Twins send Kendry Rojas to open against White Sox as Minnesota plays bullpen game

What happened

Minnesota is deploying Kendry Rojas as an opener-plus against the Chicago White Sox, per Yahoo Sports, leaning on the rookie lefty to begin what amounts to a bullpen game for the Twins. In response, White Sox manager Will Venable adjusted his lineup to account for the left-handed starter.

The strategic wrinkle arrives with the Twins facing Davis Martin and his 2.04 ERA on the other side — a pairing that, per Yahoo Sports, presents a meaningful mismatch for a Minnesota offense described as having had to work its way up to feeble against lesser competition.

Why it matters

Bullpen games are a calculated gamble, and the Twins are making theirs with a rookie who has been genuinely difficult to square up in limited action. Per Yahoo Sports, Rojas threw four innings of two-hit shutout ball in his one other start this season, against the Houston Astros. The approach signals that Minnesota's rotation depth is being managed carefully, with Rojas functioning as a bridge to the rest of the staff rather than a traditional starter asked to eat innings.

The wrinkle for the Twins is that Rojas comes with a wildness problem. Per Yahoo Sports, he has issued 10 walks across his outings this season — though Yahoo Sports also notes he walked just one batter in each of his last two appearances, which suggests at least some trending in the right direction. Against a White Sox lineup that had just put up 15 runs the night before, per Yahoo Sports, keeping the ball in the zone will matter considerably.

Is Rojas a reliable opener option?

Per Yahoo Sports, the numbers in small sample are striking: a 1.26 ERA and 14 strikeouts across 14 1/3 innings. That is the kind of line that earns a manager's trust for a short, high-leverage opener role, even if the walk total introduces uncertainty about how deep into a lineup he can go before the math turns against him. Yahoo Sports frames his role explicitly as "opener+," suggesting Minnesota intends to get more than a single turn through the order — but the bullpen will be doing the heavy lifting behind him.

Venable's decision to adjust the White Sox lineup in response is the other half of this chess match. Lineup construction against a lefty opener is a real tactical consideration, and the fact that Venable moved pieces around indicates Chicago is taking the matchup seriously rather than simply waiting for the bullpen to arrive.

The numbers

Rojas carries a 1.26 ERA, 14 strikeouts, and 10 walks across 14 1/3 innings into Thursday's game, per Yahoo Sports, with one walk apiece in each of his last two appearances.

On the other side, Davis Martin brings a 2.04 ERA into his start, per Yahoo Sports — a figure that gives the White Sox a significant advantage in the starting pitching ledger for this particular game.

The Twins enter Thursday at 77-85 (.475), sitting third in the AL Central, 8 games back of the division lead. Their Wild Card standing places them 7th, 7.0 games relative to the cut line. Both the division race and the Wild Card race are closed for Minnesota, which gives these late-May games a different kind of weight — development, evaluation, and finding out what the roster actually is.

Where the club stands

Minnesota carries a one-game winning streak into Thursday's contest at Rate Field, which is at least something. The Twins are 8 games back in the AL Central and have been eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, so the standings column is more of a historical document at this point than a live scoreboard.

The schedule after Thursday moves the Twins to Pittsburgh for back-to-back games at PNC Park. Simeon Woods Richardson is the probable starter for Thursday against Davis Martin. Friday at Pittsburgh has Taj Bradley lined up against Jared Jones, and Saturday features Bailey Ober against Mitch Keller.

That stretch — a White Sox series capped by a Pittsburgh road trip — is the kind of schedule that tells a front office a great deal about where its young arms actually are. Rojas, Woods Richardson, Bradley, and Ober all getting looks in a short window is either a development showcase or a stress test, depending on how the results go.

What we don't know yet

Yahoo Sports does not specify how many innings Minnesota intends for Rojas, which relievers are lined up behind him, or how Venable's lineup adjustment specifically reshuffled the White Sox order. The confidence level on the extracted lineup information is moderate, so some details of the tactical picture remain unconfirmed.

It is also worth noting that Yahoo Sports characterizes the White Sox bats as "hot" with the caveat that the 15-2 performance was one game — a reasonable hedge given that one-game samples have a way of being exactly that.

What to watch

The first thing to watch is how long Rojas lasts and how many walks he issues. Per Yahoo Sports, the walk rate has been the one consistent concern in an otherwise impressive debut stretch, and a bullpen game lives or dies on the opener keeping the lineup from reaching base for free before the real work begins.

The second thing is whether the White Sox offense — coming off that 15-run night, per Yahoo Sports — can sustain any momentum against a Twins bullpen that will be carrying most of the load. Bullpen games can go sideways quickly when the opener exits early, and Minnesota's margin for error against a 2.04 ERA on the other side is not generous.

For the Twins, the broader question is what this roster looks like as the season continues. With the playoff picture closed, the games become auditions as much as contests — and Rojas, with his 1.26 ERA and his 10 walks and his four shutout innings against Houston, is one of the more interesting auditions on the schedule.