Bullpen Depth Fueled Twins' Long Winning Streak. Cole Sands is the Embodiment of That Depth. - Caretaker Exclusive

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Twins finally lost on Sunday, for the first time since May 2 in Boston. Four of the five runs they allowed were let in by starter Zebby Matthews, though, so the team still boasts a 0.89 reliever ERA since May 3. That fortnight and change, in which they've gone 13-1, has been characterized by lots of timely hits and great work from their starting pitchers. Their defense has made big plays, too. Were it not for the most dominant relief work in the league, though, they wouldn't have been able to make this charge.

Beginning on that Saturday at Fenway Park (admittedly, a selective endpoint, but I'm being so balanced as to include the loss Sunday in this set), the Twins have a 29.7% strikeout rate and a 5.1% walk rate in 50 1/3 innings. They've gotten 151 outs and allowed just six runs. Only the similarly torrid Cardinals have come anywhere close to matching their run prevention, and St. Louis has done it by getting lucky. The Twins, by contrast, are pitching like a well-oiled reliever machine—because that's what they were built to be.

Fans can and should feel righteous indignation when the team neglects to make proactive moves to upgrade its lineup, as they've done over the last three years. They're pinning heavy hopes on light bats, and then evincing unearned dismay at the underwhelming results. They also could have done more to bolster their starting rotation this winter, even while holding onto their superb collection of young arms. You can never have too many good starters, and you can hardly ever have enough of them. The Twins have stopped short of gathering as much top-tier talent as they should have, be that via free agency (an ownership problem) or trade (a front-office problem), and the ramifications are real. Those failures are why this team finished last year 12-27 and started this one 7-15.

If we levy fair criticisms, though, we also have to dispense justice by according earned praise. This team is incredibly good at developing and sustaining the success of relief pitchers. Sometimes, in our rush to explain and grasp the high degree of variation in relief pitching and the rarity of players having long, consistent careers in those roles, we minimize or misstate the difficulty and the value of creating great bullpens. The Twins have done just that, and it's not a small thing.

You know about Jhoan Duran, who's changed a great deal as a pitcher but is still generating familiarly excellent results. You know about Griffin Jax, who has buzzard luck but buzzsaw stuff. This year, the key addition to the mix has been Louis Varland, who's no longer fighting his destiny and has emerged as an immediate partner to the other two relief aces in the pen. Without a strong second line, though, the Twins wouldn't be able to maximize the value of their top arms. That's where Cole Sands comes in.

View full article

[DocBauer]

So I'm not a caretaker at this point, but I understand the OP enough to make some comments.

I always liked Sands's breaking stuff. The velocity wasn't where I thought it needed to be, and the command came and went. His move to the pen is very reminiscent of Jax when you look at them as former starters. Unfortunately, both Sands and Jax have been a little snakebit to begin the season.

Jax's peripherals show how good his stuff really is, as does his past success. He's been much closer to his normal self lately, and I'd expect that to continue.

Sands's K rate is down somewhat, and his BB are somewhat up for the season. But his ERA and FIP remain solid. And his last 5 appearances include 0 runs allowed, 3 hits, 0 BB, and 4 K's. So it looks like he's looking much more like his 2024 self.

Duran has remade his mix and is still dominate, but in a different way. Jax, Sands, and Stewart are all rounding in to form. Varland, despite still having a bit of a HR issue, has been very good. How good has Coulombe been? Topa has been solid. Alcala has been up and down, but his last 4 appearances have been quite good. 

How you want to rank each RP is debatable, but the ARMS are there. When Topa and Alcala...with his pure stuff...are your 6th-7th arms, you've got a hell of a good pen. 

The mix is a bit fluid between Varland and Sands and Stewart right now in relation to Jax in regard to the 7th and 8th innings, but this isn't a bad problem to have as everyone is rounding in to form.

HOPEFULLY the IL stint with Coulombe is exactly as has been reported. He simply has a sore forearm muscle that needs a little rest. If that's true, this pen has been COOKING lately. And Sands getting back on track is part of that.

Do we include the development of Duran, Jax, Sands, and Varland as part of the pitching pipeline? I do.

[dxpavelka]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

So I'm not a caretaker at this point, but I understand the OP enough to make some comments.

I always liked Sands's breaking stuff. The velocity wasn't where I thought it needed to be, and the command came and went. His move to the pen is very reminiscent of Jax when you look at them as former starters. Unfortunately, both Sands and Jax have been a little snakebit to begin the season.

Jax's peripherals show how good his stuff really is, as does his past success. He's been much closer to his normal self lately, and I'd expect that to continue.

Sands's K rate is down somewhat, and his BB are somewhat up for the season. But his ERA and FIP remain solid. And his last 5 appearances include 0 runs allowed, 3 hits, 0 BB, and 4 K's. So it looks like he's looking much more like his 2024 self.

Duran has remade his mix and is still dominate, but in a different way. Jax, Sands, and Stewart are all rounding in to form. Varland, despite still having a bit of a HR issue, has been very good. How good has Coulombe been? Topa has been solid. Alcala has been up and down, but his last 4 appearances have been quite good. 

How you want to rank each RP is debatable, but the ARMS are there. When Topa and Alcala...with his pure stuff...are your 6th-7th arms, you've got a hell of a good pen. 

The mix is a bit fluid between Varland and Sands and Stewart right now in relation to Jax in regard to the 7th and 8th innings, but this isn't a bad problem to have as everyone is rounding in to form.

HOPEFULLY the IL stint with Coulombe is exactly as has been reported. He simply has a sore forearm muscle that needs a little rest. If that's true, this pen has been COOKING lately. And Sands getting back on track is part of that.

Do we include the development of Duran, Jax, Sands, and Varland as part of the pitching pipeline? I do.

Be careful.  You almost sound positive about management.  Don't want that.