Expect Kody Funderburk to Bear a Prominent Bullpen Role in 2024

[Cody Schoenmann]

There is a chance Kody Funderburk will become one of the most heavily used relievers out of the Twins bullpen in 2024. Is that a good idea?

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett - USA TODAY Sports

Heading into the 2024 season, the Twins have four arms appointed as primary late-inning, high-leverage relievers: Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and Caleb Thielbar. Behind this quartet of trustworthy hurlers is an amalgam of relatively unknown commodities who fit one of two molds: young, former starters who are now pursuing careers as relievers, or veterans attempting to bounce back from injuries and avoid a bleak conclusion to their once-promising careers. 

Though the former archetype has fascinating rebound options like Jorge Alcalá and the recently-signed Josh Staumont (both of whom could eventually become integral parts of the team's bullpen), the latter includes young arms who, by developing a sustainably effective pitch mix and approach, could become long-term, cost-controlled bullpen weapons, like Duran and Jax did in seasons past.

Pitchers in that group include Cole Sands, Josh Winder, Jordan Balazovic, Simeon Woods Richardson, Matt Canterino, Brent Headrick, Ronny Henriquez, A.J. Alexy, and, most notably, Kody Funderburk. Funderburk, 27, made his debut last season in the middle of a pennant race, against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians. On Aug. 28, Funderburk entered the game in relief of a struggling Kenta Maeda and was able to pitch two scoreless innings, striking out three of six batters faced and generating a 0.66 Win Probability Added at FanGraphs (WPA), which tied Winder for the highest of any pitcher in that game.

Though he stumbled in his next appearance, giving up a game-winning home run to Guardians' first baseman Kole Calhoun on August 30, the Dallas Baptist University product bounced back strong, generating a 0.00 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 14.9 K/9, and zero home runs given up through his next 39 total batters faced to finish his rookie campaign. Funderburk didn't pitch in the postseason, but he firmly established himself as the Twins' second-most trusted left-handed relief pitcher (behind Thielbar) and a fixture in the team's bullpen for the upcoming 2024 season. 

Interestingly enough, Funderburk's progression coincides with the recent departure of Emilio Pagán, who became a mainstay in the Twins bullpen, throwing a combined 132 1/3 innings over the previous two seasons. Although Pagán's exit has been celebrated by many, replacing a reliever who managed a 2.99 ERA and 1.1 Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR) over 69 1/3 innings pitched in 2023 will not be easy. On the surface, Staumont, who was recently signed to a one-year, $950,000 contract, feels like the most plausible candidate to replace Pagán's contract. Yet, after pitching just 57 2/3 innings over the past two seasons and undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome this past July, it would be malpractice for the organization to expect Pagán's prolific production out of the 30-year-old reclamation project. So, who is the most likely candidate to replace Pagán's availability and reliability?

Right-handed throwing Alcala could make sense as Pagán's successor, but with similar health concerns as Staumont, the most realistic option appears to be Funderburk. At first glance, the idea of “replacing” Pagán with Funderburk could be seen as incomprehensible, as the left-handed Funderburk is a noticeably different pitcher than the right-handed Pagán. Yet, once one peeks below the surface, they will find that their splits are not too dissimilar. Here are Funderburk's and Pagán's splits versus left-handed and right-handed batters:

Versus Left-Handed Batters:

• Funderburk: 8 games, 4 1/3 innings pitched, 17 batters faced, 3 hits allowed, 1 home run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 0.92 WHIP
• Pagán: 58 games, 29 1/3 innings pitched, 120 batters faced, 22 hits allowed, 2 home runs, 11 walks, 33 strikeouts, 1.13 WHIP

Versus Right-Handed Batters:

• Funderburk: 11 games, 7 1/3 innings pitched, 30 batters faced, 3 hits allowed, 0 home runs, four walks, 13 strikeouts, 0.95 WHIP
• Pagán: 63 games, 39 2/3 innings pitched, 153 batters faced, 23 hits allowed, 3 home runs, 10 walks, 32 strikeouts, 0.83 WHIP

Admittedly, there is a blatant discrepancy between Funderburk's and Pagán's sample sizes. Still, the former's encouraging numbers against right-handed hitters (most notably his sub-1.00 WHIP over 30 batters faced) lead one to believe that he is more than just a "lefty specialist." Funderburk, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, is an overbearing presence on the mound, utilizing a fastball and slider as a one-two punch alongside a deceptive sinker, which he tends to pinpoint on the lower-left side of the strike zone to dominate hitters of both handednesses.

