5 Pitchers Who Always Shut Down the Twins

[Cooper Carlson]

A couple weeks ago I looked at 5 hitters the Twins could never get out. Today I’ll be looking at 5 pitchers who always shut down the Twins. This is a fun view at the recent past that will make you remember some disappointing times.The only rules for a player to be eligible are the player has to have pitched from 2000-2019 and have at least 50.0 innings pitched against the Twins. Let’s get into it.

 

5. Jeremy Affeldt: Royals, Rockies, Giants (2002-2015)

Statistics: 50.1 IP, 1.07 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .191 AVG

 

I decided to put Affeldt last on this list because he barely cracks the 50 inning benchmark. Ranking these five players was extremely difficult as they are all close to each other. Affeldt dominated the Twins for roughly 13 long years, five of which came in Kansas City. There was no other team close to the Twins on his ERA leaderboard against certain teams. For some reason the Twins just couldn’t hit him. I also hate spelling his last name.

 

4. Scott Elarton: Indians, Royals (2000-2008)

Statistics: 58.0 IP, 2.17 ERA, .192 AVG, 2.8 K/9

 

I’m including Elarton on this list for two reasons. One, most people have probably forgotten about him and two, he had a very low K/9 and still dominated. I imagine watching the Twins face Elarton was very annoying for Twins fans because he never struck them out, he just got them out in literally any other way. He was never an elite reliever, he was just really good against the Twins. He also finished his career in Minnesota but never played in a MLB game.

 

3. Chris Archer: Rays, Pirates (2012-2019)

Statistics: 2.40 ERA, .554 OPS, 2.23 FIP, 28.0 K%

 

For some reason Archer just loves facing the Twins. He is luckily now in Pittsburg with Derek Shelton so the Twins won’t see him much. He has his best ERA, FIP, and OPS against the Twins in his career. He has kept his dominant performances up even during his slower part of his career. Maybe the Twins should trade for him just so they don’t ever have to face him.

 

2. Barry Zito: Athletics, Giants (2000-2013)

Statistics: 59.1 IP, 1.97 ERA, .155 AVG, 0.83 WHIP

 

The Twins were certainly fortunate when Zito went to the Giants because there was just no answer for him. Zito had his best years when he was with Oakland, winning a CY Young and making the All Star Team three times. The Twins were able to get to him a bit more when he went to San Francisco, but when he was in Oakland there wasn’t a team he was better against than the Twins.

 

1. Felix Hernandez: Mariners (2005-2019)

Statistics: 127.1 IP, 2.26 ERA, .197 AVG, .508 OPS, 23.5 K%

 

I had to finish this list with King Felix himself because not only was he dominant against the Twins, but he did it for 127 innings. This performance certainly wasn’t a fluke. He has been one of the best pitchers in the game for a long time and has built a strong case for the Hall of Fame. The Twins did nothing to slow that down. Hopefully Hernandez can get back to his old self in Atlanta.

 

What did you think of this list? It was difficult to rank the pitchers, but I think I did alright. Was there anyone missing from this list you thought should be on it? Leave a comment and discuss below!

 

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[theBOMisthebomb]

Even though he had one rough start against the Twins last season, I fell like Lucas Giolito will be in this list in 10 years.

[mikelink45]

Not exactly an all star lineup.

[Doctor Gast]

Being traded to PIT really hurt Chris Archer if Archer wasn`t traded he would`ve continued to plague the Twins for a few more years

[Joey P]

As the Joker once said: " I only have one questions. Where is Justin Verlander?"

[LylesCrocodiles]

Mike Mussina. He owned the Twins.