A triple's worth of Minnesota Twins notes as the team prepares for its 2016 season, courtesy of Rotowire:
Casey Fien has won a job in Minnesota's bullpen, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Fien had a 6.43 ERA this spring but had six strikeouts in seven innings. Fien missed most of May last year with a shoulder injury and never seemed to get on track. He's healthy this spring and that should help him improve from his career-low 5.8 K/9 last season.
Ryan Pressly has also won a job in Minnesota's bullpen, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Pressly had a 1.80 ERA this spring with a 10:4 K:BB ratio in ten innings. He showed promise in the bullpen with a 94.2 average mph fastball and a decent 7.1 K/9 last season, but a strained right lat muscle injury ended his season in early August. He'll be used in middle relief but could become a key setup man before too long.
Michael Tonkin has won a job in Minnesota's bullpen as well. He'll be used initially as the long reliever, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports. Tonkin would appear to be an odd choice for long reliever since he hasn't started a game since 2011. If he shows success in relief it likely won't be long before the Twins move another pitcher into the long reliever role.
