Marco Raya’s Bullpen Transition Facing a Critical Hurdle

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

The Minnesota Twins have built a reputation for successfully transitioning young starters into high-impact relievers. Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland all found another gear once they moved to the bullpen, turning raw stuff into late-inning weapons. That path has long felt like the most logical outcome for Marco Raya.

So far, it has not been nearly as smooth. Raya’s move to relief did not come as a surprise. Having never thrown more than 97 2/3 innings in a season and dealing with workload limitations throughout his development, the writing had been on the wall.

“I had an idea,” Raya said this spring. “I was open to it. … When they advised me I was moving to the ‘pen, I said, ‘Let’s run with it.’”

The shift made sense on paper. Raya has always missed bats, carrying a 9.6 K/9 rate through the minors, backed by a lively fastball and sharp, high-spin breaking stuff that consistently challenged hitters more experienced than him. The hope was simple. Shorter outings, more aggression, and fewer opportunities for his control to derail him.

But the transition has exposed the same issues that slowed his climb as a starter. Control remains the biggest obstacle. Raya walked 4.1 batters per nine innings in the minors, and instead of improving in relief, that number ticked up. The expectation that his arsenal would play better in shorter bursts has only partially materialized.

There were flashes late last season. After a rocky bullpen debut on July 25 and a few more starts, Raya officially moved into a full-time relief role on August 21. He posted a 4.90 ERA over his final 18 1/3 innings, a modest step forward from the 6.27 ERA he carried across his previous 80 1/3 innings. Even then, the progress felt more incremental than transformational.

The adjustment to relief goes beyond just pitching fewer innings. It requires a different mindset, quicker preparation, and the ability to flush bad outings almost immediately.

“You get one or two minutes and just come in and be ready when you step on that rubber,” Raya said. “I’ve been working on that and getting that intensity a little higher. … Just routines and body movements on the mound, all the detail work.”

That learning curve has followed him into 2026. Through his first eight appearances with Triple-A St. Paul, Raya has allowed runs in half of them. One outing in particular underscored how volatile things can be. On April 12, he recorded just one out while giving up six earned runs. It is the kind of blowup that tests a reliever’s ability to reset, something Raya is still learning.

The Twins have not shied away from using him in different roles. Three of his outings have extended beyond one inning, suggesting the organization still sees some flexibility in how he can be deployed. There are also encouraging signs beneath the surface. Raya is striking out hitters at a career-best 11.6 per nine innings.

But the problems are just as loud. He is walking 5.8 batters per nine and allowing 12.5 hits per nine, a combination that leaves little margin for error, no matter the role.

That inconsistency mirrors what happened during his first exposure to Triple-A last season. After rising steadily through the system and remaining a fixture in prospect rankings, Raya hit a wall. Walks piled up, outings dragged on, and for the first time in his professional career, he looked overwhelmed rather than overpowering.

Context matters. Raya reached Triple-A at just 22 years old after an aggressive promotion schedule. Struggles at that level are not uncommon, especially for pitchers still refining command. But they do shift the timeline from projection to proof.

The bullpen was supposed to simplify things. Instead, it has reinforced the same question that has followed Raya throughout his career: Can he throw enough strikes for his stuff to matter?

There are still reasons for optimism. Raya has said he likes how his body responds to more frequent usage, and he has leaned on conversations with experienced relievers to better understand the role. The raw ingredients remain intact, and there were glimpses of that upside during spring action.

But until the control stabilizes, the transition that once looked like a fast track to impact is starting to feel more like another developmental hurdle. For now, Raya is still searching for the version of himself that the bullpen was supposed to unlock.

Can Raya be successful in the bullpen? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[Linus]

The hype has far exceeded the performance. Reminds me of when everyone was in love with Balasovic even though the performance was erratic even in AA. 

[Baumer67]

Another pitcher who throws hard and supposedly has good stuff but can't throw it over the plate.  the Twins have enough relievers that struggle with consistent strike throwing.  Pitchers like Banda, Funderburk, Orze, and even Rogers and Topa struggle at times with throwing strikes and getting ahead of the hitters.  Bradley can get away with this at times because he can throw 98-99, but when you don't you are going to struggle and be inconsistent.

[jkcarew]

Except for the walks and the home runs, he can be effective. Sounds like he’d fit right in. Bring him up!

[rdehring]

When drafted I was excited about this young teenager, I believe from West Texas.  Continued to be excited, however, seemingly less each year.  Well, that excitement is gone, long gone. 

Maybe he will become another Liam Hendriks.  After the Twins lose him following his six years in the organization, he will sign and fail with a couple more clubs before becoming an All-Star with the A's.

[mikelink45]

It is amazing how excited we can get with prospects then reality sets in.  We do need some arms, but Marco is not ready. 

[DJL44]

Definitely don’t move him back to the rotation. He has never had the stamina needed to be a starter. Keep him in relief and see how it goes.

[HerbieFan]

Patience people.....

[HeresWaldo]

I'm a Raya believer but they've got to stop messing around with this multi-inning nonsense. They're using guys like this in the majors and minors, and I'm all for trying stuff but it pretty clearly isn't working. Ramp him down and go max effort. Same with Sands and Morris in the majors. It's fine to piggyback prospects just to make minor league innings fit together, but once it's time to join the MLB bullpen they really need to put a focus on max effort innings because those are the ones that actually matter. 

[Dman]

34 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

Patience people.....

Agreed.  He is still young.  It is just so frustrating to see a pitcher with his stuff be so ineffective and nothing has changed the last two years that I can see.  You'd think they work on stuff to help him find the edges of the zone, but he can't and down the middle the ball goes and the damage is done.  He's got time this year to figure it out but with other arms that might need 40 man spots like Oliveros, Culpepper and Langenburg he doesn't have a ton of time.  He needs to figure it out soon.

[bean5302]

Here's the critical hurdle in an image. See the bright glowing blue rectangle? That's the hurdle.

[laloesch]

Unfortunately, this happens often with young pitching prospects. His control is just not good enough.  He either figures it out and maybe backs off a bit on the velocity to control the results better or he languishes and never makes it.  It's a hard pill to swallow considering how highly he was touted, but it is what it is i suppose.

[jkcarew]

6 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

Patience people.....

He’s in his 5th professional season, his 3rd season seeing AAA batters, turns 24 this season, and most importantly is on the 40-man roster…so as far as a career with the Twins goes…tick, tick, tick

[twinstalker]

19 hours ago, Linus said:

The hype has far exceeded the performance. Reminds me of when everyone was in love with Balasovic even though the performance was erratic even in AA. 

I kept saying he wasn't worthy of a top 20 spot.  There was never, ever a reason to rate him highly.  The Twins built him up?  Sure, he was the only thing in the 2020 draft they could hope for, but he never showed anything, except in a rare occurrence.