Twins Pitcher of the Month: May 2024

[Cody Christie]

The Twins had an inconsistent on-field performance during May, but multiple pitchers compiled strong totals for the month. Who had the best performance in May? The answer may surprise you.

Minnesota’s bullpen carried the team through the season’s first month, with three relievers finishing in the top five for Twins Daily’s top pitchers of the month. Brock Stewart, Griffin Jax, and Cole Sands were vital to many of the Twins’ early successes. Stewart has been on the injured list, and Sands has seen a decline in performance, so May has seen some different names move up the rankings. One starting pitcher has stood out compared to the rest, so let’s jump into this month’s rankings. 

May Pitchers of the Month
#4 – Chris Paddack – 6 G, 3.60 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 35.0 IP, 6 BB, 33 K, 0.20 WPA
Paddack is in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, so there is always concern about how many innings a pitcher can throw. He’s thrown 95 pitches or more in three of his starts this month, including an eight-inning gem at Cleveland, where he limited the Guardians to two earned runs on three hits. His velocity has dropped in recent starts, so it will be interesting to see if the Twins find a way to give him extra days off throughout the season. 

#3 – Griffin Jax – 12 G, 2.19 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 3 BB, 16 K, 0.70 WPA
Jax had a rough patch earlier this month, allowing earned runs in three straight appearances. Since then, he has made seven straight scoreless appearances with ten strikeouts across 6 2/3 innings. Jax has seven holds and a save while ranking second on the team in WPA behind the next player on this list. His 32.6 K% and 25.6 K-BB% were the highest totals among the team’s bullpen. Jax ranks in the 95th percentile for K% and Whiff%, and he’s struck out 38% of the right-handed hitters he has faced, which ranks in the top five among AL relievers. Other relievers struggled during May, so it’s hard to imagine where the team would be without Jax. 

#2 – Simeon Woods Richardson – 5 G, 2.84 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 5 BB, 17 K, 0.87 WPA
Woods Richardson has been critical to the team’s rotation during May. The team was hoping not to need him until later in the season, but he’s proving he can get hitters out at the big-league level. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts this month. Here’s where Woods Richardson ranks among MLB rookies with 35.0 or more innings pitched this season: ERA (3rd), BB/9 (4th), HR/9 (3rd), and Opponent SLG (3rd). SWR went six straight starts without factoring into the decision, which was the second-longest streak in Twins history. He picked up his second win at the final start of the month and brought notes about the team’s performance to his postgame interview. 

Winner – Joe Ryan – 5 G, 2.51 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 32.1 IP, 4 BB, 32 K, 0.64 WPA
Ryan is putting up first-half totals that will put him in the conversation to make the AL All-Star team. In May, he held opponents to a .193/.220/.319 (.539) slash line while pitching into the sixth inning in all five starts. His best start of the month came in his final appearance against the Royals on May 27th. In seven innings, he held Kansas City to one earned run on four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. With the performance, his season ERA dropped under 3.00 for the first time since his third start of the year. 

He recorded six straight quality starts from April 24 to May 27, leading the Twins with eight quality starts this season. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in ten of his 11 starts. Among qualified AL pitchers, he ranks in the top 10 in WHIP (3rd), BB/9 (3rd), K/9 (9th), IP (7th), K/BB (4th), FIP (5th), and Situational Wins Saved (8th). According to Baseball-Reference, Max Kepler is the lone Twins player with more WAR than Ryan this season. With Pablo Lopez struggling, Ryan has looked like the staff's ace during the past month. 

Congrats to Joe Ryan on his strong performance over the last month. To make his first All-Star team, he must continue to pitch well in June.  

What do you think? How would you rank the top Twins pitchers based on their April performance? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

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[tony&rodney]

You jinxed him. jk

[Schmoeman5]

And then came June. 

[Doctor Gast]

HOU would be a good test

[LambchoP]

Ryan has looked good but he kind of has me worried. He got absolutely rocked by the Astros last night. Plus there was last year. He looked this great in the first half and then boom, struggled in the second half. Hopefully he can keep doing well. I think Paddack will need a 10 or 15 day IL stint just to manage his innings. Unfortunately there is no great option to fill in for him. Varland has looked bad all year and Festa can't seem to find his control or any consistency. Twins are one injury in the rotation away from being in real trouble...

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

Ryan has looked good but he kind of has me worried. He got absolutely rocked by the Astros last night. Plus there was last year. He looked this great in the first half and then boom, struggled in the second half. Hopefully he can keep doing well. I think Paddack will need a 10 or 15 day IL stint just to manage his innings. Unfortunately there is no great option to fill in for him. Varland has looked bad all year and Festa can't seem to find his control or any consistency. Twins are one injury in the rotation away from being in real trouble...

For a short IL stint the Twins could bring up Festa or Dobnak with the idea of going to the bullpen after a few innings and practically making the missed start a bullpen game. If the IL stint is timed right he would only miss a start.