The one glaring weakness in Funderburk's game is that he lets up far too many walks, evidenced by his below-average 10.6% walk rate. Funderburk needs to be able to control the zone and add velocity to his fastball, which currently tops out around 93 MPH, if he wants to become a consistent high-leverage reliever for the Twins. If he can make these adjustments, the Twins could have a reliever who could replace Pagán’s production and usurp Thielbar as the team’s most effective left-handed reliever on their hands.

Should Funderburk be trusted to take on Pagán's workload in 2024? If not Funderburk, then who? What do you think is Funderburk's ceiling as a reliever? Join the discussion and comment below.

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[Oldtimer]

Although it was a small sample,  his outings in 23 show that he belongs. He'll have a spot in the bullpen when they break camp.

[miller761]

Why not? He has earned a chance to do so.

[thelanges5]

We need more lefties and he pitched well once he was called up. Go Fundy!

[Elite Benchwarmer]

I'd bet on Funderburk having a better season than Thielbar.  I think that age is catching up to Caleb along with higher than average injury risk.  And hitters seem to be starting to figure him out.  I hope I'm wrong and that Caleb offers big value in 2024.

I agree with the author, Funderburk needs to improve his control.  I am optimistic that he'll be a valuable part of the 2024 Twins.

 

[Dman]

Last year AAA's tighter zone really made a lot of pitchers struggle, but not Funderburk.  His 13/9 K rate and the fact his ERA, FIP and xFIP are all close and shows he has been consistently good.  MLB is a different animal though and he will get dissected as hitters wait for certain pitches in certain counts,  Still he has been pretty rock solid the last two years.  He has three options remaining and appears to be their best lefty at this point so unless he falter's  he looks like a solid bullpen piece.  I mean Rocco trusted him with high leverage almost right out the gate so they like his stuff.  The only issue is sample size is too small at the MLB level.  We will know more once he has a full season under his belt.

[Melissa]

Nice article!

[Karbo]

At this point expecting anything from Staumont is crazy. He hasn't been that good before the surgery and that procedure doesn't have a real good success rate. Alcala is anybody's guess. Fundy looked pretty good in his limited time with the big club so of the 3 I would say at this point he is the most likely to get more innings.

[Blyleven2011]

We need pitching and if  Funderburk can bring the thunder  I'm all for it ...

He showed us a small sample of what he could be in his first taste of the jitters of MLB baseball , I hope he has a good year  and being lefthanded will be here to stay ...

He didn't show much for jitters , he got his outs , gave up only 1 homer , less hits than innings pitched is good , but walked some batters , so he has some work to do ...

We need pitching  ...

[HerbieFan]

I think Funderburk is now in that phase of his career where he will be a constant member of the bullpen.  Time at AAA will only be for rehab assignments or if he needs a quick "reset".  Kid has nothing left to prove at AAA and has shown he can consistently get MLB hitters out.  Put his name in ink coming out of ST.

[DocBauer]

The Twins have some arms, right now, to work with. They have those young arms converting to the pen, and a couple rebound, more veteran arms. Good chance they add 1 or 2 more of those.

I don't think Funderburk has to be anything but the best version of himself he can be. Andnindont believe any single arm necessarily has to replace Pagan's IP. If the front end of the pen is just solid, Pagan is replaced. Having a solid enough rotation where you don't have some emergency long reliever languishing for weeks without being used deepens the pen. 

Nobody has to replace Pagan directly.

[nicksaviking]

I'm not sure he'd take on Pagan's workload. Going back, it appears the Twins '#5' reliever tends to only throw 35-45 innings. Typically they run out four guys that approach 60 innings, last year it was only three due to injuries. Usually they have a group of three core relievers and then one other takes on a larger share. After that it's kind of a mix-and-match situation. Assuming Duran, Jax, Stewart and Theilbar are the core, as identified in the OP, Funderburk should be more a part of the ensemble supporting cast.

