So Far, the Twins' Bullpen is the Softest-Tossing Relief Corps in a Decade

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images

It's not that the Twins don't throw hard. That's not the remarkable thing about their collection of fringy relief arms. What's remarkable—what might end up being quasi-historic, though it will probably change later this year—is how far they are from throwing hard. In Taj Bradley, they have one of the hardest-throwing starters in baseball, and Mick Abel can work in the mid-90s, too. On days when Bailey Ober or Simeon Woods Richardson starts, though—and even with Joe Ryan, who stands out for his movement, rather than his velocity—the team can go a full nine innings without touching 95 miles per hour.

Two decades ago, that wouldn't be noteworthy at all. Even one decade ago, you'd have noticed it, but it wouldn't have shocked you. Now, however, it's startling. The brightline at which a relief pitcher can be said to be a hard thrower isn't 94 or 95 MPH, anymore. It's more like 97. In fact, since 2021, the median team's frequency of exceeding 95 MPH on four-seam fastballs and sinkers is 43.8%. Nearly half of all fastballs thrown by relievers are 95 or faster. Just a year ago, the Twins boasted Jhoan Duran and Louis Varland, who could each get to 100 MPH. When Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart were going well, they could sit on the high side of 95 and push toward triple digits, too. "Only" throwing 95 doesn't even register as interesting, anymore.

Over the last five full seasons, the lowest percentage of reliever fastballs to eclipse 95 MPH belonged to the 2021 Diamondbacks, at 17.1%. Only they and that year's Angels were under 20%. This season, the Mets have thrown the second-fewest heaters at 95 or faster, at 56. They have several guys who can top that number—Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Huascar Brazobán, Luis García, and Tobias Myers—but they rarely actually do so. In fact, if their current rate of 14.6% of fastballs getting to the midpoint of the 90s holds, it would be the lowest since the pandemic—except, of course, for the Twins'.

Minnesota has only seen 38 fastballs reach 95 after departing the fingers of a pitcher working in relief this year. That's in over 400 heaters, pushing them down into a range not seen since the 2019 Cleveland club. Before that, only the 2015 Athletics were similarly starved for heat, in the Statcast Era. This team is an outlier, throwing slower than any pen has in a decade or more—because the truth is, even the raw numbers presented above oversell them.

Of the 38 fastballs at 95+ this year from a Twins reliever, 35 were thrown by Mick Abel—who's not really a reliever. Working in tandem with Bailey Ober in the season-opening series in Baltimore, Abel furnished almost all of the honest-to-God heat the Twins pen has mustered all season. Only Justin Topa (once) and Cole Sands (twice) have even scraped 95 MPH, among real members of this bullpen.

This will change, of course. With any luck, as the weather warms, Sands (and perhaps one or two others) will at least flirt more often with the upper half of the 90s. More importantly, the team is likely to call up some guys who throw harder, as the season wears on. If Zebby Matthews can't quickly find a way into the rotation in Minneapolis, maybe it's time to try him in the bullpen. Something like that will give them an infusion of velocity. Heck, even most waiver claims will have a chance to bring more juice to the relief unit.

For now, though, this is borderline hilarious. The Twins are to fastballs with anything on them (by modern standards) what Charlie Bucket was to Wonka Bars. Everyone around them is counting their accumulations by dozens or hundreds. The Twins have, through 13 games, three 95+ fastballs from their relievers. Just three. I would analyze this further, but like Charlie's teacher in the movie, I don't know how to do just three. This team is blazing a new trail, when it comes to not really blazing anything in the pen.

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[Parfigliano]

Trendsetters.

[tony&rodney]

Just get outs.

Also, I thought the biggest weakness of the team would be their defense. 

[bunsen82]

Velocity isn't everything,  but its something.   Most of these pitchers are working off of 2-3 pitch mixes, and the velocity is not going to really get blown by anyone.  Thats why the late inning games will always be an adventure. There will be few strike outs and lots of balls put in play, but that doesn't mean you still can't win with this style.  I always said this group will be greater than the sum of their parts.  The biggest issue is will they get overused and worn out.    We still need to find 1-2 legit arms to add to this group.   

Funderburk, Orze, Rogers and Laweryson  look the best to me so far this season. Topa has been ok.  Banda and Sands have have been adventures.   

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Funderburk, Orze, Rogers and Laweryson  look the best to me so far this season. Topa has been ok.  Banda and Sands have have been adventures.   

They have been decent. Also, what a job by Acton today. He was going to go one more inning if the Twins had not scored. The players have really limited their mistakes and have kept their heads in the game.

[h2oface]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

They have been decent. Also, what a job by Acton today. He was going to go one more inning if the Twins had not scored. The players have really limited their mistakes and have kept their heads in the game.

His HBP was the run that cost his starter the win. 

[twinstalker]

It's slow, but it doesn't move much.

[theBOMisthebomb]

They are spreading the wealth and truly bullpen by committee as per MLB.com: 

Eric Orze recorded the Twins’ fifth save on Thursday, and every one of them has gone to a different pitcher – including one in each of the four wins against Detroit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the third time since saves became an official statistic in 1969 that a team has won four straight games in a single series with four different pitchers getting a save.

[JD-TWINS]

Spin, movement, & location with the occasional “surprise” fastball above the letters or at the knees. It’s like watching Ron Peranoski 55 + years ago. As someone else here noted, just get outs!

[bunsen82]

3 hours ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

They are spreading the wealth and truly bullpen by committee as per MLB.com: 

Eric Orze recorded the Twins’ fifth save on Thursday, and every one of them has gone to a different pitcher – including one in each of the four wins against Detroit. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the third time since saves became an official statistic in 1969 that a team has won four straight games in a single series with four different pitchers getting a save.

I don't know whether to love your statement or put a sad face by it LOL.  

[Kenny Powers]

They have some high velo guys in waiting at AAA.  But as others have mentioned....velo is only half it.  They need to hit spots and mix speeds.  Here are some of the high velocity guys I'm referring to in AAA:

Kendry Rojas hit 98.5 mph

Conner Prielipp hit 98.4

Kyle Bishoff hit 98.2

Trent Baker hit 98.1

D. Altavilla hit 97.9

Marco Raya hit 97.8

Zebby Mathews hit 97.8

Andrew Morris hit 97.7

J Merryweather hit 97.5

John Klien hit 97.3

*MPH data from Spring or regular season games this season via game data.

 

 

Edited April 10 by Kenny Powers
forgot a couple guys

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

'Hilarious' wouldn't be a word I'd use to describe this group...

[The Great Hambino]

Can they keep not allowing homers?

The bullpen as a whole has only allowed four on the season, and two were by Zak Kent during the Things Fall Apart game in KC.  I think that's been a big part of their ability to scrape by so far.  Is that sustainable?