Can Marco Raya Help the Minnesota Twins Bullpen This Season?

[Cody Pirkl]

Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

The Twins added Marco Raya to the 40-man roster a few offseasons ago, to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. It was well known that he was likely still a reasonable distance away from the big leagues, but it was a small move to make to ensure opposing teams didn’t snatch him away. Fast-forward to 2025, and Raya, the starting pitcher, does not look poised to make an impact on the big-league roster. It may be time for a change.

Raya was drafted out of high school in 2020 during the shortened draft and received mixed reviews from scouts. He wasn’t able to burnish his resume much that spring, due to the pandemic. He then suffered a shoulder injury during his first full season of pro ball in 2021, and the Twins have handled him very carefully during his ascent through the minor leagues ever since.

Because of Raya’s limited workload, his ability to become a big-league starting pitcher has been in question for some time. He has showcased the talent that led to his original selection, but has yet to integrate it as a starting pitcher above A-ball. As his time on the 40-man roster adds up and Raya’s inconsistencies continue, it’s approaching time to try something new.

The 2025 campaign has been a particularly trying one for Raya. His ERA is over 10.00 for the St. Paul Saints, and he’s walked 20 in 26 innings pitched. He’s also struck out 38 and has mixed in some outings that were downright dominant along the way.

Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to feel good about dropping him into the Twins rotation. Even with the recent injuries the big-league roster has sustained, it’s hard to imagine Raya getting the call ahead of someone like Randy Dobnak. Raya’s prospects as a big-league starter are currently murky, to say the least. In the best-case scenario, it’s hard to see a path this season, given how he’s started. Because of this, it may be worthwhile to consider moving him to the bullpen.

Raya’s mid- to high-90s fastball and range of secondary pitches should play incredibly well in short stints. It’s possible that his walk issues aren’t physical or mechanical, and that a change in role could help resolve them. He’s already only a nominal starter in most of his outings due to his short leash, which could make a shift to a multi-inning relief role relatively smooth. Such a change is far from a sure thing, but Raya appears to have stalled out with the current plan for him, and it may be worth shaking things up.

The Twins need a role player like this. Travis Adams was recently promoted (and promptly demoted) to fill a multi-inning relief role. With several question marks in the rotation, a reliever who can throw more than one inning at a time is extremely valuable. While the Twins could use Adams to fill this spot, Raya has the upside to not only fill innings but dominate opposing lineups while doing so, if all goes well. 

While it may seem odd to transition a starter to the bullpen while the Twins' rotation depth dwindles, such a gamble could be the best move for all parties involved. The clock is ticking on Raya, who has yet to make an impact on the MLB roster. His innings are going to be limited this season anyway, and moving him doesn’t need to preclude him from starting games in the future. The Twins would also benefit from an added dimension to their bullpen mix, and Raya represents the most intriguing potential suitor. 

While Raya hasn’t panned out yet as a starting pitcher, his ability to become an impact pitcher for the big-league roster remains, even if the Twins need to get creative to find it. Should Marco Raya make a move to the bullpen?

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[Jocko87]

He's much more likely to be a trade piece than a bullpen piece at this point. Upside change of scenery type deal. 

He's at least seven or eight deep as a bullpen option. 

[DJL44]

In my opinion, he's been developed as a reliever his entire career. Probably time to officially move him to the bullpen instead of having him continue to fail in the starting rotation.

[TwinsDr2021]

the question is - Can Marco Raya Help the Minnesota Twins Bullpen This Season?

my question is, is he even helping the Saints at this point? 

If you started 10 games and average less than 3 innings per start, you are terrible or not really a starter.

