Luke Bard returns to the Twins

After being designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels earlier, righthanded reliever Luke Bard cleared waivers and has officially returned to the Minnesota Twins organization.

A Rule 5 draft pick this offseason, Bard had to spend the entire 2018 season on the Angels active roster. However, the Angels have intentions on making the playoffs and carrying a youngish reliever that could only pitch in low-leverage roles made little sense for the Halos.

Surprisingly left off the Twins’ 40-man roster this winter, Bard appeared in 8 games and pitched 11 ²⁄₃ innings. Despite possessing an elite spin rate on his fastball that made the pitch especially difficult to hit, he allowed 4 home runs and a 5.40 ERA. However, he also struck out 24.5% of the batters he faced, showing some of the upside that caused the Angels to acquire him.

Bard is not required to be on the 40-man roster for the Twins at the moment, though it’ll be interesting to see if the team chooses to call him up later this season.