The Twins Have a Playoff-Caliber Pitching Staff

[Cody Pirkl]

Rarely do teams slug their way to postseason success, as October always features some of the biggest arms in baseball to help suppress offenses. Through their first two games, the Twins have shown that their pitching staff should be able to hang with the best of them.

Image courtesy of Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Pitching has been a question mark for the Twins seemingly forever. After showing what looked to be a Top 5 staff in baseball in the first half, they came back down to earth after the All-Star break after injuries and a bit of regression hit. With a few pieces missing and a lack of deadline moves, the Twins hinged on several players returning in good health at he top of their game, and through the first round of the playoffs, it looks like the bet paid off in a big way.

While the Blue Jays offense is far from a juggernaut, they were comfortably a lineup in the top half of the league ranking 11th in OPS at .745. In two games against this lineup, the Twins pitching staff was utterly dominant. The pairing of Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray was predictably formidable, but the bullpen is where the Twins' stable of arms really answered a lot of necessary questions. 

The Twins leaned on their bullpen for 7 1/3 innings, allowing just five hits, one walk, and striking out 10. Perhaps more impressive than the pitching lines was how dominant each arm looked when called upon.

It goes without saying, this is a bullpen unlike any we’ve ever witnessed in Twins territory. For years it seems Twins fans have watched opposing postseason-caliber bullpens be called upon with a stable of arms capable of approaching triple digits, wondering how this was even possible. Those days are now over.

From Brock Stewart and Louie Varland to Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran, the Twins' postseason bullpen looks every bit the part. It seems just yesterday that the Twins' main targets were soft-tossing, pitch-to-contact, ground ball specialists. Skipping ahead to 2023, the Twins reliever with the lowest average fastball velocity to appear in either game was Caleb Thielbar averaging 93.8 in Game 2. This isn’t the mid-2000s Twins anymore.

Beyond the pitchers who dominated in the first round, the Twins have yet to turn to other pitchers who have dominated to varying degrees such as Chris Paddack, Kody Funderburk, and Emilio Pagán, each of whom we’ll likely see at some point against Houston in the coming days.

The playoffs are random, but the Twins have the tools to compete in an atmosphere so often dominated by pitching staffs. With two legitimate top-of-the-rotation options to lead what is finally a dominant, high-octane bullpen, fans should have a reason to believe that the Twins are legitimate contenders to go on a run for a few weeks, which is all it takes in the postseason.

There are no assurances in October, but the Twins have put together a pitching staff worthy of hanging our hopes on. Regardless of where the season goes from here, it’s worth celebrating. It’s time for Twins fans to sit back and enjoy the smoke being thrown on a daily basis.

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[Karbo]

I have followed the Twins since they first arrived here. The one common theme that has happened in the last 30 years or so has been a pitching staff that just wasn't as good as the other playoff teams. At this time, it looks like we actually have if not the best staff, one of the best. They should be able to hold their own against anyone. Now, they need to get the hitters going. 

[JD-TWINS]

To finally have pushed Emilio Pagan to the 8th spot in the bullpen is refreshing, particularly since he’s pitched really well in ‘23 as a whole!

We have enough talent in our pen to demote Funderburk - not because of performance but just due to a lack of experience relative to the other guys down there. We may see him back if we get to longer series!

Paddack - Maeda - Varland - Stewart as add on’s to our core 4 seems like a fairytale.

We have 4 solid starters as well - regardless of how things work out with Houston, have to be happy with the Staff assembled!!!!

[Otaknam]

The Tom Kelly approach of pitch to contact and let your defense bail you out. It took years to get past that approach, and thankfully they did. Also the TK approach to hitting was make contact, not try to hit home runs. They lost David Ortiz to Boston with that philosophy.