Twins Daily Pitcher of the Month - March/April 2025

[Cody Christie]

The first month of the baseball season can often be a time when pitcher performance is slightly ahead of hitters'. That was certainly true for the Twins. Minnesota’s pitching staff ended the month ranked in baseball’s top 10 for fWAR, FIP, and ERA. They were the best group in baseball at limiting walks. The four pitchers below were critical to the team’s start to the season, and many have overcome early-season hiccups. (Stats below include the team's games that were played at the end of March.)

April Pitchers of the Month
#4 - Danny Coulombe - 12 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.47 WHIP, 10 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K
This season, Coulombe has followed a simple recipe: don’t let anyone get on base. The Twins brought in the lefty to fill the role vacated by Caleb Thielbar’s exit. He’s been nearly perfect during the season’s first month. His velocity has dipped slightly, but he’s adjusted his pitch mix to continue to be effective. His opponents' average exit velocity dropped from over 90.3 mph last season to 86 mph in 2025; guys just aren't hitting it hard against him. He’s not going to have a 0.00 ERA for the entire season, but he’s been one of the biggest bright spots in a bullpen that needed a standout performance.  

#3 - Bailey Ober - 6 G, 4.13 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 32 2/3 IP, 37 H, 7 BB, 25 K
For the second consecutive season, Ober got walloped in his first start of the season before settling in and being one of the team’s best pitchers. In the team’s third game, Ober allowed eight earned runs on eight hits and failed to make it out of the second inning. Since then, though, he has posted a 2.10 ERA, while holding batters to a .649 OPS. Also, he’s pitched six innings or more in four straight appearances. His best performance came Monday against Cleveland, where he went 7 2/3 innings while holding the Guardians to one run on eight hits. He’s back to being Bailey Ober, which means he's one of the AL’s most consistent starters. 

#2 - Pablo López - 5 G, 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 28 IP, 24 H, 4 BB, 26 K
López likely would have walked away with this honor if he hadn’t missed 15 days on the injured list in the middle of the month. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in every appearance and struck out six batters in each of his final three starts in the month. Last season, López struggled out of the gate with an ERA north of 4.80 in April and May. He seems to be in a better place to start 2025. He’s the staff's ace, and the Twins need him to continue pitching that way to get back into the AL Central race.   

Twins Pitcher of the Month - Joe Ryan - 6 G, 3.18 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 34 IP, 27 H, 4 BB, 39 K
The Joe Ryan Experience has been in full effect during the season’s first month. He leads the team’s starters in many pitching categories including innings, strikeout rate, and WAR. He's using his fastball more often, and it's been as good as ever. Batters have seen a 45-point drop in slugging percentage when facing his four-seamer. With his fastball improvements, his sweeper has developed into a dominant weapon with a 43.6% whiff rate. 

Ryan had two starts during the month wherein he pitched seven shutout innings. The first came on April 9 in Kansas City, when he limited the Royals to two hits and struck out five. Ryan’s best start of the month came over the weekend against the Angels. He sliced up the lineup with 11 strikeouts. He pitched five innings or more in every start and never allowed more than two walks. Ryan has a chance for a special season—if he can remain healthy, something he hasn't done in either of the last two years.

Minnesota’s top three starters being on the ballot should be a good sign for the club, but the offense hasn’t been consistent enough to put the team in position to win. Other pitchers (like David Festa and Jhoan Duran) provided solid value for the club during the season’s opening month, but failed to crack the top four. It’s early, but the team’s pitching has been a bright spot to this point <knock on wood>.

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How would your ballot look? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[thelanges5]

First time through that rotation was a little shaky, but they have been pretty solid since. Coulombe has been a good addition to the bullpen.

How about that offense though?

[DJL44]

Ryan and Lopez are pitching like All-Stars.

[LambchoP]

It's too bad we are wasting such good starting pitching by our bullpen blowing games a few times a week and our horrendous offense not hitting or scoring. Hopefully getting some of our starters back will help the offense because a lineup including more than one of Gasper, Keirsey, Clemens and Vasquez is obviously not going to cut it. Looks like a spring training lineup :(

[JD-TWINS]

Not exactly sure how the PEN is blowing games a few days per week? Other teams score …….. the Twins do not, regularly. Team had 6 runs over last 3 games. Today, Thursday, they managed to have more than twice as many hits as Cleveland and still lost. Brutal bat to ball skills with guys in scoring position (on third), brutal!!