Turning to Anthony Swarzak To Save the Twins Pitching Staff

[Tom Froemming]

Image courtesy of © Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The philosophy behind starting pitching usage has dramatically changed over the past few decades, but relief roles are more or less the same. There are starters you hope can at least give you five innings, relievers who go one inning (maybe two once in a blue moon) and basically nothing in between.

The 2026 Twins should explore that area in between.

A Near Change of Course
Once upon a time, it appeared the Twins were going to start to break free from the restraints of the modern pitching staff. Back in November of 2021, former Twins GM Thad Levine said this:

“I think with the challenge comes opportunity. We’re going to be as creative as we can be in terms of not being necessarily hemmed into the notion of it has to look exactly the way it has always looked. We may end up looking at this from the lens of how many multi-inning guys can we add to a staff and how far does that take us?”

Nick Nelson reacted to that news here at Twins Daily at the time, and some goofball named Tom’s his thoughts in the comments: 

“Some team is going to do it eventually. Once one finds a way to get it right, I think it won't be long before this is just normal …

There's been a lot of exploration in the big leagues the past decade but it's still pretty paint-by-numbers when it comes to bullpen/reliever usage.”

So What Happened?
The situation changed from winter, when Levine made those comments, to spring.

The Twins bullpen stunk in 2021 and they were coming off an 89-loss season. It was easy for the Twins front office to see a tough road ahead. Then Jhoan Duran returned from missing most of the 2021 season, converted into a bullpen role during spring and completely dominated (salute to the 2022 Sire of Fort Myers). Griffin Jax, who was mostly an afterthought after failing as a starter, also blossomed in a relief role.

Those two breakouts and an unexpected 30-21 record through May caused the course to change and the Twins to stick with a conventional approach to the pitching staff. The rotation influenced that decision, as well, with the addition of Sonny Gray and emergence of Joe Ryan. At the time, it was the right call …

But What About Now?
Thad Levine is long gone but the org should revisit this idea. A glass half-full view of the 2026 Twins is that they’re only two games out of a playoff spot and shouldn’t jeopardize any chance they have by experimenting. A glass half-empty view is that the Twins still have four teams between them and a Wild Card spot, and this pitching staff is currently a hot mess express.

To their credit, the Twins have already started tinkering with the recipe they opened the season with. Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis were demoted. Brooks Lee has moved off shortstop. Kody Clemens is … playing some center field!?!?!?

Things have also changed on the pitching side, but that’s due to need more than anything. This bullpen was always going to be an adventure, but the rotation being decimated by injury has really fudged the overall pitching formula.

Navigating this current pitching staff through games may be the most challenging task any manager across baseball faces. Derek Shelton needs an Option C beyond just starting pitchers and primarily single-inning relievers.

Enter the Swarzak
I’d like to introduce a new stat I’m naming after former Twins great Anthony Swarzak.

The elements of a Swarzak:
1) A relief appearance.
2) Of more than two innings (seven or more outs).
3) On fewer than four-days rest.

I took to Baseball-Reference’s Stathead search to get some info on how often these outings occur. Through May of this year, there were 127 Swarzaks across the majors, six for the Twins. Meanwhile, Nationals reliever Brad Lord has seven Swarzaks alone.

Over the past five seasons, the Twins have totaled 39 Swarzaks. The Giants had 32 of them just in the 2022 season, which is the single season high in that sample. That Giants team had only two pitchers make 20+ starts. It’s easy to envision that also being the case for this 2026 Twins team.

Let’s Take a Moment to Remember Some Guys
In the Target Field era (since 2010), Anthony Swarzak leads not only all Twins in this metric dedicated to him, but all of baseball. Swarzak had 39 Swarzaks and the second-place Swarzaker had 30 (T.J. McFarland ). Swarzak’s single-season high was 12, which he accomplished twice and is one off from the single-season record from this period.

The Minnesota Twins all-time (since 1961) leader in Swarzaks is Bill Campbell with 62 and nobody else even has 50. The other guys with 40+ are Senor Smoke Juan Berenguer with 48, Tom Burgmeier with 46 and Mike Trombley with 45. Campbell also holds the single-season Twins record with 29 Swarzaks in 1976. I was shocked it wasn’t Mike Marshall, who had “only” 16 Swarzaks for the 1979 Twins.

So, there’s a good case this stat should be called a Cambell instead, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it. 

Challenges of Building a Bullpen with Multiple Swarzaks
1. Leverage.
If you use one of your arms in a Swarzak, he’s not going to be available for a few games. Having a paint-by-numbers bullpen makes things incredibly simple for a manager. Trying to play jazz with it is sketchy and creates opportunities for second-guessing. 

