Bullpen is nonexistent

[Prhurley50]

Getting super-tired of watching Pagan blow leads. Bullpen needs serious help!

[tony&rodney]

The Twins are going to get pinched in their attempts to trade for a relief pitcher because they are so desperate. This is not a good situation. 

[Reptevia]

Pagán=RD. The mistake by the lake 2.0

[Byrdman]

They should have made a trade last night after the loss.  Lets be aggressive and improve this bullpen. If we don't do anything sooner than later we wont even make it to the playoffs.

[nicksaviking]

If Duran is their best  (?only?) good bullpen arm, why haven't they tried to recapture that magic with Varland and Woods Richardson? I mean Canterino is the obvious next comp, but he's not healthy.

[stringer bell]

Is the team waiting for key relievers to get healthy? Add Coulombe, Alcala, Smith and Megill to the mix and things aren't quite as desperate. All four of those guys are eligible to come off the IL in the coming month. When last I looked, there was optimism that all but perhaps Coulombe would be ready in the near future. 

If the club wants to win the Central and have a chance to make noise in the postseason, I think they need to add probably two bullpen arms.

[FlyingFinn]

13 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

why haven't they tried to recapture that magic with Varland and Woods Richardson

Neither one of these guys is ready for MLB (not to mention that SWR is injured!). They are more like Cole Sands. Give them one level at a time and they should be good. Rush them and slow down their progress. 

[NJTwin]

Is it me or does anybody else wonder how it seems pitchers are so quick to hit the IL these days?  My goodness, I yearn for the good old days when pitchers earned their paychecks!

[Riverbrian]

11 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Is the team waiting for key relievers to get healthy? Add Coulombe, Alcala, Smith and Megill to the mix and things aren't quite as desperate. All four of those guys are eligible to come off the IL in the coming month. When last I looked, there was optimism that all but perhaps Coulombe would be ready in the near future. 

If the club wants to win the Central and have a chance to make noise in the postseason, I think they need to add probably two bullpen arms.

There could be the mindset that things will stabalize when the arms you mention return. However... that doesn't include the consideration for the probability that others in the bullpen (currently healthy) will be hurt in the very near future. 

You are absolutely right. Go get at least two bullpen arms. It is critical. I'm asking for 3 myself. 

[DJL44]

Duran is already an elite reliever and he'll probably get better with experience. Jax has been pretty good (like Duffey of 3 years ago). Joe Smith and Caleb Thielbar can be effective but need to be deployed strategically against the part of the lineup where they match up. Everyone else is just an innings eater - they'll give you a scoreless inning one game and get lit up the next. 

They have a few options to address their weakness in the relief corps

1) Get more outs from the starting pitchers. This is a good short-term solution. I trust Sonny Gray the 3rd time through the lineup more than I trust Pagan.

2) Make a trade for 2 relievers who are at least as good as Jax. This is probably necessary in July.

3) Bring up Winder and have him pitch out of the bullpen. None of the other minor leaguers look like they would be better than Jovani Moran or Jharel Cotton. That would reduce their starting pitching depth but Ober will probably be back before Alcala.

[Major League Ready]

11 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Is the team waiting for key relievers to get healthy? Add Coulombe, Alcala, Smith and Megill to the mix and things aren't quite as desperate. All four of those guys are eligible to come off the IL in the coming month. When last I looked, there was optimism that all but perhaps Coulombe would be ready in the near future. 

If the club wants to win the Central and have a chance to make noise in the postseason, I think they need to add probably two bullpen arms.

They don't have much choice.   Teams willing to trade good RPs are going to wait until the deadline where the bidding will be fierce unless they get a drastic overpay.  It sure would be nice if we knew what they knew about Alcala's progress.  I hate to say it but Danny Columbe would look pretty good about now.  Megill too.  

[Unwinder]

1 hour ago, NJTwin said:

Is it me or does anybody else wonder how it seems pitchers are so quick to hit the IL these days?  My goodness, I yearn for the good old days when pitchers earned their paychecks!

I'm pretty sure this is A: because pitchers these days throw harder than ever before, and B: because we've figured out that slightly injured pitchers suck, even if they're not overwhelmingly in pain. How many times have we seen a pitcher's performance suffer for weeks or months only to find out that they were pitching through a nagging injury?

[DJL44]

20 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

How far off is Maeda as a potential BP guy?  He excelled in that role for the Dodgers.

September is 12 months from surgery.

[stringer bell]

I want to believe that both Maeda and Alcala will ride to the rescue of this bullpen and the season. However, if either can provide effective innings this season, it would have to be considered a bonus. 
 

As much as bullpen injuries and ineffectiveness are a certainty, the same is true for the rotation. I’m nearly certain that Winder will get his starts with the Twins if he is healthy and effective. Beyond that, some guys aren’t suited to being in the bullpen or being a swing man between the rotation and bullpen. While Winder was technically a member of the BP to start the season, he was a starter in waiting, ready to fill in if someone wasn’t available or had a short start. It seems to me that the Twins, as configured now, don’t have room  to include a guy who might work only once a week. 

[howeda7]

Winder needs to be on the team either as a starter or reliever and Ober should be brought back ASAP. Personally, I'd put both Archer and Bundy in the pen.