Twins Bolster Staff With Addition Of Shoemaker
Dave Overlund
Dave Overlund Updated: February 17, 2021
The Minnesota Twins added some depth at starting pitcher with the addition of veteran Matt Shoemaker. Shoemaker, 34, is an eight-year MLB veteran who has fought injuries throughout his career.
The righthander burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2014 by posting a 16-4 record and 3.04 earned run average on his way to a second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu.
Shoemaker has only started a total of 104 games over his eight seasons including just seven in 2018, five in 2019 and six last season. Over his career he has posted a 112-104 record with a 3.86 earned run average and 540 strikeouts in 602 innings.
The Twins' starting rotation now includes 2020 Cy Young Award runner-up Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, newly signed pitcher JA Happ and Shoemaker. Randy Dobnak, Devin Smeltzer and Lewis Thorpe are generally considered to be next in line for starts if needed due to injury.
Twins pitchers and catchers are due to report to Fort Myers for Spring Training on Thursday, February 18th, with the rest of the squad set to arrive on February 22nd.
Minnesota's first spring game is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th against the Boston Red Sox. The regular season is set to begin on April 1st at Milwaukee, with the home opener scheduled for April 8th against the Mariners at Target Field.
Twins baseball can be heard all season long on WJON.
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