Nolasco could win a spot in the rotation along with Tommy Milone as Tyler Duffey continues to struggle this spring, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Nolasco threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in Wednesday's spring training win over Tampa Bay.
Nolasco faced a lineup of mostly players set to be in the minor leagues, but was still impressive and lowered his spring ERA to 4.05 with a strong 14:5 K:BB ratio in 13.1 innings. Duffey has a 6.48 ERA in the spring and Paul Molitor indicated he may not be set for the rotation. Nolasco is likely behind Milone for the fifth starter battle, but both could make the rotation if Duffey begins the season at Triple-A.