Front Page: Maybe the Twins Bullpen is Actually Good?

[Cody Christie]

Passion can be shown through a multitude of avenues when it comes to baseball and its fans. A large portion of Twins Territory complained about Joe Mauer throughout his playing career and he was one of the most valuable players in franchise history. Besides disdain towards someone like Mauer, a perspective can follow teams, across all of baseball, and every fan base hates their own bullpen but…

 

Minnesota’s relievers might actually be good.Not As Bad As They Seem

Around the trade deadline, Minnesota knew it would need a bullpen upgrade to have any semblance of a chance in October. Adding Sam Dyson and Sergio Romo has certainly calmed some of the storm, but things haven’t exactly been perfect for the new dynamic duo. Dyson spent time on the injured list and Romo has seen some rough appearances. They might not be perfect, but they are better than some of the team’s other options.

 

Even with the flaws of these two players, the Twins bullpen has been one of the best in baseball this year. Minnesota’s relief corps ranks as the fourth best in baseball according to FIP. The only AL team ahead of them on the list is Cleveland, the team they are fighting with for the AL Central. FIP stands for fielding independent pitching and it converts a pitcher’s outcomes that don’t involve defense (strikeouts, walks, HBP, and home runs) and turns it into an ERA like number.

 

FIP isn’t the only area where Twins relievers shine. According to FanGraphs’ version of WAR, Minnesota’s relievers have accumulated 5.4 WAR, which is tied with Tampa Bay for the second most in baseball. The Yankees have accumulated the most WAR (6.8), but both the Rays and the Yankees have over 530 relief innings. Meanwhile, the Twins had yet to crack the 450 mark, which is the eighth fewest in baseball.

 

Minnesota’s Fearsome Foursome

Before acquiring Dyson and Romo, the Twins used a heavy dose of Taylor Rogers. He seemed untouchable in the first half and an argument could be made for him being the American League’s most valuable reliever. Tyler Duffey has also become a much more important part of the bullpen since the All-Star break. In 20 second-half appearances (16.2 IP), he has compiled a 1.62 ERA and a 22 to 8 strikeout to walk ratio.

 

As the Baseball Savant graphics show below, all four of these relievers have posted better than average numbers in exit velocity and hard-hit rate. Rogers and Romo both rank as “great” in hard-hit rate with Romo also ranking there in exit velocity.

Download attachment: Twins Core Four.jpg

In Monday’s victory over the White Sox, the Twins might have laid out the blueprint for how this team could be successful in October. Michael Pineda started and was asked to make it through five frames. He did so by limiting a sub-par White Sox line-up to one run on four hits. From there the Fearsome Foursome came in and shut down the Chicago offense. Duffey was the only reliever to allow a baserunner while Romo struck out the side in the eighth inning.

 

Chicago isn’t exactly a playoff caliber team, but the Twins relief corp seems much more prepared for potential playoff matchups with the likes of New York and Houston. Playoff baseball is an entirely different animal than the regular season and each relief outing is magnified because of the importance of each game.

 

That being said, Minnesota fans have to feel more confident in the top four arms coming out of the bullpen. Every team’s bullpen is bad, but Minnesota’s might be just good enough to make some noise in October.

 

What are your thoughts on the Twins bullpen? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

 

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[terrydactyls]

Don't forget May. He's had a very good second half also.

[mikelink45]

I am pleased with our recent victories, but still remember the previous Tigers/White Sox week and I am not ready to just flip the switch yet.  Judging a pitching staff from a dose of Sox/Royals/Tigers/Rangers does not allow me to project against the Yankees/Astros.  

 

Just keep doing well Twins and build up confidence.

[Alex Schieferdecker]

I'm not sure the Twins have a good bullpen, but they definitely have a decent bullpen. When you compare this with the rest of the league, the Twins look far better by comparison. 

[Trov]

I think most people were hard on bullpen because it was largest weakness, however, when compared to others, like this article shows, they are not as bad as people think.  Every team has some bad games bullpen wise, it happens, but those are the games most remember, not the games they got the job done just fine.  

[Rosterman]

Trevor May ahs been lights out of late. He still manages to make things intresting by allowing a base runner. But I feel he ahs the stuff to be a closer. He jsut has to continue to work at it.

 

It would be ncie to have another lefty in the pen.

 

Littell has ben a revelation, too.

 

Be interesting to see who the Twins recall, and good use of the pen last night letting the rookie get a couple of innings in the blowout, so to speak. Keeps the other arms rested.

 

Find it interesting the amount of innings the Twins have used relief. Of course, our rotation has been pretty solid going five innings for the most (and a few more) over the entire season. We forget that we have had a great number of so-called quality starts.

