Twins Playoff Roster: Bullpen

[Doctor Wu]

21 hours ago, Kenny Powers said:

I agree with the assessment of the writer.  My only addition would be Alcala.  He's another flame thrower with a decent track record.  I think he's healthy.  His rehab stats at AAA:  7 innings, 7 Ks.  1.17 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.  I understand the hesitation to rely on these guys coming back from injury, but it's nice to have him as depth in case something happens.

I really like that they built this pen vs. trying to trade for guys like last year.  There is risk in trading and there are risks in doing nothing.  But I like this bullpen on paper and am excited to see what they can do in the playoffs.

Adding Alcala is an interesting idea. It's cool to see Paddack making a comeback late in the season too, but I think Alcala out of the bullpen might be a good option. But as others have said, a lefty like Funderburk might make more sense. In any event, it's encouraging that we have a bunch of healthy arms all of a sudden and we can actually make some relatively good choices. 

[Minny505]

On 9/27/2023 at 7:37 AM, TopGunn#22 said:

I'm 100% with JD-Twins on the bullpen choices.  We have 8 slots total.  The Twins SHOULD carry 15 hitters/position players for better flexibility to pinch hit/pinch run/late game defense situations.

Lopez, Gray and Ryan are your SP.  Ober is your #4.  There is no need for Keuchel anywhere on this post season roster.

Duran-Closer   They have to decide if he's capable of closing games in back to back nights and he's got to gain confidence in his "splinker" again.  But he's the best arm we have, and there are times I say to myself "just throw it 100 mph down the middle and dare that guy to hit it Duran!!"  

Varland and Stewart 7th & 8th inning guys.  Stewart has been awesome this year.  His ERA is 0.38 !!  He looked great last night.  Varland is terrifying coming out of the pen.  His future is as a SP and I hope Matt Canterino is destined to be that 8th inning guy next season, but Varland throwing 100 mph out of the pen in the 7th or 8th inning is something to behold.

Jax needs a shorter leash but if they don't run him into the ground can still be highly effective.  With all this added depth for the post season, Jax should not get over-worked and his breaking ball should have that late bite that makes him so tough. 

Theilbar and Funderburk.  They need BOTH of these lefty's.  Theilbar is reliable.  I've liked what I've seen of Funderburk.

Pagan has really turned things around.  He belongs and I can't believe I'm saying this, but can actually be counted on in a high leverage situation if it's early in the game (5th or 6th inning).

Maeda-He's got a good track record in the post-season.  I'd actually like to see him piggy back Ryan in game #3.  Ryan gets the first 4-5 innings.  Maeda the next two. 

That leaves Paddock off the roster.  As nice as it was to see him throw in the mid to upper 90's last night, If it comes down to him and Funderburk, I'll take the lefty and throws mid 90's. 

The BIG thing for me is that I want to see Stewart and Varland in those 7th and 8th inning high leverage situations instead of Pagan and Jax.  Go with the young guys that throw GAS.  The Twins are on the verge of becoming one of the youngest teams in MLB next season.  This post season is where it's time to unleash the young guns.    

Paddock vs Funderburke is really the only decision to be made here.

And really, the answer may be both and the squad takes 12 pitchers. I wouldn't rule it out with Baldelli's stated penchant to always have more pitchers.

[Jeff K]

On 9/27/2023 at 9:32 AM, Rosterman said:

The Twins pen is looking pretty darn good. ALl about the needs of a lefty arm against which other team.

I want to know who styarts Game 4. Ober?

Game 4 if we make it to the next round.  That said, I think Ober was overlooked in the article.  He almost certainly will be part of the staff for the first round as a long reliever.

[stringer bell]

On 9/27/2023 at 9:37 AM, TopGunn#22 said:

I'm 100% with JD-Twins on the bullpen choices.  We have 8 slots total.  The Twins SHOULD carry 15 hitters/position players for better flexibility to pinch hit/pinch run/late game defense situations.

Lopez, Gray and Ryan are your SP.  Ober is your #4.  There is no need for Keuchel anywhere on this post season roster.

Duran-Closer   They have to decide if he's capable of closing games in back to back nights and he's got to gain confidence in his "splinker" again.  But he's the best arm we have, and there are times I say to myself "just throw it 100 mph down the middle and dare that guy to hit it Duran!!"  

Varland and Stewart 7th & 8th inning guys.  Stewart has been awesome this year.  His ERA is 0.38 !!  He looked great last night.  Varland is terrifying coming out of the pen.  His future is as a SP and I hope Matt Canterino is destined to be that 8th inning guy next season, but Varland throwing 100 mph out of the pen in the 7th or 8th inning is something to behold.

Jax needs a shorter leash but if they don't run him into the ground can still be highly effective.  With all this added depth for the post season, Jax should not get over-worked and his breaking ball should have that late bite that makes him so tough. 

Theilbar and Funderburk.  They need BOTH of these lefty's.  Theilbar is reliable.  I've liked what I've seen of Funderburk.