[LambchoP]

Think it's past time. He never goes more than 3-5 innings anyway. Move him to the pen and see if he can be better there. Him or Adams could be very valuable to the Twins pen as a piggyback or multi inning guy. With SWR and Festa in our rotation, there are going to be some short starts and a lot of innings to cover for our relievers. No clue why they haven't dumped Alcala yet and given his spot to Adams, Mccaghan or even Morris or Dobnak. Someone who can pitch 2-4 innings in relief. After last night I think it's clear Alcala should be done. Anyone else see him trying to back up the wrong side of home plate lol.. the guy seems like a bit of a head case. Time to go, let's prove this deep "pitching pipeline" actually exists.

[ryan189]

the real question should he go down to AA and try to get confidence even last year in AA he was not good. would you be asking this about anyone with a 10 era

[Road trip]

Maybe there was a top prospect with bad stats at AA and AAA (yes, I said bad) who went on to become a good MLB pitcher?  Nobody comes to mind, but I'm happy to be corrected.

I understand why the Twins are in love with Raya's stuff.  He can strike guys out.  But since advancing through the system he's also walked hitters at an appalling rate.  His stat lines make Jorge Alcala look like a control artist (who knew that was possible?).  That won't play at any level, much less MLB.

[gman]

If Raya makes the Twins bullpen at some point this season, could he be a dominate reliever by next year? He has the stuff to be a dominate reliever but has not been trained in that role. As its going now, he couldn't be a factor at all next year. At least 4-5 pitchers have passed him as up and coming choices for starters. Its time to find a role for him that works. That role appears to be reliever and I don't think there has ever been a limit on how many top of the bullpen relievers you can have.

[Linus]

Starter or reliever you still have to get guys out consistently. If you can’t the role doesn’t matter. If his control problems are with two pitches maybe he could ditch them as a reliever but if his control is poor on all his pitches you may as well let him get the additional innings by starting. 

[tony&rodney]

Raya pitched well this afternoon. He has stuff.

[jkcarew]

No. I think we should keep trotting Alcala out there, and let Raya continue to fail as a 3-inning starter in the minors indefinitely.

 

[jkcarew]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Raya pitched well this afternoon. He has stuff.

5 innings and 70+ pitches!! Finally had good results with balls-in-play. Ironically, only struck out 3 of 20 batters faced, much fewer than he had been recently…even in the really bad starts. Baseball.

[Western SD Fan]

This is Raya's starts since May 1.  This comes out to be a 9.13 ERA and 1.72 WHIP and the underlined start was today.  I'll let someone else calculate or find the advanced statistics.  Very scary to bring to a ML staff, even in the bullpen.  Maybe if they channel him in and has him focus on 2-4 innings, the numbers could come down.  Either way, I don't see Raya coming up in the next week and by the time Raya may be ready to come up, we may not need him for the specified purpose we are exploring now.

IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO
3.0	3	4	4	0	0	5	0	2
1.0	7	6	6	1	0	1	0	0
2.2	3	3	3	0	0	5	0	2
4.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
3.2	2	4	3	1	1	0	0	7
3.1	6	7	7	1	2	2	0	7
5.0	2	0	0	0	1	3	0	3
22.2	23	24	23	3	4	16	0	28

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

This is Raya's starts since May 1.  This comes out to be a 9.13 ERA and 1.72 WHIP and the underlined start was today.  I'll let someone else calculate or find the advanced statistics.  Very scary to bring to a ML staff, even in the bullpen.  Maybe if they channel him in and has him focus on 2-4 innings, the numbers could come down.  Either way, I don't see Raya coming up in the next week and by the time Raya may be ready to come up, we may not need him for the specified purpose we are exploring now.

IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB	IBB	SO
3.0	3	4	4	0	0	5	0	2
1.0	7	6	6	1	0	1	0	0
2.2	3	3	3	0	0	5	0	2
4.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
3.2	2	4	3	1	1	0	0	7
3.1	6	7	7	1	2	2	0	7
5.0	2	0	0	0	1	3	0	3
22.2	23	24	23	3	4	16	0	28

WHIP doesn't include the 4 hit batters. That's 1.9 baserunners per inning in AAA. Yuck.