Joey Wentz News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/joey-wentz/ Minnesota sports, but different Wed, 09 Jul 2025 19:11:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Joey Wentz News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/joey-wentz/ 32 32 Minnesota Twins Swap Out Bullpen Lefties https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/joey-wentz-dfa-anthony-misiewicz-promoted/ Wed, 09 Jul 2025 17:51:27 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=64770 Earlier this season, the Minnesota Twins promoted Travis Adams and didn’t wind up using him in a game. His purpose was to provide length out of the bullpen. They opted to claim former first round pick Joey Wentz and use him in the role instead.

The Twins acquired Wentz back on June 11, and he somehow found a way to stick around on the Twins roster for nearly a month. That was until he made his latest appearance on Tuesday night, for the ninth inning of an 8-0 blowout of the Chicago Cubs at Target Field.

Minnesota Twins say goodbye to Joey Wentz

Unfortunately, the 27-year-old former 1st round pick allowed 2 hits to the northsiders, along with their only run of the contest — raising his ERA with the Twins to an impossible 15.75 in 8 innings pitched. That triggered Minnesota to finally DFA Joey Wentz on Wednesday.

Joey Wentz appeared in his sixth games for the Minnesota Twin, allowing 14 total runs on 17 hits. He also leaves with a 9/6 K/BB ratio. Wentz was brought in to bring more length to the bullpen, but he only made it through two innings twice before the Twins pulled the plug.

After a month in the bullpen, Joey Wentz might be one of the worst Twins pitching pickups in recent memory. Replacing Wentz in the bullpen will be another lefty veteran, Anthony Misiewicz whose contract was selected out of St. Paul.

Get to know the newest Twins pitcher, Anthony Misiewicz

Misiewicz has pitched in the big leagues for five different franchises over the last five seasons, and three in the last two. In 2024, he appeared in just one game, taking the mound for one inning as a New York Yankee. Since the start of 2023, Misiewicz has pitched just 12 total innings (6.75 ERA, 2.167 WHIP).

In 2025, the Saints have used Misiewicz in 26 games, where he’s compiled 31 1/3 innings. Down at Triple-A, the former 2015 18th round pick out of Michigan State owns a 4.02 ERA with a 29/10 K/BB.

Misiewicz’ fastball sits around 94 mph. He combines it with both a cutter and a curveball. If/when he gets into his first game as a Twin, he will be the 24th pitcher used by Minnesota this season.

Related: Opponents Treating Minnesota Twins as Sellers

It’s worth noting that the Minnesota Twins went with Misiewicz, who was not on the 40-man roster, rather than Kody Funderburk. Funderburk has struggled in 13 innings with Minnesota (10 runs on 19 hits), but has a 1.61 ERA across 22 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season.

Rocco Baldelli keeps two lefties in his bullpen as Misiewicz joins Danny Coulombe. He should be expected to fill the same role as Wentz departs, which puts him at the bottom of the pecking order. With competent pitching, Misiewicz should earn a big league paycheck for a while.

]]> Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:11:46 +0000 Minnesota Twins Minnesota Twins Claim Pirates Pitcher Off Waivers https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/news-waiver-claim-joey-wentz-pirates-pitcher/ Wed, 11 Jun 2025 21:02:15 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=63804 The Minnesota Twins entered this season with more pitching depth than they knew what to do with, which forced them to stash multiple big-league caliber prospects in St. Paul while Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan & Co. kep the Twins afloat during a slow offensive start to 2025.

Unfortunately, that changed fast following a three game trip out west to Sacramento vs the Athletics that landed both Pablo Lopez and Zebby Matthews on the injured list. Life has not been easy, since coming home. The Twins have lost four of their last five games, a stretch that culminated Tuesday night in a 16-4 drubbing at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

Simeon Woods Richardson looked brutal in his return to the rotation — 4.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R (6 ER). Unfortunately for the Twins, Jorge Alcala was determined to look worse, throwing 1.2 innings where he allowed 5 hits and 6 runs (5 earned).

Joey Wentz headed to Minnesota Twins active roster

It remains to be seen where the Minnesota Twins will turn for their next starting pitcher, if Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa continue to struggle. The bullpen got a new arm today, claiming former first round pick Joey Wentz off waivers from Pittsburgh.

Directly out of high school, Joey Wentz was taken 40th overall in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. He made his big league debut with the Detroit Tigers during the 2022 season. He operated as a starter until last year, when he transitioned to a full-time reliever.

The Pirates acquired Wentz at the end of last season. He made eight appearances (12 innings) for Pittsburgh in 2024, allowing just two runs on six hits with a 13/6 K/BB. This year, Wentz has a 4.15 ERA (3.77 FIP) in 26 innings. He has struck out 22 hitters and walked 11.

Related: MLB Insider Reveals Surprising Minnesota Twins Trade Deadline Plans

The left-handed pitcher is averaging a career-best 93.9 mph on his fastball this season and uses it over 50% of the time. He pairs the pitch with a cutter and curveball. Wentz isn’t going to be a dominant arm out of the pen for the Minnesota Twins, but he provides another left-handed option to go with Danny Coulombe.

To clear room on the 40-man roster for Wentz, the Twins placed Pablo Lopez on the 60-day injured list. He is expected to miss between eight and twelve weeks with a grade 2 teres major strain. The move is procedural and doesn’t change his timeline.

How do MN Twins roster Joey Wentz?

Joey Wentz is expected to arrive in Minneapolis on Thursday, when the Twins will have to take someone off the 26-man-roster, in order to activate Wentz before the game. Which bullpen arm will Wentz replace? That is the question.

The Twins have been hesitant to put players on waivers and don’t like to lose guys. Still, this might finally be the end for Jorge Alcala, who signed for $1.5 million this season. He simply has not returned to the pitcher we once thought he would be, prior to injuries in 2022 and 2023 that derailed a hot start MLB career.

Through 22 appearances this season (24.1 IP) Alcala owns an 8.88 ERA. His 10.4 K/9 is a career-best, but he is walking a ridiculous 5.5 batters per nine innings. He has also allowed a 1.8 HR/9 and 9-of-22 outings have resulted in runs scored.

The Minnesota Twins would need to designate Alcala for assignment, or place him on the injured list to open his roster spot. It’s unlikely he is DFA’d given the 40-man opening Lopez provided.

There really isn’t another likely candidate to hit the injured list unless something that has yet to be reported is lingering. Either way, we’ll find out Thursday how the Twins are going to handle the move.

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