Pagan has really turned things around.  He belongs and I can't believe I'm saying this, but can actually be counted on in a high leverage situation if it's early in the game (5th or 6th inning).

Maeda-He's got a good track record in the post-season.  I'd actually like to see him piggy back Ryan in game #3.  Ryan gets the first 4-5 innings.  Maeda the next two. 

That leaves Paddock off the roster.  As nice as it was to see him throw in the mid to upper 90's last night, If it comes down to him and Funderburk, I'll take the lefty and throws mid 90's. 

The BIG thing for me is that I want to see Stewart and Varland in those 7th and 8th inning high leverage situations instead of Pagan and Jax.  Go with the young guys that throw GAS.  The Twins are on the verge of becoming one of the youngest teams in MLB next season.  This post season is where it's time to unleash the young guns.    

Two things--I think it is still open whether the Twins go with 14 or 15 position players. If they go with 15, the eight-man bullpen will probably come down to a decision between Funderburk and Paddack. I have a slight preference for Paddack over Funderburk. I don't see any opponents as particularly heavy on left handed hitters and Funderburk has pitched very well except for his penchant of allowing the first batter he faces to reach base, which could be huge in a high-pressure postseason appearance. Funderburk doesn't throw any harder than Thielbar, but he's got enough pitches to to be effective. 

If Paddack has a successful outing tonight or tomorrow, I'd roll the dice with him. 

[stringer bell]

On 9/28/2023 at 2:05 PM, Jeff K said:

Game 4 if we make it to the next round.  That said, I think Ober was overlooked in the article.  He almost certainly will be part of the staff for the first round as a long reliever.

I don't see room for Ober, particularly if the team goes with an 11-man pitching staff. 

[stringer bell]

On 9/28/2023 at 7:15 AM, Doctor Wu said:

Adding Alcala is an interesting idea. It's cool to see Paddack making a comeback late in the season too, but I think Alcala out of the bullpen might be a good option. But as others have said, a lefty like Funderburk might make more sense. In any event, it's encouraging that we have a bunch of healthy arms all of a sudden and we can actually make some relatively good choices. 

Alcalá hasn't been consistently effective. I think the Twins will consider a non-tender of him after the season is over. That said, there is enough stuff there for him to put it together and be a really good bullpen arm. I just wouldn't trust that in this postseason. 

[stringer bell]

On 9/27/2023 at 9:12 AM, terrydactyls said:

Just after the trade deadline, a lot of people were calling for the front office to be fired.  To me, this bullpen is better than one they could've built by losing more assets.  Kudos to the men in charge.

I'll give them credit for making good pitching decisions at the deadline. I rather see Tommy Pham or Mark Canha playing left field than Jordan Luplow and the cost for those two guys wasn't much. 

[wabene]

29 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I'll give them credit for making good pitching decisions at the deadline. I rather see Tommy Pham or Mark Canha playing left field than Jordan Luplow and the cost for those two guys wasn't much. 

Canha sure but with Pham I think you need to consider team chemistry. 

[stringer bell]

8 minutes ago, wabene said:

Canha sure but with Pham I think you need to consider team chemistry. 

Doesn’t seem to have been a distraction for the Snakes. 

[wabene]

4 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Doesn’t seem to have been a distraction for the Snakes. 

Maybe. From where I sit the Twins don't seem to have that kind of muy macho character and that's a good thing, but of course I'm just on the outside looking in. Just a personal preference.

[jorgenswest]

5 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I'll give them credit for making good pitching decisions at the deadline. I rather see Tommy Pham or Mark Canha playing left field than Jordan Luplow and the cost for those two guys wasn't much. 

The cost of Pham was a top 50 international prospect from this year. The Twins could have beaten that offer by sending their top international signee and possibly another asset if Castro was not viewed as better by the Mets.

The cost of Canha was a 23 year old starting pitcher in AA. With the Brewers Justin Jarvis had 91 strike outs and 26 walk in 75.2 innings and a 3.69 ERA. He was the Brewers 12th ranked prospect in the pipeline and entered the Mets as their 13th. A comp on the Twins might be 23 year old David Festa though his AA ERA was 4.39. To beat the offer they probably need to replace Festa with a better prospect of add someone to the deal.

The cost for Pham or Canha was not a top 100 global prospect and maybe that is the “not much” line. Prospects like Festa and Ariel Castro should not be parted with easily though. In this case they may not have been enough to best the offers of the other teams.

If you do make that deal you need some luck also. Pham has the same WAR (0.3) as Luplow in spite of much more playing time. Canha has 1.0 WAR but he has also three times the plate appearances. That leaves me to wonder if they had traded that level of asset for Canha or Pham would that have relegated Wallner to a bench role? 

[Jeff K]

20 hours ago, stringer bell said:

I don't see room for Ober, particularly if the team goes with an 11-man pitching staff. 

Since Ober is pitching today, it would seem he won't be on the roster.  Hopefully the Twins advance.  If that's the case, he might be starting a game in the next round.  Nice to see Paddack pitch so well.