For me, this concern blows up any notion of completely eliminating roles or general usage expectations. I think a bullpen still needs at least four arms reserved for higher-leverage work and almost exclusively throw single innings. That way, you have those guys ready to deploy when you need them the most.

2. Adoption and implementation.
This one is a distant second, but everybody would need to be on board. The front office, manager/coaching staff and players would need to be on the same page about this approach. For some guys, disrupting the rhythm and predictability of their current role is not going to go over well, at least at first.

3. Deviation is dangerous.
If this strategy is implemented and fails, everyone is eventually getting fired. There’s a reason why nobody has really given this strategy a try, and I don’t think it’s because teams have universally determined it’s not going to work.

So Where Does That Leave Us?
I still feel strongly that a team is eventually going to build a staff with a bunch of Swarzaks and become trendsetters. It just might not work out the first time it’s attempted. Don’t expect this revolution to come from a contending or high-payroll team. This is going to come from a forward-thinking team with a zig when everyone else is zagging mentality.

It’s easy to think of the Tampa Bay Rays in that regard, and they have produced a number of Swarzak-type guys. But why not us? Jeremy Zoll isn’t even supposed to be at this stage of his career. As a guy not even in his 40s yet, he figures to have a long career in baseball ahead of him even if things eventually turn sour here. Derek Shelton might be on his last legs as a manager, and he’s painted into a corner with this current pitching staff. Why not experiment? What’s there to lose right now?

Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley and Zebby Matthews figure to be good sources of innings, but we’re already seeing Connor Prielipp struggle to hold up to the demands of pitching on a Major League starter’s schedule. Mick Abel is working his way back, but they’ll want to handle him carefully. The same can be said about Bailey Ober, Kendry Rojas and David Festa whenever they return from the IL. 

The Twins Are Already Experimenting
John Klein and Mike Paredes are among the faces of a new strategy the Twins have been tinkering with down on the farm. A few pitchers are regularly throwing four innings (or at least that’s the intention) every four days. These are still primarily starting pitchers, allowing for them to work on a schedule as if they were in a traditional rotation rather than an unstructured mop-up type role.

This approach has well-positioned those arms to become Swarzaks. It’s starting to appear that Marco Raya, C.J. Culpepper and Alejandro Hidalgo may start ramping up in similar roles with the Saints, as well.

But What Would This New Pitching Staff Look Like?
If we map things out as the active roster is currently constructed, it’s not going to look all that appealing, to be honest There’s just no way of getting around the reality of the situation. This pitching staff is in trouble, and there is no magic wand.

Let’s do it anyway. Here’s how things would look with the current active roster.

Traditional starters throwing every fifth game: Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews

Starting every sixth game to lighten his load: Connor Prielipp

Swarzaks: Andrew Morris, Travis Adams, Mike Paredes, Cody Laweryson

Traditional single-inning high-leverage relievers: Yoendrys Gómez, Anthony Banda, Taylor Rogers, Eric Orze, Justin Lawrence, 

If this strategy were to be implemented, it would probably be wise to drop Justin Lawrence and replace him with another Swarzak-type guy like John Klein, Marco Raya or even the recently acquired Austin Voth.

Again, it’s not the prettiest picture, but it’s a way to navigate through a chunk of your schedule when you only have 3 3/4 starting pitchers. Even when some of these guys on the IL return from injury, it’s not as if they’ll be able to provide much length for a while. A fully staffed version of this plan may have Kendry Rojas and David Festa as Swarzaks. Maybe even Bailey Ober would be in that role. Cole Sands would join the high-leverage group and Mick Abel could be on a similar schedule as Prielipp, at least when he first gets back.

Conclusion
I’m sure most everyone is going to hate this idea, and I get it.  It’s fun watching aces pitch deep into games on a regular basis. Those guys are increasingly difficult to find.

Rob Manfred would also hate this idea. Aces are marketable. He’s floated out the possibility of implementing rules that would incentivize teams to leave their starters in longer. In the past, MLB had the Atlantic League test out teams losing their DH if their starter didn’t go at least five innings.

The Player’s Association would probably hate this idea, too. A lot of the earnings structure for pitchers revolves around starting or throwing innings. This might suppress pitcher salaries to some degree.

Heck, I’m sure several of the players and coaches would hate this. Regardless, in the context of the 2026 Minnesota Twins, I think it’s a worthwhile experiment.

Long live Anthony Swarzak.

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[DJL44]

So more innings from lousy middle relievers will save the season?

