Crain optioned to minors

Written by: Josh Johnson on 16th June 2009

Crain optioned to minors | read this item

Glen Perkins came off of the disabled list today, meaning someone had to be taken off of the roster. Speculation grew that one of Denard Span or Michael Cuddyer would land on the disabled list otherwise catcher Jose Morales would be sent back to Rochester just days after being promoted. But none of those things happened.

Instead, the Twins made a surprise move by optioning struggling relief pitcher Jesse Crain to Triple-A Rochester. Crain is in his 6th year with the Twins, which made people question whether or not he had any minor league options remaining. Obviously he did and will now try to get back on track in the minor leagues.

Crain was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2002 draft. He spent the majority of his time in the minor leagues as a closer, as he was primed to be the ‘closer of the future’ after Eddie Guardado’s tenure with the Twins was finished. Joe Nathan derailed those hopes and dreams, but Crain successfully found himself as one of the more reliable Twins relievers and was an integral piece to a respected Twins bullpen.

Crain’s career took a big hit in 2007 after he was diagnosed with a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff. The surgery to repair these injuries has been regarded as the death to pitchers, as it has a very, very low recovery rate. Crain missed moss of the ’07 season, but surprisingly returned in ’08 and put up fairly successful numbers.

Everything was looking great for Crain this Spring, he was primed to breakout and rightfully claim the 8th-inning setup-man duties. Unfortunately, he was never consistent and continuously found himself in trouble, trouble that he created himself, not the kind of trouble he was used to handling when coming into the game in a high-pressure situation.

Some have given their thoughts on Crain, some think he’s injured, while other’s just think he’s lost his approach to retire left-handed hitters, but the Twins are hoping Crain’s just in need of a wake-up call, something they’re currently going through with infielder Alexi Casilla. With Crain’s slight drop in velocity this season, it’s hard not to wonder if he’s injured. But it can also be him just not trusting his stuff, which has effected his performance, which has effected his confidence. Confidence could also be his problem when facing left-handed hitters, which is something he’ll definitely work on with Bobby Cuellar in Rochester.