Kody Funderburk Might Be the Minnesota Twins' Best Reliever

[Cody Schoenmann]

Image courtesy of Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

On Friday, the Minnesota Twins released veteran relievers Liam Hendriks and Andrew Chafin, providing clarity on how the club’s eight-pitcher collective will be constructed as the team travels to Baltimore to begin its 2026 campaign on Mar. 26. Cole Sands, Kody Funderburk, Taylor Rogers, Justin Topa, and Anthony Banda are all but guaranteed bullpen spots.

Fringe major league relievers Eric Orze, Zak Kent, Cody Laweryson, and Dan Altavilla appear to be the four remaining arms competing for the final three spots. Possessing 40-man roster spots, Orze and Kent have the inside track over non-roster invitees Laweryson and Altavilla. Still, how the end of Minnesota’s bullpen will be constructed remains unknown, with Opening Day less than one week away.

Projected to be the 20th-best relief group in baseball according to Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR), Minnesota’s bullpen could reasonably end the 2026 season as a bottom-five collective, with the 25th-ranked team (Los Angeles Angels) expected to net only 0.8 fWAR less than Twins relievers. The club’s bullpen is in dire straits, and no amount of copium can fix that, not even for the proudest of Twins apologists like myself. But glimmers of hope persist in this lackluster octet, most notably in the aforementioned Funderburk.

Through 6 ⅔ innings pitched this spring, the 29-year-old has generated a 1.35 ERA, 2.47 FIP, and 21.9% strikeout rate. The lefty has excelled this spring on the heels of being the club’s best reliever post-Aug. 1 last season, netting a 0.75 ERA, 2.87 FIP, and 28% strikeout rate over 24 innings pitched. Funderburk’s late-season renaissance was the product of missing barrels and generating weak contact, particularly against left-handed hitters. His ability to suppress hard contact has only progressed this spring, with the southpaw dominating both left- and right-handed hitters, getting lefties to produce an average exit velocity (EV) of 80.6 MPH and righties to produce an average EV of 86.3 MPH, both of which are well above league-average results for Funderburk.  

Having been able to suppress runs at a near-elite rate for three consecutive months, Funderburk profiles as one of Minnesota’s most effective relievers entering the 2026 regular season. Banda is the only reliever who held a candle to Funderburk’s dominance late last season, generating a 2.12 ERA, 4.43 FIP, and 29% strikeout rate over 17 innings pitched after Aug. 1, 2025. Again, it cannot be overstated how ineffective the Twins' bullpen could be in 2026 if trends from late last year persist.

Still, if we are to squint hard enough through our rose-tinted glasses (which I fear no longer exist in Twins Territory, but alas), one could see Funderburk excelling early this season, quickly solidifying himself as one of the club’s preferred high-leverage arms.

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[DJL44]

It is quite possible, and also very depressing.

[Nshore]

Most importantly, Funderburk has the HAIR to be a shutdown late inning reliever.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Well said Cody

[Patzky]

12 minutes ago, Nshore said:

Most importantly, Funderburk has the HAIR to be a shutdown late inning reliever.

Gimme a head with hair

Long beautiful hair...

 

Not Duran's intro but..

 

 

 

[CRF]

Lipstick on a pig.

[terrydactyls]

Somebody might actually be using opium.  Basing this on 6 innings of spring training is ridiculous.

[Cody Schoenmann]

On 3/22/2026 at 9:09 AM, terrydactyls said:

Somebody might actually be using opium.  Basing this on 6 innings of spring training is ridiculous.

and 25 innings pitched to end last season

Edited March 24 by Cody Schoenmann
banda pitched 17 innings post aug. 1 last season; fundy threw 25

[D.C Twins]

If so, this bullpen is going to be even worse than I thought... didn't think that was possible

[AceWrigley]

From the month of May until the end of the season Funderburk improved steadily each month. So he trended in the right direction to project as a useful reliever this year. With his long arms and good extension his fastball plays up, he added a gyro slider to his pitch arsenal that helps keep hitters off balance, and now has a good mentor in Taylor Rogers (he did say Tonkin and Sands helped him last year when he was trying to reduce the walks).

[DarrenPS]

I'm fully prepared for the hate this post will get. The Twins bullpen is going to be better than the doom & gloom Twins fans expect

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, Cody Schoenmann said:

and 17 innings pitched to end last season

Oh well.  That's different.  Whoopee!

[bean5302]

Funderburk had some outstanding results a couple years ago, too. His debut was more than just simply dominant. He was in a different league striking out over 40% of batters (14.25 K/9) while allowing just 1 run across 12 innings.

