From Griffin Jax Down to Steven Okert: Twins Bullpen Confidence Rankings

[Seth Stohs]

At the trade deadline, the San Diego Padres went out and acquired four pitchers including a couple of All Star caliber relief pitchers in Tanner Scott and Jason Adams. The Twins traded for Trevor Richards. 

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports (Jax photo), Matt Krohn, USA Today (Okert photo)

How many of the Twins relievers do you believe in to get the job done 80-85% of the time? 

A study done by Retrosheet several years ago showed that when a team holds a one-run lead going into the ninth inning, they win about 86% of the time. If they lead by two runs, the team wins about 94% of the time. With a three-run lead, that number jumps to about 97%

Mariano Rivera, who is the only player unanimously voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, was successful in just over 89% of his career save opportunities. Joe Nathan’s save percentage was percentage points higher than Rivera’s. 

My point isn’t to ask how Joe Nathan didn’t even get enough votes to remain on the Hall of Fame ballot for more than one election cycle. Instead, it’s simply to point out that even the best relievers of all-time didn’t get their job done almost 10% of the time. 

So again I ask, how would you rank the relief pitchers in the Twins bullpen right now? This is a question that could be asked from month-to-month (maybe even week-to-week) and the results might look a little bit different. Frankly, the Twins need someone, a couple of relievers to have a strong stretch run. It's more important since Brock Stewart will be out of the season, and Justin Topa has had yet another setback. 

Check out my personal Twins bullpen confidence rankings, and then discuss them in the Comments below. But be sure to post your rankings too. 

RHP Griffin Jax (29)
3-4, 8 Saves, 1.79 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, .176 BAA
57 G, 55 ⅓ IP, 35 H, 3 HR, 12 BB, 1 HB, 71 K

I don’t think there is much question at the top of this list. In fact, earlier this week, Nick wrote that Jax has a strong case to be the Twins MVP to this point in the season. He just continues to get better and better. He has been a workhorse. He has been nearly unhittable. He throws a ton of strikes. Considering how max-effort each of his pitches are, he generally has very good control. His fastball is now consistently 96-97. His slider can be absolutely devastating and he gets a ton of swing-and-miss on it. And this year, it sure seems that his changeup has greatly improved. When it’s on, it darts down and in on a right-hander. For me, I want Jax to pitch a little bit less to try to keep his arm strong. That said, I want him pitching in the most important late-inning situation whether that happens in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. 

RHP Jhoan Duran (26) 
6-6, 18 Saves, 3.32 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .207 BAA 
44 G, 40 ⅔ IP, 30 H, 4 HR, 12 BB, 3 HB, 44 K 

We definitely aren’t seeing the same Jhoan Duran in 2024 that we did in 2023. While he still sits 100-103 with the four-seam fastball, and his sprinkler typically hits 97-98 mph. However, watching him, it’s not quite as electrifying as we have seen. And, maybe that’s because his season started late and he really didn’t have a spring training. That matters. His ERA is a little higher, though his WHIP is actually better. He’s giving up the same number of hits per nine innings (6.6) and home runs per nine innings (0.9). His walk rate is actually down to 2.7 BB/9 from 3.6 BB/9. Maybe what’s most notable is that his strikeout rate has dropped from 12.1 K/9 to 9.7 K/9. He’s still striking out more than a batter per inning, but 2 ½ less strikeouts per nine innings is noteworthy. Again, looking at the numbers, it’s entirely possible that we have just been spoiled by what we have seen from Duran in his first two big-league seasons. He’s still quite reliable. 

RHP Cole Sands (27) 
6-1, 4 Saves, 3.23 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, .223 BAA
47 G, 55 ⅔ IP, 47 H, 5 HR, 8 BB, 5 HB, 63 K 

I can’t imagine that anyone who made predictions about the 2024 Twins roster would have had Sands being as valuable and productive as he has been. He has been up with the team all season. He’s pitched in a variety of roles. Primarily he’s been in middle relief, but he’s had set-up opportunities too. He’s come in in the third or fourth innings, and he’s been given save opportunities when Jax and Duran are unavailable, and been quite successful. Some of that is simply being a full-time bullpen arm and that arm being healthy. He is throwing harder, touching 97 and even 98 at times. He’s always had the ability to spin the ball and get swings and misses on his slider. He also changes speeds. In 21 2/3 MLB innings in 2023, he had 3 walks. In 55 2/3 innings this year, he has just eight walks. He’s giving up less hits. His home run rate has been cut in half. He’s over 10 K/9. It sure seems that he is getting a lot more high-leverage opportunities and thankfully for the Twins, he’s been quite successful. 

