Eric

Orze

Orze heads back to the minors to make room for hard-throwing reliever Tommy Nance to join Minnesota’s relief mix. The 28-year-old has struggled to an underwhelming 5.66 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 36/21 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings this season.

Orze’s pitching wasn’t so much the issue; he allowed a pair of singles, neither of which were hit hard, and threw 13 of his 17 pitches for strikes. However, he made a bad judgment call on a comebacker following a leadoff single and a stolen base, choosing to try to throw out the runner returning to second instead of taking the easy out at first. The gambit failed, and after a successful sac bunt, the Royals tied the game on a sac fly and took the lead on a Bobby Witt Jr. liner just over a leaping Orlando Arcia at short. It’s Orze’s third blown save, but he’ll still be in mix for saves in the wide-open Twins pen.

Eric Orze got five outs without retiring a batter between the ninth and 10th tonight, so he might have helped himself a little more than García. Still, Minnesota’s closing situation doesn’t really seem worth speculating on at this point.

No Twins reliever had thrown on back-to-back days, and Cole Sands had only thrown 13 pitches on Tuesday, but Orze was called on to protect a one-run lead on Wednesday. He allowed a lead-off walk to Randy Arozarena before striking out Luke Raley. However, he would then allow two hits and another walk before being chased from the game. The Twins need to find an answer at closer.

There were no hard-hit balls against Sands; a groundball single, a sac bunt and then an outfield flare were enough to produce the decisive run. This one shouldn’t alter his status in the closing mix in Minnesota. It especially doesn’t hurt because Justin Topa gave up a run in the seventh, and Eric Orze took a blown save by allowing a run in the eighth.

Of course he did. Cole Sands and Justin Topa had both pitched in each of the last two games, and this means that four different Twins relievers saved games against the Tigers in a four-game sweep. The closer committee has been established hard in Minnesota. Orze has a 1.69 ERA in his first five games for the Twins.

Orze fortifies Minnesota’s relief depth heading into next season after registering a 3.02 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 40/19 K/BB ratio across 41 2/3 innings over 33 appearances this past season in low-leverage duty for the Rays.

Orze’s latest stint with the Rays lasted roughly 48 hours, but did include a pair of relief appearances. The 28-year-old hurler has compiled an encouraging 3.02 ERA across 41 2/3 innings over 33 appearances this season at the big-league level.

Orze was sent to the minors back in July after the Rays acquired Bryan Baker from the Orioles. Orze has a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 innings for the Rays this season.

Orze is demoted to make room for Bryan Baker after the Rays acquired Baker in a trade for the 37th pick. Orze will likely be back at some point this season with Tampa Bay as a middle-inning option. Orze has a 2.72 ERA in 39 1/3 innings this year, but over his last eight appearances had allowed eight earned runs and four homers.