Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month - May 2024

[Matt Braun]

Read and rejoice in the minor league hurlers who stood out in the month of May. 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

It’s time once again to spotlight and celebrate the handful of pitchers in Minnesota’s farm system who stood above their peers and dominated all who entered the batter’s box. Now, starting pitcher designation is strange in the minors—hurlers are often brought in during the middle innings but still rack up frames like a starter—so I like to use the Potter Stewart method of defining a starter: I know it when I see it. For the most part, this philosophy does the trick.

How did I decide my rankings? First, I look at who struck out the most batters—punchouts are always outs, after all—before considering a combination of ERA and innings pitched to differentiate between the candidates. Innings mean a lot to me; a pitcher with a low ERA but a vast chasm where their frames should be are like empty calories. I want a guy who can sustain his play over a long period of time. With that out of the way, let’s look at the honorable mentions.

Spencer Bengard, A Fort Myers - 1.31 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 2.49 FIP
I nearly left Bengard off the list because he technically only made two starts, but those numbers are far too good to ignore. The righty out of Cal Baptist (same alma mater as C.J. Culpepper) went six shutout on May 7th and nearly copied the start with a six-inning, one-run appearance on the 21st. A victim of labeling and designations, Bengard will have to settle for an honorable mention. 

Adrian Bohorquez, FCL Twins - 3.00 ERA, 15 IP, 3.11 FIP
The 19-year-old out of Venezuela was remarkably consistent in May; all three of his starts went for four innings, he never walked more than one batter in any outing, and only five runs scored on his watch the entire month. Keep an eye out for Bohorquez. 

David Festa, AAA St. Paul - 3.44 ERA, 18 ⅓ IP, 3.70 FIP
I was this close to putting Festa on the list, but—as much as I love the strikeouts—I couldn’t ignore his relatively mild innings total and simply passable ERA. If only his May 5th start wasn’t so disastrous. 

Jaylen Nowlin, AA Wichita - 2.88 ERA, 25 IP, 4.18 FIP
Leaving Nowlin off the list was the toughest choice of the month—and I’m still not entirely sure I got it right. Nowlin gobbled 25 innings in May, but his dazzling ERA is undercut by his ghastly walk rate, which was high enough to reign in his ranking. Consider this to be the 5.5 spot. 

The List:

5. C.J. Culpepper, A+ Cedar Rapids - 3.00 ERA, 18 IP, 2.54 FIP, 29.7 K%
Oh, there you are, Culpepper. The righty missed the first month of the season and returned to whiff nearly 30% of batters while issuing just three free passes. It appears rust was never a worry. The zenith of his play was his May 23rd start, in which he cruised through six perfect innings with eight strikeouts, earning him Midwest League MiLB Pitcher of the Week, Twins MiLB Pitcher of the Week, and Yeah, This Guy Obviously Kicked Butt honors. 

Unfortunately, any excitement surrounding Culpepper’s incredible month exited when he hit the IL on Saturday with the worst four words a pitcher can hear: a right forearm strain. Hopefully, the righty can avoid serious surgery.

4. Cesar Lares, A Fort Myers - 2.73 ERA, 26 ⅓ IP, 4.27 FIP, 25.2 K%
Lares had the good fortune of timing in the month of May. You don’t see five-start months in the low levels of the minors too often, especially for a hurler as young as Lares—and he took full advantage of his luck, never allowing more than three runs in any of his outings. 

The beauty of his month is in choice: was his best start the 11-strikeout performance on the 12th, or was it either of his six-inning, zero-earned-run outings surrounding the punchout fest? His only real blot was hit by pitches. Lares plunked nine and hit at least one batter in each start. A few fewer free passes and the lefty will be an easy candidate for a higher placing in future months. 

3. Pierson Ohl, AA Wichita - 2.20 ERA, 28 2/3 IP, 3.50 FIP, 25.2 K%
It is a genuine pleasure to watch Ohl pitch. Few pitchers in the system can consistently match his play. The 14th-rounder out of Grand Canyon University clearly already understands his game at a high level as he dips, dives, and attacks hitters with gumption unseen outside of the most revved-up closer. It’s art. 

To live in the zone as consistently as he does is outstanding; hitters know he’s going to throw a strike, and there’s nothing they can do about it. 

Given Minnesota’s troubles with the back end of their starting rotation, a future where Ohl subs in for a few starts down the stretch doesn’t seem far-fetched. Louie Varland’s struggles leave a wide-open gap behind Festa as the next man up; could Ohl be the one who steps up?

2. Ty Langenberg, A Fort Myers - 2.93 ERA, 27 2/3 IP, 2.47 FIP, 31.6 K%
Langenberg struck out 37 batters over 27 2/3 innings in May. That’s a 268-strikeout pace over 200 frames. What else is there to say?

The University of Iowa product is likely the most unfamiliar name on the list: drafted just last year, Langenberg barely played pro ball in 2023 and greeted 2024 with a disastrous five-inning, five-run outing. Undeterred, he smoked the competition in May, reaching five innings in all five of his starts with one lone clunker—a forgettable May 4th outing. Maybe he’s only hittable on the first start of the month. 

Yet again, the college-arm-turned-overwhelming-pro pipeline the Twins perfected appears to have given us another pitcher to consider. It’s getting difficult to keep track of these guys.