RHP Jorge Alcala (29) 
3-3, 0 Saves, 3.09 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, .186 BAA
43 G, 46 ⅔ IP, 31 H, 5 HR, 16 BB,3 HB, 43 K 

Alcala made his MLB debut at age 24 at the end of the 2019 season. Unfortunately, he has missed a lot of time with various arm/shoulder injuries. He pitched in 59 games for the Twins in 2021. He struck out just over a batter per inning. He had just 2.0 BB/9. His WHIP was at 0.97. But then he pitched in just two games in 2022 and just 11 games in 2023. Earlier this season, he was the guy who would get sent to the Saints when the Twins needed an arm. Simply, he had options. But, he has become much more valuable and consistent with each of his pitches. Sure, he had a bad game over the weekend, but overall, he has been quite good. He’s giving up less hits, less homers, and has his walk rate down to a more average number. Especially noteworthy is his pure stuff. He is now hitting triple digits rather consistently and his slider is often sharp, late breaking. 

RHP Ronny Henriquez (24) 
1-0, 0 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .217 BAA
5 G, 6 IP, 5 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 HB, 5 K  

I would think that this is where the lists might find variance. Henriquez has been up a few times to eat innings, but it seems that he is much more sharp and throws better in the big leagues than he has with the Saints. He’s not a big guy, but he throws hard, and he’s got a really sharp slider. He hasn’t been consistent, and he’s still often being asked to work three-plus innings, but he has the kind of stuff that can dominate once through the lineup. Henriquez came up in 2022 and pitched in three games. He was hurt most of the first half of the 2023 season and then pitched in 37 games for the Saints. He came off of the Twins 40-man roster after the season but quickly re-signed with the Twins. He’s pitched pretty well with the Saints this year, cutting his walk total significantly. 

RHP Louie Varland (26)
0-5, 0 Saves, 6.14 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, .312 BAA
8 G, 7 GS, 36 ⅔ IP, 49 H,9 HR, 11 BB, 4 HB, 32 K 

I’m not sure the Twins can or should do it now. When Joe Ryan got hurt, it increased the team’s need for Varland to be available as a starter. However, if the Twins were to bring up Varland and put him into the bullpen, I think he’d be a pretty reliable option. He is throwing 98 as a starter, we’d again see triple-digit numbers from him out of the bullpen. He can air it out a bit more. He did well in the role last year. 

LHP Caleb Thielbar (37) 
2-3, 3 Saves, 5.91 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, .268 BAA
43 G, 35 IP, 38 H, 5 HR, 16 BB, 0 HB, 41 K 

Thielbar came back to the Twins for the 2020 season. That season, he posted a 2.25 ERA. From 2021-2023, his ERAs were 3.23, 3.49, 3.23. In those three seasons, he has struck out about 11 per nine innings while walking about 2 ½ per nine innings. He missed some time in 2023 and came back very strong. He missed a lot of time early in 2024, and he really struggled. On June 11 and 12, he pitched in back-to-back games against the Rockies. He faced four batters in each game and gave up four hits, three walks and one batter got on via error. He has now pitched in 20 games since then, and in 19 ⅓ innings, he has given up run(s) in five of them. Not great. His ERA is about 4.50 since then, but he’s a veteran. He’s been through it. So, unless he’s just completely done, he should be solid the rest of the season. From my eye test, he is now throwing 92-95 again and his slow, slow curveball is pretty solid again. 

