Funderstruck

[Cody Pirkl]

The Twins waited and waited to bring up Kody Funderburk from St. Paul. He’s looked capable in his brief debut so far, and it’s worth digging beyond his surface numbers to date.

Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

Through five outings and 5 1/3 innings, Kody Funderburk has a 1.69 ERA and has struck out one-third of the hitters he’s faced. The only blemish was a poorly-timed homer allowed against Cleveland. The Twins are surely hoping that they have an emerging piece of the current and future bullpen. So far so good.

Funderburk was thrust into enough leverage in his MLB debut to pitch two innings en route to a win against Cleveland. Two days later, he entered in a huge spot and allowed a backbreaking three-run homer, though only one run was charged to him. On Wednesday, he came into a one-run game with two runners on and no outs and shut down Cleveland once more. Rocco Baldelli clearly trusts him, perhaps out of necessity. It’s an interesting development considering the front offices' refusal to call him up to the MLB roster until it was absolutely necessary, regardless of how well he pitched.

At the deadline, the Twins declined to meaningfully upgrade the bullpen. Their lone acquisition Dylan Floro has been just as unreliable as the fringe MLB relievers they chose to roster all season such as Cole Sands and Josh Winder. Even Duran and Jax have struggled mightily in recent weeks. 

The front office waited until they had no choice but to call up Funderburk, who had been absolutely dominant in St. Paul all season. Based on Funderburk’s usage, it seems as though Baldelli had been waiting on those reinforcements for a long time. Can he continue with the success he’s shown in a small sample?

The small sample of Funderburk’s pitch mix is interesting so far. His slider has been dominant, drawing whiffs nearly half of the time it’s thrown. It has a hilarious .008 xBA and .024 xSLG so far, a truly dominant pitch. On the polar opposite end, the four-seam has allowed a .345 xBA and .791 xSLG. It could be skewed by the one homer allowed in 31 pitches, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on.

We’ve seen pitchers such as Josh Winder come up and have fastballs that get consistently crushed. Not being able to ever throw a fastball makes life hard as a pitcher. Unlike Winder, Funderburk has a backup plan. His sinker is oddly two ticks harder than the four-seam and has allowed a .131 xBA and .144 xSLG in addition to a 4-degree launch angle. Hopefully, the four-seam can come around to provide Funderburk with some whiffs, but if not, it appears he has the ability to make batters pound the ball into the ground and avoid major damage. Sinkers can sometimes be used to limit platoon splits as well.

Funderburk looks like he could be more than a lefty specialist. His slider is effective regardless of the handedness of opposing hitters, and his two different fastballs give him the ability to adjust as he acclimates to the MLB level. At this point, the question is likely whether Funderburk has time to earn a postseason roster spot rather than whether he’ll stick around in the majors through the season.

Kody Funderburk’s debut was long awaited, but it appears he’s ready to make an impact now that he’s up. With Caleb Thielbar as the only other lefty in the bullpen, Funderburk has the chance to help the Twins through September and hopefully even October. Not to mention being a potential piece in 2024. The wait was worth it.

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[Blyleven2011]

What took so long for his debut was he wasn't on the 40 man roster  ...

The FO only promotes players on the 40 man roster the majority of time  , the continue to try someone  , send them down after a lengthy appearance  , bring up a fresh arm and do the same  , rotating off the 40 man roster  ...

Yes , funderburk should have been up and found a spot on the 40 roster when our lefthander Moran  was sent down  , funderburk has transitioned from a starter to a solid  relief pitcher  ..

Let the kid pitch  , but choose wisely ...

[tony&rodney]

Certainly, Kody has pitched well. There may be some hesitancy to put Funderburk on the postseason roster given his limited experience and occasional lapses with his control. However, the Twins could really use another left handed pitcher in the pen, So I hope he is on the team in October.

I think Kody will get plenty of usage from now until the regular season ends to determine how ready he is for a roster spot.

[Ex-Iowegian]

Not certain that anything is statistically proven in six innings of major league experience. Either way….

Let the kid pitch. Exactly.

[JD-TWINS]

I’m glad …….after being confused by why he wasn’t up earlier (5-6 weeks earlier)…….that teams haven’t seen much of him.

Houston - Baltimore - Seattle - Toronto are all potential foes he hasn’t pitched against. Rangers have seen a bit & potentially T.Bay might. I think that’s a nice advantage in a short series.

Am hopeful Stewart is available for post-season but not counting on it……needs to be healthy but not rusty as well.

That said, hopeful Pen for October, IMO.

Pagan - Stewart or Kuechel? - Jax - Varland - Duran - Ryan or Maeda? - Thielbar - Funderburk ………….these guys with 4 starters, gives us a playoff staff of 12 & allows for 14 bats.

Am assuming Ober is 4th starter after resting up for 3-4 weeks!

Happy to have Funderburk as a fresh look guy with good stuff!!

 

 

[Linus]

Good grief. He’s pitched 6 innings. We know nothing about him - I almost skipped the article and should have. 

[Dave Borton]

I have seen so many nicknames for him, that I have to write out Funderburk to remember it. Two more times, Funderburk, Funderburk.

[Fatbat]

Yes it would have been nice to see him on the varsity in July and August but now that he is here, he will stay as long as he shuts the door when he toes the rubber. I do think he has an advantage that he is unknown to MLB. It would cool to do a deep dive in late September to see what the history of late season RP call ups in post season play is. 

[tony&rodney]

35 minutes ago, Linus said:

Good grief. He’s pitched 6 innings. We know nothing about him - I almost skipped the article and should have. 

That may have been a part of writing the article ... the Twins certainly could use a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen capable of getting outs. Even with such a limited usage, Funderburk appears to be the only option right now. 

No question, the Twins need to put Funderburk on the mound as often as possible to determine if he is going to be a viable relief pitcher for the team in October. A series of good outings from Funderburk will make his name worth more discussion though.

FWIW, Funderburk was excellent in AAA this year and it is somewhat confounding why he was not considered for MLB duty earlier this season. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

3 hours ago, Cody Pirkl said:

consistently crushed. Not being able to ever throw a fastball makes life hard as a pitcher

keeping in mind that besides Josh Winder, this also describes Griffin Jax and Kenta Maeda to a large degree, and Dallas Keuchel for sure, and Joe Ryan also being asked to mix up his fastball usage at one point. I agree it does make life harder but not sure you want to box yourself in by making a comment like that. 

I kind of like Funderburk as another lefty possibility. As long as he has a scouting report on the batters he will come in to face, and executes his pitches, it should be ok.

[Tibs]

Would be a huge boost for the postseason if he is a legit reliever

The Winder and Sands slander seems a bit undeserved. Not sure how they could fulfill their roles much better than they have.

[Oldgoat_MN]

I get that he has a SSS in MLB. However, he has a large body of successful innings in AAA competition. 

That's not nothing. And given it's what we have, that's what we're using.

I don't have a problem with that.

[Dman]

He has been a pretty consistent pitcher all the way up through the minors.  The only thing holding him back was his lower velocity fastball.  Still he rarely gave up HR's in the minors and that skill bodes well for making it in the majors.  Yeah he got crushed in a high leverage situation where he was struggling with command sometimes that happens but I think he could be the reliable lefty we need.  Working on that fastball might be key though.  Maybe Thielbar can help him some there.