All memory of his 2023 debut was quickly erased in 2024 where Funderburk's Achillies heel surfaced. He's been unable to hit the broad side of a barn and while getting MLB hitters to chase great stuff is possible, getting them to chase terrible pitches, even with great movement, is almost impossible.

I don't have any faith in Funderburk.

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Somebody might actually be using opium.  Basing this on 6 innings of spring training is ridiculous.

…….and last 17+ innings (2 months) of ‘25. Not that ridiculous with consideration of the competition.

[oregontwin]

It happens, occasionally, that young pitchers come up and prove to be untouchable, especially in their first few outings. A few will prove able to adjust to the league as fast as the league adjusts to them. The Twins, however, will need this to happen far more often than can be reasonably expected this year if they are going to be even remotely competitive. What really troubles me is the fear that the Twins won't score enough runs for the bullpen to matter at all.

[USAFChief]

Kody Funderburk might indeed be the Twins best reliever. 

Yeesh.

[AceWrigley]

6 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Kody Funderburk might indeed be the Twins best reliever. 

Yeesh.

I double down on your "Yeesh" and say "Yowza".

[HerbieFan]

Two things for me here:  First, I don't understand why they wouldn't have Funderburk in the bullpen. If you're not competing to win a division, you may as well find out what you have with a bunch of the young guys.  Second, I don't care....I can't wait for opening day!

[ashbury]

2 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

Two things for me here:  First, I don't understand why they wouldn't have Funderburk in the bullpen. If you're not competing to win a division, you may as well find out what you have with a bunch of the young guys.  

Kody Funderburk turns 30 a few days after the Twins WS victory parade.

[Linus]

1 hour ago, ashbury said:

Kody Funderburk turns 30 a few days after the Twins WS victory parade.

This. I keep seeing references to young players. This isn’t a young team at all. 

[thelanges5]

Fundy will be the Twins closer by the All-Star break. He’ll walk out to “Funderstruck”

[Rufus]

10 hours ago, DJL44 said:

It is quite possible, and also very depressing.

Why is it depressing?  A Twins pitching pipeline prospect becoming an effective MLB reliever is depressing?  WOW!  He stepped up after the bullpen shake up at the end of last season.  I say more power to him

[dxpavelka]

Typical TD take on things:  Since our bullpen is rated 20th we could "easily be bottom 5."  No mention that we could just as easily be top 15.   Just the usual The Sky is Falling The Sky is Falling The Sky is falling.

 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

20 hours ago, DarrenPS said:

I'm fully prepared for the hate this post will get. The Twins bullpen is going to be better than the doom & gloom Twins fans expect

I think that it is pretty reasonable assumption that the bullpen will be better than many here are expecting, as I think most are assuming a horrific level bullpen leading to season Armageddon.  I think it will be more run of the mill bad, so that projection of 20th or so in the league is probably pretty accurate. 

[Rufus]

19 hours ago, oregontwin said:

It happens, occasionally, that young pitchers come up and prove to be untouchable, especially in their first few outings. A few will prove able to adjust to the league as fast as the league adjusts to them. The Twins, however, will need this to happen far more often than can be reasonably expected this year if they are going to be even remotely competitive. What really troubles me is the fear that the Twins won't score enough runs for the bullpen to matter at all.

Funderburk came up two years ago and was impressive.  He then went through a stretch where he was hit around pretty good and was sent up and down a couple of times.  The second half of last season he seemed to have figured things out and became an effective reliever.  Hopefully that trend continues..

[DJL44]

13 hours ago, Rufus said:

Why is it depressing?  A Twins pitching pipeline prospect becoming an effective MLB reliever is depressing?  WOW!  He stepped up after the bullpen shake up at the end of last season.  I say more power to him

I think it's great that Kody looks like he'll have some success but it's pretty disappointing for the organization if Kody is their best reliever. He's not that great, probably the worst "best reliever" for any team in baseball. He's also nearly 30 years old, so he's probably trade bait at the deadline if he continues his success. All success in baseball is ephemeral, but Kody might be a one-year wonder.

 

[mikelink45]

Can't wait for the season to begin and speculation can end 

[Dman]

He's had a nice spring. Hopefully he keeps it up.

[Hunter4848]

18 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Typical TD take on things:  Since our bullpen is rated 20th we could "easily be bottom 5."  No mention that we could just as easily be top 15.   Just the usual The Sky is Falling The Sky is Falling The Sky is falling.

 

Most Twin's fans dont appreciate being constantly lied to by the sports media but I see the Pohlads have gotten you used to that...

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Nice use of my new word for the day, "COPIUM". I had to look it up.