RHP Josh Winder (27) 
0-0, 0 Saves, 3.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, .212 BAA
4 G, 9 IP, 7 H, 0 HR, 1 BB, 2 HB, 10 K  

Once a top 100 prospect, Winder has found himself on the Injured List pretty much since his call-up in 2022. His days as a starter are likely done. However, when healthy, he does have some really good stuff. He has plenty of fastball. He’s got a good slider, at times. We just haven’t seen it a lot since he’s been with the Saints most of the season. That is, after missing the first month of the season and not throwing through all of spring training.

LHP Kody Funderburk (27) 
1-0, 1 Save, 5.61 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, .279 BAA
26 G, 33 ⅔ IP, 36 H, 4 HR, 15 BB, 5 HB, 31 K 

Funderburk was a decent, lefty starting pitcher prospect. However, once he moved to the bullpen, he really took off. He was called up to the Twins in late August and posted a 0.75 ERA with a 0.92 WHIP over 12 innings in which he had 19 strikeouts. This year, he has given up at least one run in 13 of his 26 appearances. The last time he pitched was July 12th. He went on the Injured List with an oblique strain on July 21st. He could be back soon, and if healthy, hopefully he returns to those 2023 levels of success. 

RHP Scott Blewett (28) 
0-0, 0 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, .000 BAA
1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 HB, 1 K  

A week ago, Blewett threw 15 pitches in a perfect inning for the Twins to close out an 8-3 win against the Royals. It was his first MLB appearance since 2021. It felt like a great story. And by the next day, we learned that he had been DFAd. A couple of days later, we learned he cleared waivers and was outrighted to St. Paul. However, he elected to become a free agent. A day later, he re-signed with the Twins and is back with the Saints. He has pitched well throughout the season in St. Paul. He’s got a good fastball, a really good slider, and an impressive split-finger pitch. Could he get back to the Twins this season?                                                                  

RHP Trevor Richards (31)
0-1, 1 Save, 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .100 BAA 
8 G, 9 IP, 3 H, 0 HR, 7 BB, 2 HB, 10 K  

The Twins lone trade deadline acquisition sent infielder Jay Harry to the Blue Jays organization in exchange for veteran Trevor Richards. He started with two, scoreless, one-inning outings. However, the first time he was put into a close game, he gave up three runs on one hit and an impressive five walks. The next night, Baldelli put him right back out there the next night, and he earned the save with a perfect inning. Ultimately, that is the only one of his eight appearances in which he gave up a run. He had another game in which he gave up a hit and two walks but got out of it unscathed. In his six other outings, he’s actually been just fine, but the lack of control can be hard to watch. 

LHP Steven Okert (33)  
3-2, 1 Save, 5.40 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, .273 BAA
42 G, 33 ⅓ IP, 36 H, 6 HR, 15 BB, 3 HB, 31 K   

The veteran lefty spent parts of 2016-2018 with the San Francisco Giants. He didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2019 or 2020. However, he worked in 158 games for the Marlins between 2021 and 2023. While his FIP was over 4.30, his ERA was actually below 3.00 the first two years. Before the 2024 season, the Twins acquired Okert from the Marlins in exchange for utility man Nick Gordon. With Okert, it all comes down to Command and Control. As you see, he simply has too many walks, and that’s made worse with three hit batters. You can usually tell how an Okert outing will go pretty quick, with fastballs flying up and out of the strike zone and sliders 

Summary
So there you have it. My rankings of the current Twins with a couple of Triple-A guys thrown in for good measure. 

1. Griffin Jax

 

2. Jhoan Duran 
3. Cole Sands 

 

4. Jorge Alcala 

 

5. Ronny Henriquez
6. Louie Varland 
7. Caleb Thielbar

 

8. Josh Winder
9. Kody Funderburk (IL)
10. Scott Blewett 

 

11. Trevor Richards
12. Steven Okert 

Your turn. Let me know what you think of my rankings, and share yours as well.

 

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[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Durán first, tiny gap to Jax second, then a medium size gap to Alcalá and Sands.

I would also throw Varland into that second group as another guy who might throw like 1 ⅔ innings across the 6th 7th or 8th, if they are going to stop using Sands that way. Andrew Miller had success with that role. I think Louie would be great in that role, someone who could take some burden off of the other guys periodically. 

