I really like Perkins as the closer

[BrentMpls]

1, 2, 3 two nights in a row. Woo!

[30whales]

Agreed!

[Brad Swanson]

I'm a huge Perkins fan. He doesn't seem fazed by the situation and he attacks hitters. He's fun to watch.

[twinsfaninsaudi]

Yea it's nice how he's turning out. I also like my guy Terry Ryan plucking those effective relievers off of minor league deals and the waiver wire.

[RIP BYTO]

After the Capps era, this is a big improvement.

[Jerr]

Luvin' it!!!

[TheLeviathan]

Long way from the days of Crocodile Tears.

[mikeee]

I can still recall calling him "dead arm perkins" when is was a starter. It has been a nice turnaround now that he has found his niche!

[Physics Guy]

Just another in a long list of failed starters who became good closers for the Twins:

 

Aguilera

Hawkins (for a short time)

Guardado

Nathan

Perkins

[Oxtung]

Just another in a long list of failed starters who became good closers for the Twins:

 

Aguilera

Hawkins (for a short time)

Guardado

Nathan

Perkins

 

Does anyone know of any analysis done on bullpen guys that correlates their stats to if they started out as a reliever or a starter? That seems like an interesting bit of info.

 

I guess I'm mostly asking if pitchers who come up through the ranks as starters are more likely to succeed than pitchers who are designated relievers from day 1.

[DaveW]

The short answer to your question is: yes. Because guys who are viewed as starters in an org typically are viewed as having better stuff and at least two plus pitches.

[Oxtung]

The short answer to your question is: yes. Because guys who are viewed as starters in an org typically are viewed as having better stuff and at least two plus pitches.

 

Any studies to back that up? Often times relievers coming up and who make it to MLB are flame throwers who just can't master that 3rd pitch enough to start. You can be very successful as a reliever with just 2 pitches.

[kab21]

It's a pretty good reason why pitchers should always be given the chance in the bullpen even if they look terrible as a starter. Dropping their worst pitch from their arsenal and picking up 2mph on their fastball make them a completely different pitcher.

 

This is also an example of why so many are frustrated by how many RP'ers the Twins draft in rds 2-5. I can understand if they think they can make them starters but most of the guys didn't have the durability or stuff to be starters from day one.

[J-Dog Dungan]

It's great having one of those shut-down closers again. It has been a few years; really, since the last time Nathan was healthy. How long ago was that? And yeah, he's definitely several steps above anything Capps was bringing to the table as a reliever.

[Oxtung]

Just did some quick looking analysis. Of the top 20 relievers between 2002-2012 sorted by WAR (yes this isn't perfect):

 

Full time starters before MLB debut: 11 out of top 20

Starter transitioned to reliever before MLB debut: 3 out of 20

Full time reliever before MLB debut: 6 out of 20

 

So about 50% of the best relievers were full time starters in the minors. Those on the list that were full time relievers in the minors:

 

Rafael Betancourt (ranked 5th)

Francisco Cordero (ranked 7th)

Huston Street (ranked 9th)

BJ Ryan (ranked 12th)

Trevor Hoffman (ranked 16th)

Jose Valverde (ranked 19th)

 

Given the incredibly SSS I'm not sure what conclusions we can draw but I thought it was interesting to note that not all the best relievers were starters in the minors.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I didn't expect all of the best relievers to be starters in the minors but I expected the majority of them to be starters at some point. As Dave mentioned, teams take the guys with the best stuff and try to convert them into successful MLB starters first, bullpen guys second.

 

Without looking into the numbers, I'd speculate that most of the full-time relievers were college guys who spent their amateur years in a college pen. I'd be surprised if many of the successful relievers were converted directly into the pen from prep.

[Gene Larkin Fan Club]

Trevor Hoffman was a shortstop in the Reds organization before moving on and giving it a try as a relief pitcher (oops). It makes sense that he wouldn't have a fully developed starter's repertoire having not previously pitched as a professional.

[Mike Sixel]

It is very good having Perkins on this roster. Agreed that it is a good thing for sure.