Twins give Nolasco spot in rotation, send Duffey to Triple-A

Published 9:06 am Friday, April 1, 2016

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Minnesota Twins have finalized their 25-man regular season roster, making right-hander Ricky Nolasco their fifth starter.

The Twins announced Tuesday they’ve optioned right-hander Tyler Duffey to Triple-A Rochester with left-hander Ryan O’Rourke. Left-hander Logan Darnell and right-hander Brandon Kintzler were reassigned to minor-league camp.

Duffey, who was competing with Nolasco, went 5-1 with a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts as a rookie last year. Nolasco has a 5.64 ERA over his last two injury-affected seasons with the Twins. He’ll follow Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson, Phil Hughes and Tommy Milone in the rotation.

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O’Rourke, Darnell and Kintzler were the last cuts from the bullpen. That gave right-hander Michael Tonkin and left-hander Fernando Abad the last two spots, behind Glen Perkins, Kevin Jepsen, Trevor May, Casey Fien and Ryan Pressly.