 

 

 

[Shs_2]

Jax

Duran

Alcala, Sands

Thielbar , j. Moran !? , J Winder

Richards , varland

Funder

Okert

Jay jackson

[Mike Sixel]

Hard to argue with your rankings, though I might trust Winder more than you do right now, but not much more.....

Real bummer that Stewart got hurt, that would bump everyone down a spot, real bummer.

I blame the FO for this mess, 100%. How Ockert is on this roster, and Winder isn't hurts my brain, splits be damned. How they refused to add to the roster at the deadline stinks (though this COULD be ownership, hard to say). And no, Richards doesn't count as an addition, how HE's on the roster over Winder or Varland is truly mind boggling at this point. 

[thelanges5]

Rocco only has 4 guys he can trust right now. Like to see Winder back (should be eligible early September). Cannot count on Louie right now because of our starting pitching situation. Maybe Paddack can come back to the bullpen in Sept?

[BH67]

The Padres paid far too much for that one-time infusion, and that will impair their championship hopes in future years.

I point out that Bruce Bochy mostly relied on three relief pitchers during Texas's run to the world championship last autumn. Of course, that trio had to be good on two or three consecutive days, a trait that Cleveland's closing trio this year clearly demonstrate. I remain hopeful that one or two Twins will achieve this by October.

I hoped that the decision to use Jorge Alcala for a third time in four days against Texas would shame Rocco Baldelli from experimenting in high leverage situations for the rest of the season. Last night, he instead doubled down.

Because Twins starters are routinely pitching six or seven innings now, I'm less concerned than most here about postseason depth. Without a healthy lineup it won't matter anyway. I have lost faith in Baldelli's skill to deploy it, however.

[nicksaviking]

Shocker, the journeymen vets are at the bottom.

I don't trust relievers, but at least as far as this team goes, the ones with familiarity with the organization and likely more importantly, the ones that the organization is familiar with tend to be the best ones. 

It might take a year or two, but if you already know when, where and how to use a guy, it's got to be a huge advantage.

[USAFChief]

On our list of "most trusted relievers" are a guy who isn't even a reliever, a guy who was DFA'd and nobody wanted, IL members, and current minor leaguers. 

Of note, the front office's big deadline acquisition is below all the avove.

 

Tremendous work, Falvine. 

[roger]

Way to many guys who cause me to grimace when entering the game.  

[mikelink45]

Excellent argument for keeping OKERT!!! Oh well, he got a mop up inning to drop his ERA a little.

Duran is still number one.  I am reluctant to leave Sands that high.   

The real case is for developing our relievers - not grabbing from the scrap heap.  And why not Varland?  We can put him in the pen at this point and still get him to start if needed.

[Fezig]

The over usage of the bullpen is what concerns me most. The one to remain nameless doesn't know how to manage pitching. To him it's a computer simulation without any baseball instincts.

 

 

[LambchoP]

Varland and Winder should be in the pen, with a small hope and a prayer Paddack and Topa can help at some point too. Okert and Richards should never pitch unless it's a mop up role and the game is already over. Pathetic trade deadline when everyone including the casual fan knew we desperately needed some pitching help.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

4 hours ago, Fezig said:

The over usage of the bullpen is what concerns me most. The one to remain nameless

Yes, the one who shall remain nameless will have to have more trust in his starters, and be willing to pitch against platoon splits, when playoffs rolls around this October. 

Right now the starters are lined up López/Matthews/Ober to start a wild card series Tuesday. Not bad. 

[thelanges5]

Was hoping we’d take a shot at Neris but I see he just signed with the Astros. 

[2wins87]

I would put Alcala above Sands, or at least in the same tier.  I know Sands' peripherals are actually better than Alcala's, but stuff-wise, I just feel that Alcala will be more effective against play-off lineups, as long as his control is at least ok.  It doesn't have to be great, just not bad, and the stuff will play.

I think it's too early to put Henriquez that high.  He's had a nice bounceback from last year/ early this year.  His velocity is up a lot in the second half.  He touched 99 in a couple AAA appearances, and last year his fastball dipped into the low 90s.  That's very encouraging.  However, his fastball still seems to play way down from what you would expect from the velocity.  His changeup/slider combination work well enough in AAA, but I'm just not sure yet that he won't get exposed against MLB hitters in a prolonged stretch with better scouting reports.