 

I just hope, with the off-season departure of Romo, that the Twins do see fit to invest in at least one "quality" bullpen arm, rather than a half-dozen from the AAAA piles.

[beckmt]

 

Trevor May ahs been lights out of late. He still manages to make things intresting by allowing a base runner. But I feel he ahs the stuff to be a closer. He jsut has to continue to work at it.

 

It would be ncie to have another lefty in the pen.

 

Littell has ben a revelation, too.

 

Be interesting to see who the Twins recall, and good use of the pen last night letting the rookie get a couple of innings in the blowout, so to speak. Keeps the other arms rested.

 

Find it interesting the amount of innings the Twins have used relief. Of course, our rotation has been pretty solid going five innings for the most (and a few more) over the entire season. We forget that we have had a great number of so-called quality starts.

 

I just hope, with the off-season departure of Romo, that the Twins do see fit to invest in at least one "quality" bullpen arm, rather than a half-dozen from the AAAA piles.

 

I am not as concerned as the Twins seem to have plenty of possible relievers in AAA and on the shuttle.  I would like to see if the Twins add one power arm (Gaterol or Alcala) if not both to the mix.  Do not feel the Twins need to add a reliever this offseason, but need to add at least 2 quality starters.

[ashbury]

Trevor May ahs been lights out of late. He still manages to make things intresting by allowing a base runner.

These two sentences seem to be at odds with one another.

 

Didn't he give up a sharp double in his inning yesterday? It seems like I'm always looking away when he's being lights-out-ey, and when I watch he's laboring. Against a better team than the White Sox I still anticipate run scoring whenever he's in the game.

[bighat]

I think playing Chicago and Detroit for 2 straight weeks might be giving us rose-colored glasses. I feel pretty good about Rogers, Romo, and Dyson. I know Duffey and May have turned a corner, but the thought of them entering a playoff game against Hou/NYY/Cle with runners on base in a close game makes me shiver. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to see these numbers and I think things are improving. Thanks for sharing this cool report!

[jmlease1]

With Duffey & May settling in, it makes a real difference. both have the stuff to be serious relief weapons and Dyson & Romo are upgrades so now you've got 5 relievers you're going to feel more comfortable with mixing and matching the last three innings. I always thought that May should have been a weapon in the back end, but his early struggles (and he's still occasionally too wild) put an early dent in that.

 

I don't think the Twins bullpen is great, but I think it's good and better than most fans think. the biggest flaw is we don't have an additional lefty option in there, which I think is a miss in the playoffs and hurts your ability to handle specific matchups.

 

Truth be told, in the playoffs you don't need 7-8 bullpen guys. With all the days off in the postseason schedule, if you have 5 guys you can count on you're in pretty good shape. twins might have that already...

[Jacks02]

Get Littell back up and add the wild card Graterol for September, and this bullpen could be very good with some legit power arms come playoff-time.

[Shaitan]

A bullpen always looks good if you're getting 5-7 innings from your starters.

[howieramone2]

Get the pitchforks ready. I'm guessing we see Littell and/or O'Rourke before Graterol come play-off time.

Edited August 29, 2019 by howieramone2

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Get the pitchforks ready. I'm guessing we see O'Rourke and not Graterol come play-off time.

What makes you think that? According to Gleeman and his interview from last week, Levine all but said Graterol will get a September call-up.

[DocBauer]

I also want to send some praise May's way. Maybe my imagination, but I recall a couple bad appearances before the All Star break, but still did solid. After the break, he looks even better. As someone stated, seems the bad games are always the ones remembered.

 

SSS or not, really been impressed by Littell this season.

[Brock Beauchamp]

It’s good the Twins picked up Dyson and some of their internal options are working out. If things hold as they are now, the Twins can largely ignore the bullpen this offseason and focus on the rotation, which is a hot mess going into the 2020 season.

[SpicyGarvSauce]

Things are all relative, so let's keep the bullpen in perspective. Their recent string of success has been against bad baseball teams. Call me skeptic that they will be able to perform late in September and (hopefully) in October.

[Blake]

I believe Duffy and May are coming into their own, with some interesting help at Triple A.

[nicksaviking]

 

It’s good the Twins picked up Dyson and some of their internal options are working out. If things hold as they are now, the Twins can largely ignore the bullpen this offseason and focus on the rotation, which is a hot mess going into the 2020 season.

 

With this bullpen, I'd normally still want some strong upgrades. But after what looked to be a bumper crop of free agent relievers nearly all turn to dust league-wide, yeah, I might consider the bullpen build going forward to be an built atypically.