[JD-TWINS]

Staumont - Alcala should help regarding workload………Thielbar is aging & seems to be more fit to come in and end innings a starter has begun.

Funderburk - Stewart - Jax are the guys that will get the ball to Duran.

11 2/3 and 6 hits - 1 run over his appearances last year - really good. I think he takes over as the left hander in tight situations after the 6th. He looks to be a solid contributor over all of ‘24.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

like the OP, I like WHIP as a stat for relievers too. At 10 inning threshold, Funderburk was the 22nd ranked reliever in WHIP. His walk rate is high, but he limited hits. More innings may even out the Walks to Hits a bit.
 

 

[jmlease1]

The good thing is we won't likely need Funderburk in too many high-leverage situations assuming the back of the bullpen comes into camp in good health and stays that way through spring training. I like him a lot as a second lefty and middle inning thrower as we get a little more data on him and see if he can keep the walks at a reasonable enough pace for him to be an effective reliever to throw 1-2 innings in an outing. He looks like a good option.

Pagan's rubber arm and consistently good health might be missed, but I do think the twins have some guys lined up to take those middle innings with the ability to be as effective.

[Fatbat]

Having a consistent lefty set up man that can get the ball to Duran will be huge. Completely messes up opposing batting orders with excessive PH in the 7th/8th. We should just call Fundy a huge tool. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

I want Funderburk. Give him the chance to succeed or fail.

Staumont? He stunk and then he had surgery. I'm  fine with him getting every oppurtunity at AAA to get his career back on track.

[Doctor Wu]

17 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

He didn't show much for jitters , he got his outs

That was my impression too. Sure, as others have noted, it's a small sample size, but once he was called up, he seemed confident, if not fearless. Hope he can help the club this year too. 

[Whitey333]

I'm sure the Twins will love him and.use him a lot.  He comes cheap.

[IndianaTwin]

From the OP: 

"Heading into the 2024 season, the Twins have four arms appointed as primary late-inning, high-leverage relievers: Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and Caleb Thielbar. Behind this quartet of trustworthy hurlers is an amalgam of relatively unknown commodities who fit one of two molds: young, former starters who are now pursuing careers as relievers, or veterans attempting to bounce back from injuries and avoid a bleak conclusion to their once-promising careers."

 

Given that the "quartet of trustworthy hurlers" is itself an "amalgram of... [now known] commodities who fit one of two molds,..." and given the general level of effectiveness Funderburk showed, it seems appropriate to view him as an option to make the quartet a quintet.

 

 

 

[MinnInPa]

20 hours ago, miller761 said:

Why not? He has earned a chance to do so.

 

[MinnInPa]

i think you can forget the Simeon woods Richardson option.. he has no stuff..and will get shelled anytime he enters a game

[Minny505]

5 hours ago, MinnInPa said:

i think you can forget the Simeon woods Richardson option.. he has no stuff..and will get shelled anytime he enters a game

Simeon Woods Richardson literally had the best Stuff+ rating of all AAA Twins pitchers in 2023 and 10th out of all 1,239 AAA pitchers,

Stuff+ is a metric that measures the physical characteristics of a pitch, aka "stuff", then compares results across all pitchers, using a 100 rating as average, the way all + stats do. This kind of pitch modeling is based on the modeling that the majority of front offices use to evaluate pitchers, both how good they truly are and how to optimize them. 

His gaudy Stuff+ would indicate he is having issues with command, tunneling, sequencing, deception, mix, or any number of things.

But the one issue that Simeon Woods Richardson does not seem to have is his stuff. If he succeeds at the game's highest level, it will be precisely because of his incredible stuff, despite his other shortcomings.

Below are some resources if you would like to dig deeper into this fascinating, and insider level, pitcher evaluation tool:

https://library.fangraphs.com/pitching/stuff-location-and-pitching-primer/

[MinnInPa]

his "stuff" gets shelled ... wont have a successful MLB career...AAA player and occasional call up