 14 games for St. Paul this season.
The Twins will open a roster spot for Coulombe on Friday.
Michael Pineda, meanwhile, made progress in his recovery from forearm tightness on Thursday, pitching a bullpen session one day earlier than originally planned. The next step, Baldelli said, is to pitch a simulated game over the weekend, and then consider a rehab start or two in St. Paul.
Eddie's back
• The Twins played a highlight video before first pitch to welcome Eddie Rosario back to Minnesota. Rosario, who was not offered a contract in December after six seasons with the Twins, hit 67 home runs in Target Field, second-most in stadium history to Brian Dozier.
• Byron Buxton's fractured left hand will not require surgery, Baldelli said.