1. Zebby Matthews, AA Wichita - 1.21 ERA, 29 2/3 IP, 1.43 FIP, 33.3 K%
Do you guys see all those “1’s?” This wasn’t even a battle; the only choices were for 2nd through 5th place. Matthews thoroughly crushed his competition in May, striking out batters while walking them at a hilarious 18-to-1 pace. That’s two walks and 36 whiffs. I mean, would it have been better just to stay in the dugout?

Almost all of this came following a promotion, by the way. A promotion to a level known for hitting. Doesn’t matter. Matthews held steady in his run prevention while still punching out batters at the rate of an elite reliever. Oh, and he didn’t walk a batter until the 22nd. It’s abundantly clear now that Matthews is one of Minnesota’s finest pitching prospects, and he can now claim ownership of two Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month awards.

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[LambchoP]

Mathews has been great so far, but isn't he on the IL now too? And does anyone know anything about Canterino? It seems like he's pretty much cooked as a starter due to health, but I thought he had a chance to be a real weapon in our bullpen if he could ever stay on the field.

[Karbo]

I hope some of these guys can continue to improve so Varland can be used as a reliever.

[mark sills]

How do you leave Andrew Morris off your list. Mathews by far number one

[Dman]

Watching Zebby has been so much fun to start the year.  Just amazingly dominant.  I can't remember someone doing something like that since maybe Baily Ober?  I hope he keeps that mojo all the way to AAA and finally to MLB.  Would be nice to have another solid mid rotation starter.

[Tjwalsh65]

There is certainly a lot of promising pitching at AA right now.  Add in Festa and maybe the pipeline is finally arriving.

[DocBauer]

Headrick got off to a great start this year before landing on the IL. My gut feeling still has him as a LH setup man eventually, but if he can come back healthy and ready to go by mid summer, he and Festa offer some good depth at AAA.

Matthews and Morris are already at AA and doing well. Nowlin has electric stuff, though he might also end up in the pen if his control doesn't improve. Ohl had a great half a year ar AA last season, and after a slow start, has looked great again.Lewis has begun his rehab and will join Wichita soon. ALL of these guys could/should be at AAA to begin 2025 if not the end of this year. 

How's that look for a pipeline? And I haven't even mentioned Raya, or Canterino, (probably destined for the pen now), or Culpepper being OK and making up for lost time and at least finishing the season strong for Wichita.

This also allows Varland to probably slide in to a prominent pen roll as another late inning power arm. 

[FlyingFinn]

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

Mathews has been great so far, but isn't he on the IL now too?

No, the development list. This isn't for injuries. It's either to work on some part of his game (unlikely the way he's pitching) or just a roster shuffle for a few days (which seems to happen).

 

9 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Culpepper being OK

This is the guy I'm concerned about with injury as he has the forearm strain.

[bean5302]

Pretty tough to hold a 5.1 inning performance against a guy (Spencer Bengard) as not being a "start" considering Bengard was pitching in the first inning on normal rest.

Zebby Matthews was definitely the right call here. Let's hope he keeps it up at AA, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in AAA by the end of the year if he keeps dealing like this. He'll certainly pass David Festa on my Twins prospect list if he does.

Morris is getting results, but it's tough to believe in his 4.5 K/9 at AA over the past couple games. The batted ball data says tons of grounders and pop ups so the batters might just be getting lucky touching a piece of Morris' pitches, and if that's the case, the K's might tick up a bit to a belief worthy level.

[twinstalker]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Morris is getting results, but it's tough to believe in his 4.5 K/9 at AA over the past couple games. The batted ball data says tons of grounders and pop ups so the batters might just be getting lucky touching a piece of Morris' pitches, and if that's the case, the K's might tick up a bit to a belief worthy level.

I don't think that's how it works.  What I'm starting to believe in, though, is that the Twins might actually have a development process for blocks of clay.

[bean5302]

16 minutes ago, twinstalker said:

I don't think that's how it works.  What I'm starting to believe in, though, is that the Twins might actually have a development process for blocks of clay.

It's just two starts at AA and the hitters are making really poor contact against Morris. Either hitters will miss by a hair more and strike out or make contact hair better and crush some baseballs. Either way, we'll probably know more in 2-3 more games with Morris on the mound in the high minors.

[Matt Braun]

8 hours ago, mark sills said:

How do you leave Andrew Morris off your list. Mathews by far number one

Only three starts for Morris. In hindsight, he probably should have been an honorable mention fighting for that fifth spot, but I need more frames to rank him higher. 

[Matt Braun]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Pretty tough to hold a 5.1 inning performance against a guy (Spencer Bengard) as not being a "start" considering Bengard was pitching in the first inning on normal rest.

Blame minor league pitching usage and our human desire to label things 

[tony&rodney]

Matthews is a good choice. I have enjoyed watching Nowlin pitch quite a bit.

 

[Otaknam]

Given the team’s lack of front line starters let’s hope a couple of these guys deserve to move quickly, like Mathews and Ohl. The inability of the FO to develop number 1 or 2 type starters is stark, but maybe these guys can change that. A stable of mid or back end rotation guys won’t get it done in the playoffs.  Every strong team needs a shut down starter, like Verlander in his prime, and Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan aren’t that guy.