Bottom line, they need to sort out the back of the bullpen.  They will need a few of them in the playoffs.  I don't think Okert should sniff a playoff roster.  He really struggles against righties and just walks too many while giving up too many homeruns.  It's like Pagan but not even that good in a medium leverage role.  I would cut him as soon as one of the recently optioned guys is allowed to be re-added to get more looks at guys like Winder, Varland, and Henriquez in a bullpen role.  Not sure I will trust any of those guys a lot, but I think they need to sort them out and maybe find a hot hand for the playoffs. 

Also not sure I'll trust Thielbar much, but his peripherals have improved so I think he deserves a little more time to hopefully really dial it back in.  If there isn't a lefty they trust by the end of the season, then just use the best righties against the dangerous lefties.  There is no reason to carry a bad lefty reliever in the playoffs.

Festa will also probably need to be ahead of a bunch of those guys in the bullpen in a potential Wild Card series at the very least.  He could play the role of right-handed lefty-specialist with his excellent changeup.

[Brandon]

There seems to be a lot of unwarranted Richards hate or strong dislike at Twinsdaily.  He had a bad outing when he came in cold for an injury and pretty much perfect the rest of his games.  He should be ranked around Theilbar because that is where his expected ERA around 4.5 would be.  
 

I think we should separate the trade which no one likes and it’s not the trade they don’t like, it’s the fact that we didn’t get what we wanted or the team really needed, from the pitcher who is a 6th or 7th man in an 8 man bullpen.  Richards has done the job he was acquired to do better than he was expected to do it so far.

[2wins87]

25 minutes ago, Brandon said:

There seems to be a lot of unwarranted Richards hate or strong dislike at Twinsdaily.  He had a bad outing when he came in cold for an injury and pretty much perfect the rest of his games.  He should be ranked around Theilbar because that is where his expected ERA around 4.5 would be.  
 

I think we should separate the trade which no one likes and it’s not the trade they don’t like, it’s the fact that we didn’t get what we wanted or the team really needed, from the pitcher who is a 6th or 7th man in an 8 man bullpen.  Richards has done the job he was acquired to do better than he was expected to do it so far.

His last outing was very far from perfect despite ultimately not giving up a run.  He's been decent IMO.  Certainly doesn't deserve hate for the role he's in, but also not exactly a guy you're very happy to see entering a playoff game.

[miller761]

Need to add Varland to bullpen ASAP. To make a run and win this division we can not give up 2 run leads in the 8th inning. Rocco needs reliable arms to go when Jax or Alcala aren't available. Winning the division is huge a 1st round bye is huge.

 

[Doctor Gast]

I'm pretty much with you Seth.

1. Griffin Jax- most trustworthy
2. Jhoan Duran - hope he can regain his domminance

 

      3. Jorge Alcala - I'd rank Alcala right up there if he's limited to nonconsecutive & 1 inning outings to maintain his quality innings

 

4. Cole Sands- Very satisfied with pitching & think he could go multiple innings whenever needed

5. Louie Varland - He's been proven as a quality long relief/ spot starter that can take the pressure off the rotation & BP.

6. Caleb Thielbar- Hope he has adapt his FB to compliment his curve ball.

7. Josh Winder- Could be a valuable long relief piece,

8. Ronny Henriques- I haven't seen enough of him to rank him any higher but I'm willing to put him up to your ranking if he continues his preformances.

9. Scott Blewett - With a name like that you wish him the best.

       I wouldn't fool around with Funderburg, Okert or Richards. I don't know who Dobnak is? Is he the old Dobber or the new revamped one. Seems like they are purposely not playing Richards, Could Richards be hurt & Twins don't want the possible blow back? Just a way out there assumption.

Hope to be able pick up somebody on the waiver wire better than my unranked ones. Maybe Paddack or Cantarino will show up?

       

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

His last outing was very far from perfect despite ultimately not giving up a run.  He's been decent IMO.  Certainly doesn't deserve hate for the role he's in, but also not exactly a guy you're very happy to see entering a playoff game.