[Jack Pine]

It's the old silk purse out of a sows ear theory.

[Sjoski]

Something needs to change....that can't possibly lose more games by trying.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Tom, I agree with you in that I hate this idea.

[Eris]

In theory it makes sense. In 2025, 93 RP had 60 or more appearances. Only 2 had 80+ appearances.  I think this somewhat defines the effectiveness and durability range for most relief pitchers. The challenge will be that the bottom third of the pitching staff is normally not very good. Also with using a RP for 1 inning, everyone is available tomorrow. It makes a managers job easier. For example, “I went with my closer and he didn’t get the job done.”

Edited to add. There is really a math problem created by the starting pitching usage. If the average start is 5 innings the 8 relievers need to average 80 innings/year. (The average start in 2025 was 5.24 innings which is 76 innings for each of 8 relief spots—but only 9 players had 75 or more relief appearances in 2025). At an average start of 6 innings, relievers need to cover an average of 60 innings/year. But pointed above only about 3 relief pitchers per team throw that many innings. Before the rule change several years ago regarding the minimum amount of days an optioned player needed to be kept in the minors, this issue was dealt with by shuffling pitchers with options between the majors and minor leagues.
 

(My calculations don’t take into consideration extra innings or when the home team does not bat in the 9th inning). 

[bean5302]

What is the purpose of the "Swarzak?"

The 2021 Twins bullpen did not stink. Guys with 20+ IP in relief below, though ERAs were much higher before the deadline.
Minaya 2.48 ERA
Farrel 3.04 ERA
Duffey 3.18 ERA
Thielbar 3.23 ERA
Rogers 3.35 ERA
Coulombe 3.58 ERA 
Alcala 3.92 ERA
Colome 4.15 ERA
 

Anyway, I think what is really being talked about here is a mop up guy needed for a bad pitching rotation. If you have starters who can go 5.0+ or 6.0+ IP, the mop up guy isn't a necessary role.

[D.C Twins]

With the current talent level in the bullpen any 'new' strategy is....

[USAFChief]

"There’s a reason why nobody has really given this strategy a try, and I don’t think it’s because teams have universally determined it’s not going to work."

 

Or, and I'm just spitballing here, it's because teams have universally determined it's not going to work. 

[Woof Bronzer]

What exactly is the end goal with this proposal?  Because it sure seems like the end goal is having worse pitchers throw more innings, and having better pitchers throw less innings.

One thing I love about the "we're smarter than baseball" sabermetrics crowd is that they dismiss 125 years of the game as pure unenlightened ignorance.  As if every single idea under the sun hasn't been tried over the past century and a quarter.  Maybe, just maybe, things end up the way they do because that's the best way to do it!  

[AceWrigley]

I guess this is why it is beneficial for teams with any notion of making the post season to develop and spend on a good and deep starting rotation.

[mikelink45]

I don't necessarily agree with you but I love the thought put into this.  I am still an old complete game neandertal.  

[old nurse]

Somehow I could believe the author has muttered that they could see the forest if there was not a tree in the way.

[Coach Wheels]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

So more innings from lousy middle relievers will save the season?

My thoughts exactly

[Western SD Fan]

The question trying to get answered here is what to do when a team does not have enough capable pitching for a five-man rotation, or in Prielipp's case, a need to shut him down or limit his innings.  People criticizing the idea of load managing Prielipp seem to forget that even Stephen Strasburg was shut down for the playoffs in 2012 when coming back from Tommy John surgery.  

A more serious problem is what to do with a group of pitchers that aren't good enough to get through a ML lineup more than once AND don't have a good enough repertoire to get ML batters out in a high leverage bullpen role.  The days of players like Oliver Perez or Terry Mulholland, which were capable of giving you 1-2 innings or 5-6 innings depending on what your team needed, are gone.  Bullpen specialization has cut the swingman out of the bullpen with the closest currently in the majors being Sean Manaea.  The final issue is from a team standpoint.  If one of these bulk pitchers gets shelled in a game, do you leave him out there to die or do you ruin your bullpen for a week to try to get through the game.  If you are going to have a member of your bullpen down for three days, the rest of your bullpen better be good in order to cover that shortcoming.  The Twins do not have that bullpen.  The bullpen, by ERA, is the worst in baseball.  The Twins have to do something now because they don't have the capable pitchers left to fill out a rotation.  I certainly wouldn't want to call an emergency a lifestyle choice and that is what this idea is ultimately suggesting.

[KikiMN]

Let's think of something else to name the "Swarzak". Don't  let that go to waste.