27-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Slowey started this season as the odd man out in the starting rotation. He couldn’t adjust to pitching in relief as he was constantly hurting his elbow. Slowey has now pitched in 12 games (6 starts) for the Twins so far this year and he is 0-6 with a 6.51 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Slowey has given up 62 hits in his first 47 innings this year which has negated the fact that he has only walked 5 batters this year. Slowey has now pitched in 98 games (88 starts) in his first 5 years with the Twins and he is 39-27 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. The Twins will likely try to deal Slowey over the winter.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher Francisco Liriano has great stuff as evidenced by his no-hitter earlier this year. But, he is wildly inconsistent. He has pitched in 24 games (all starts) for the Twins so far this year and he is 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Liriano has only given up 121 hits while whiffing 109 batters in his first 132 innings this year, but he has also walked 73 batters which has gotten him into a lot of trouble. Liriano has now pitched in 132 games (113 starts) in his first six years with the Twins and he is 47-41 with 1 save, a 4.14 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Liriano has only pitched in more than 150 innings one time in his career to date as he hasn’t been very dependable.

28-year old lefty starting pitcher Brian Duensing has been awful for the Twins in August. He has pitched in 26 games (25 starts) for the Twins so far this year and he is 8-13 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. But in his four starts in August, Duensing is 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He has given up 36 hits in 24 innings in August as he is not missing too many bats. Duensing might be better served in the bullpen than the starting rotation as he has had an awful time so far this year.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Nick Blackburn has been really awful lately and he could lose his job in the starting rotation if he doesn’t start pitching better soon. In his last 8 starts for the Twins, he is 1-4 with a 8.15 ERA and a 2.17 WHIP. He has now pitched in 23 games (all starts) overall for the Twins this year and he is 7-9 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. 27-year old righty Kevin Slowey is looking sharp in the minors and he could make a strong push for Blackburn’s spot in the starting rotation. Slowey has pitched in 11 games (all starts) in A+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 1-3 with a 3.60 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He pitched in 6 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Twins and he was 0-0 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. Blackburn better start pitching well if he wants to save his spot in the rotation, and it might even be too late for that right now.

28-year old lefty starting pitcher Brian Duensing is in danger of losing his spot in the Twins’ starting rotation. In his last four starts, Duensing is 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. He has now pitched in 11 games (10 starts) so far this year and he is 2-5 with a 5.37 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. The Twins might bump Duensing to the bullpen when Francisco Liriano comes off the D.L. next week, due to how well Anthony Swarzak has been pitching lately.