Right but there is a lot of venom being spewed his way that he doesn’t deserve.  If he was blowing games, I get it.  But his one hiccup was understandable.  And he is far from an ideal pickup or what we needed as I agree we needed a shut down reliever and didn’t get one.  Helll, Nero’s just signed with the Astros. He would have helped.

[DocBauer]

Pretty much agree with the rankings as Seth has them. And I agree with placing Varland on that list as he's almost certainly going to be in the pen at some point. The question is when? I'd love to see it done now, but if anyone else falters or gets hurt in the rotation, you're turning to Dobnak as next man up probably. So I don't see Varland in the pen until the last wee or two of the season. But I do see it.

While it's easy to blame ownership for the current situation, I can't bring myself to blame the FO for depth issues. Topa might have been a realnhelp, but out for the entirety of the season thus far. Duarte showed real promise...out for the season early. Moran...out for the season. Winder...slowed foe about half the year. Weiss...never got started until just recent who knows if he MIGHT have surprised. Stewart has barely thrown all season and is out until next ST. Staumont was a cheap flier that offered upside but didn't pan out despite some solid early results. 

 

Just a couple less injuries and the pen is in better shape. Even better if we could move Varland to the pen now and have Funderburk back instead of Okert. I was OK with Okert for most of the season ad a 2nd LH, but he's been pretty bad as of late. Funderburk hasn't exactly arrived yet, but he's got some great stuff.

SSS for Henriquez and Winder, but I'm interested in them as my 7th and 8th arms. When Varland does make the move, we might be 5 deep. IF Paddack makes it back this season, he'll be in the pen. We're even deeper then. If Funderburk does makenit back, I'm wondering if they'd trust the stuff vs the not performing vet? 

I don't hate the potential post season pen. I am worried about how we finish the regular season with the current pen, however. I'd get Winder back up ASAP to see if his earlier glimpse is for real. And I'd like a good, fair look/opportunity for Henriquez as well. His numbers against the Padres in the 3rd game were skewed by a blown Margot play.

 

[bean5302]

High Confidence
Griffin Jax
Jorge Alcala 
Jhoan Duran

Confident
Cole Sands
Josh Winder

Not ideal
Louie Varland 

Not suitable for tight games
Caleb Thielbar
Trevor Richards
Kody Funderburk
Steven Okert
Ronny Henriquez
Scott Blewett

[USAFChief]

Confidence isn't really a thing anyway.

 

There are no low leverage relievers. 

 

Have 8 good ones.

 

 

[bean5302]

  

20 hours ago, BH67 said:

The Padres paid far too much for that one-time infusion, and that will impair their championship hopes in future years.

I point out that Bruce Bochy mostly relied on three relief pitchers during Texas's run to the world championship last autumn. Of course, that trio had to be good on two or three consecutive days, a trait that Cleveland's closing trio this year clearly demonstrate. I remain hopeful that one or two Twins will achieve this by October.

I hoped that the decision to use Jorge Alcala for a third time in four days against Texas would shame Rocco Baldelli from experimenting in high leverage situations for the rest of the season. Last night, he instead doubled down.

Because Twins starters are routinely pitching six or seven innings now, I'm less concerned than most here about postseason depth. Without a healthy lineup it won't matter anyway. I have lost faith in Baldelli's skill to deploy it, however.

July 28th, 2024.
Padres were 57-51 (.524), 6.5 GB from the NL West Lead and +0.5 games in the Wildcard standings.
7.7% to Win Division
55.7% to Clinch Wildcard spot
4.2% to Win World Series

Today:
Padres are 72-56 (.563), 4.0 GB from NL West Lead and +4.0 games in the Wildcard standings.
10.7% to Win Division
84.4% to Clinch Wildcard spot
7.2% to Win World Series (3rd highest in NL)

The Padres are now a virtual lock to make the playoffs and a very strong team with a good shot at the World Series. The Padres have major liquidity issues and are in a spot where they've been needing to shed massive payroll. Their long term outlook is tough to gauge, and they play in what has been a strong division over the past decade. The future is not guaranteed, and prospects rarely work out. The Padres went for it, and them dropping 0.1% in the likelihood of winning next year's World Series is totally worth it for nearly guaranteeing a playoff spot and doubling their World Series Championship odds this year. If the Padres' gamble pays off and they go on a deep playoff run or to the World Series (much moreso if they win it), their revenue increases will more than offset any prospect capital they lose.

