Twins add Chris Heston to help pitching woes

Mar 10, 2017; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Chris Heston (32) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Peoria Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2017; Peoria, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Chris Heston (32) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Peoria Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Twins are desperate for more pitching help as they now turn to Chris Heston.

It is no secret that the Minnesota Twins have a little bit of a pitching problem. The starting rotation only has two reliable arms with Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios while the bullpen, well, there’s not a whole lot of good to say about the bullpen. The Twins are making moves to improve that pitching.

The Star Tribune is reporting that the Twins have claimed Chris Heston off of the Los Angeles Dodgers roster. Heston was most recently on the Triple-A Oklahoma City roster before being nabbed by the Twins. Heston had only made one appearance for Oklahoma City, but that was because he has only been a member of the Dodgers organization for a little over a week.

The 6-3 righty was selected off waivers by the Dodgers from the Seattle Mariners on May 26. Heston did make two appearances with Seattle at the big league level this season and did not fare well. A start and a relief outing resulted in only five innings pitched and a 19.80 ERA.

It appears that Heston will join the Twins in Seattle for Wednesday’s game.

This isn’t Heston’s first tie to the Twins. Heston was selected by the Twins in the 47th round of the 2007 amateur draft, but did not sign. Heston would be drafted a total of three times and finally signed the third time with the San Francisco Giants.

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Heston has appeared in MLB games in four straight seasons, but in only one season did he have a full-time gig. In 2015, Heston started 31 games for the Giants with a 3.95 ERA, a 1.311 WHIP and 141 strikeouts. That season Heston did manage to throw a no-hitter against the New York Mets at Citi Field. In that game, as the Star Tribune points out, he K’d 11 batters and walked none in the no-no, but hit three batters.

So far, Heston has not appeared in more than four games in any MLB season other than his 2015 campaign. Obviously, it looks like that number will be surpassed when he joins the Twins pitching staff.

On Wednesday, the Twins also placed Jorge Polanco on the bereavement list and recalled Kennys Vargas from Triple-A Rochester.

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