Twins recall Minnesota native who could help fix struggling bullpen in injury shuffle

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Mar 4, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Minnesota Twins pitcher John Klein (71) throws a pitch against Puerto Rico in the fifth inning during spring training at Lee Health Sports Complex/Hammond Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Jackson Kruse

Sat, May 2, 2026 at 5:05 PM UTC ·

3 min read

The Minnesota Twins have recalled right-handed reliever John Klein and placed right-handed reliever Cole Sands on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm strain, according to the team's transaction log . Klein, a Brooklyn Park, Minnesota native, ranks as MLB Pipeline's No. 20 overall Twins prospect. Klein could be a major help to the Twins' struggling bullpen, which ranks 27th of all 30 MLB teams in ERA (5.03), 29th in strikeout rate (18.8%) and 20th in walk rate (11.3%).

Klein, 24, has a poor 7.48 ERA with 10 homers allowed over 21 2/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul this season. While his stats this season have been lackluster, the righty has a solid four-pitch arsenal that consists of a mid-to-high-90s fastball, a low-80s curveball, a mid-80s splitter and an upper-80s cutter. He's also thrown a knuckleball in the past, but he hasn't been using it lately. Like Andrew Morris , Klein can throw multiple innings out of the bullpen for Minnesota.

Klein went undrafted in 2022 after attending Iowa Central Community College. The Twins signed the righty to a minor-league deal in Aug. 2022.

After a cup of coffee in rookie ball with Minnesota in late 2022 and early 2023, Klein impressed in six starts for Low-A Fort Myers in 2023, posting a 2.97 ERA over 30 1/3 innings. He made one start with High-A Cedar Rapids in 2023 and spent the entire 2024 season with the club. He had a 4.57 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 38 walks over 100 1/3 innings during the 2024 season.

Klein began the 2025 season with Double-A Wichita, posting a 3.12 ERA in 80 2/3 innings over 24 outings (11 starts) with 95 strikeouts and 24 walks. Klein then hurled 25 2/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul, posting an awful 6.66 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks. He threw two scoreless innings in one 2026 spring training outing .

Sands' IL stint comes after rough start to season

After allowing two earned runs on three hits (one homer) in 2/3 of an inning on Tuesday, Sands' ERA rose to 4.63. In 11 2/3 innings across 12 appearances this year, Sands has 11 strikeouts and four walks. He's struggled to limit hard contact, with an average opponent exit velocity of 94.4 mph (first percentile) and a hard-hit rate of 51.1% (sixth percentile). His fastball velocity is also noticeably down, averaging 94.8 mph in 2025 and 92.9 mph in 2026.

This article was originally published on www.puckettspond.com as Twins recall Minnesota native who could help fix struggling bullpen in injury shuffle .