 

[nicksaviking]

 

Things are all relative, so let's keep the bullpen in perspective. Their recent string of success has been against bad baseball teams. Call me skeptic that they will be able to perform late in September and (hopefully) in October.

 

I think you need to adjust what you expect from bullpens this year, if not going forward. Historically speaking the Twins might have a below average bullpen, but they are still and above average bullpen this year. Take a look around the league, disappointing bullpens are an epidemic and as much as you are disappointed, most other teams' fans are even more so.

 

Well maybe not most teams fans as most teams are already out of the playoff picture and stopped caring about how terrible their team's bullpen is.

[howieramone2]

 

It’s good the Twins picked up Dyson and some of their internal options are working out. If things hold as they are now, the Twins can largely ignore the bullpen this offseason and focus on the rotation, which is a hot mess going into the 2020 season.

I agree. I think we're winning the numbers game, when you include the bullpen arms in the minors.

[Dman]

Is it possible that the Twins will add both Graterol and Alcala to the 40 man and see what they can do in September and if they do well then have them available for the playoffs?  They are both hard throwers something our current pen lacks and I think they both need to be added to the 40 man after this year anyway.  They would need bump Diplan off to make it work but I think both of them have a chance to really help down the stretch.  Just need to see how their stuff plays at the MLB level.

[strumdatjaguar]

I’d like to see another effective lefty out there in the pen. Hoping Thorpe or Smeltzer can do it. In the playoffs, Martin Perez could spot start against teams who are lousy against LHPs, and perform some sort of LOOGY role otherwise.

[SpicyGarvSauce]

 

I believe Duffy and May are coming into their own, with some interesting help at Triple A.

 

IF Duffey and May can be effective out of the pen, that is really a big piece moving forward...beyond 2019.

[Bandit34]

 

It’s good the Twins picked up Dyson and some of their internal options are working out. If things hold as they are now, the Twins can largely ignore the bullpen this offseason and focus on the rotation, which is a hot mess going into the 2020 season.

Well, if we can finally move on from Gibson and replace him with a decent starter, I would say we have a real good chance of upgrading our rotation, actually. Lots of free agents to choose from this offseason. I am actually looking forward to seeing the rotation next year, especially if Pineda can come back. 

[Dantes929]

 

I think you need to adjust what you expect from bullpens this year, if not going forward. Historically speaking the Twins might have a below average bullpen, but they are still and above average bullpen this year. Take a look around the league, disappointing bullpens are an epidemic and as much as you are disappointed, most other teams' fans are even more so.

 

Well maybe not most teams fans as most teams are already out of the playoff picture and stopped caring about how terrible their team's bullpen is.

I think you are wrong here.    I am pretty sure the Yankee, Cubs, Nats, Mets and Dodger fans are looking at their 2 dozen blown saves each and saying "No problem, the teams we have blown saves against during the regular season are better than the teams we will face in the playoffs."    I'm not sure how but somehow it is only the Twins that have relief issues against the good teams.   I am just as sure that those other teams fans say stuff like " Well, yes, the other team just scored the go ahead runs on us in the 7th inning but I think leaving the starter in was the right move" or "Well, yes, the other team just scored the go ahead runs on our relievers in the 6th inning after our starter threw 5 shutout innings but I still think it was the right move to take him out"

[Squirrel]

 

What makes you think that? According to Gleeman and his interview from last week, Levine all but said Graterol will get a September call-up.

But will they add him to the roster before that, so he can be used in post-season games? If that 39th spot goes to, well, O'Rourke, who hasn't really been performing all that well in AAA, then, hmmm.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

IF Duffey and May can be effective out of the pen, that is really a big piece moving forward...beyond 2019.

May's a free agent after 2020, although he could probably be re-signed or extended affordably, if we deem it necessary.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

But will they add him to the roster before that, so he can be used in post-season games? If that 39th spot goes to, well, O'Rourke, who hasn't really been performing all that well in AAA, then, hmmm.

I wouldn't worry about O'Rourke, he was a AAA depth signing. The odds of him being considered for the postseason roster, in anything but an emergency situation, seem slim right now. (And in an emergency situation, they don't really need him on the 40-man by Aug. 31.)

[Squirrel]

 

I wouldn't worry about O'Rourke, he was a AAA depth signing. The odds of him being considered for the postseason roster, in anything but an emergency situation, seem slim right now. (And in an emergency situation, they don't really need him on the 40-man by Aug. 31.)

Yeah ... that's my take ... but ... my response was a response to a response ...

 

And O'Rourke is not pitching like someone who should earn a spot. Frankly, I wouldn't call him up in September either, unless there is a roster spot for him somewhere, once Graterol uses that 40th spot.