The Padres operated like how World Series Championship teams try to operate. The Twins operated like their old goal methodology. Goal? Play .500 ball. Reach goal? Win the Division. Whoop de doo.

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

Pretty much agree with the rankings as Seth has them. And I agree with placing Varland on that list as he's almost certainly going to be in the pen at some point. The question is when? I'd love to see it done now, but if anyone else falters or gets hurt in the rotation, you're turning to Dobnak as next man up probably. So I don't see Varland in the pen until the last wee or two of the season. But I do see it.

While it's easy to blame ownership for the current situation, I can't bring myself to blame the FO for depth issues. Topa might have been a realnhelp, but out for the entirety of the season thus far. Duarte showed real promise...out for the season early. Moran...out for the season. Winder...slowed foe about half the year. Weiss...never got started until just recent who knows if he MIGHT have surprised. Stewart has barely thrown all season and is out until next ST. Staumont was a cheap flier that offered upside but didn't pan out despite some solid early results. 

 

Just a couple less injuries and the pen is in better shape. Even better if we could move Varland to the pen now and have Funderburk back instead of Okert. I was OK with Okert for most of the season ad a 2nd LH, but he's been pretty bad as of late. Funderburk hasn't exactly arrived yet, but he's got some great stuff.

SSS for Henriquez and Winder, but I'm interested in them as my 7th and 8th arms. When Varland does make the move, we might be 5 deep. IF Paddack makes it back this season, he'll be in the pen. We're even deeper then. If Funderburk does makenit back, I'm wondering if they'd trust the stuff vs the not performing vet? 

I don't hate the potential post season pen. I am worried about how we finish the regular season with the current pen, however. I'd get Winder back up ASAP to see if his earlier glimpse is for real. And I'd like a good, fair look/opportunity for Henriquez as well. His numbers against the Padres in the 3rd game were skewed by a blown Margot play.

 

Agree with this but you have to remember that by rule, any pitcher optioned to AAA cannot come back up for 15 days unless there's an injury. Winder was optioned 8/14, so he's eligible 8/30 but not before. Varland went down on 8/15 so he can't come up until 8/31. I think those two should be in the BP over Okert and probably Henriquez but we can do that until the end of the month., unless someone gets hurt. Richards is painful to watch but has gotten results in 7 of 8 appearances. I think he'll stay for now, but probably not in the postseason BP, if we make it, if either Paddack or Topa can come back. 

[cmoss84]

Duran/Jax 1A & 1B

setup guy we got in trade.

Alcala

Sands

dependable lefty we picked up at trade deadline.

Henriquez

Winder

Varland

Funderburk

Thielbar

Blewett

Willi Castro

Richards

Okert

 

 

 

 

[old nurse]

Yet somehow the Twins find themselves in the bottom 10 of the league for blown saves with this motley crew of lowly regarded relievers They are tied for 5th fewest with Cleveland and Atlanta , which along with the Twins the only teams  with winning records 

[Fezig]

19 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Yes, the one who shall remain nameless will have to have more trust in his starters, and be willing to pitch against platoon splits, when playoffs rolls around this October. 

Right now the starters are lined up López/Matthews/Ober to start a wild card series Tuesday. Not bad. 

How those three fare will definitely affect how many will see the Twins playoff chances. 

[mikelink45]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:25 AM, 2wins87 said:

His last outing was very far from perfect despite ultimately not giving up a run.  He's been decent IMO.  Certainly doesn't deserve hate for the role he's in, but also not exactly a guy you're very happy to see entering a playoff game.

The hate is not personal although it looks like it.  It is about the FO reaching for low hanging fruit and not doing something to move the needle.  Can we really say he is better than Topa will be, than Varland can be, than Winder is?