Twins Designate Taylor Rashi For Assignment

The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Kaelen Culpepper and recalled right-hander Zebby Matthews. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Tristan Gray and placed right-hander Joe Ryan on the 15-day injured list with a left glute strain. To open a 40-man spot for Culpepper, righty Taylor Rashi has been designated for assignment. MLBTR covered the Culpepper and Ryan moves in earlier posts.

Minnesota acquired Rashi from the D-backs in a cash swap back in June after Arizona had designated him for assignment. Despite what was then a dire need for bullpen arms, he never got a look in the big leagues. Rashi pitched 17 innings for the Twins’ top affiliate in St. Paul and logged a 4.76 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate. Since adding Rashi in that cash trade, the Twins have picked up Jeff Hoffman, Tommy Nance and A.J. Minter in a trio of deadline-season deals. They’ve also watched early-season waiver claim Yoendrys Gómez and rookie Andrew Morris continue to solidy themselves as viable late-inning arms.

Rashi has pitched 20 big league innings, all with the D-backs, and logged a 5.40 ERA. The 30-year-old is a soft-tossing righty who has a career 3.22 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons — a total of 114 2/3 innings. He averages 90-91 mph on his four-seamer and complements the pitch with an upper-70s curve and a slider and splitter that both sit mid-80s.

The trade deadline is in the past, so the Twins will now place Rashi on waivers and hope he clears, as he’d then stick around as non-roster depth. There’s no need to wait the maximum five days to place him on waivers, as they can’t explore trade options anymore, so we should know the outcome of his DFA by early next week.