Yoendrys Gómez's Sweeper is Baffling Hitters

[Matthew Lenz]

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Yoendrys Gómez was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays in early May, and since arriving in Minnesota, he has been sensational. Through 16 appearances, he owns a 0.64 ERA (2.25 FIP), and eight holds plus saves while allowing just one earned run in 14 innings. Those numbers would be impressive for anyone, but are even more so given the backstory of Gómez, who is now with his fifth organization in just over a year.

Before landing with the Twins, he went from the New York Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox to the Tampa Bay Rays. Three of those teams have excellent reputations for pitching development and acquisitional acuity, but that's not exactly a trajectory that screams “high-leverage reliever". However, that's what he's become since donning the navy and red. 

His time in Tampa was rough. He posted a 6.23 ERA across 17 1/3 innings, with a 13:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The command seemed to be the culprit; the "stuff" was always there. This is precisely what the Twins saw when nobody else did—or at least, what the Twins have been able to unlock, partially thanks to the others running out of patience with the project.

To understand why Gómez has been baffling hitters, you have to start with his sweeper. The pitch sits at 84 miles per hour and has generated an elite 39.3% whiff rate. The shape and spin rates seem to be pretty similar to previous season. Instead of those characteristics transforming, it's been a change in pitch mix that has unlocked Gómez’s next level. It's become his second-most-leaned-on offering and his go-to pitch in two-strike counts.

What makes the pitch especially dangerous is how it pairs with his fastball. Gómez’s four-seamer runs at 95 miles per hour, which on its own would be a solid offering. But when you stack it with a sweeper with glove side-run and a sinker with arm-side run, hitters face a serious problem. He’s able to tunnel the three offerings, meaning opposing batters have a hard time identifying each. By the time the break of the sweeper (or sinker) happens, it's too late to adjust. While the sinker hasn't been nearly as effective, opponents have a combined sub-.200 batting average against the other two offerings.

He rounds out his arsenal with a cutter at 91 miles per hour (less glove-side action than the sweeper) and keeps hitters guessing by mixing in a changeup 2.4 percent of the time. That is four distinct weapons, which gives Gómez the ability to attack hitters differently at every count and in every situation. The sweeper is the headliner, but the depth of his arsenal is what makes him a legitimate weapon out of the bullpen.

The Twins have leaned on Gómez heavily, and he has been one of the more reliable arms in the bullpen. As much as Twins fans can grumble about the player development on the offensive side of the ball, Minnesota identified the stuff and acquired one of their most valuable bullpen pieces for “cash considerations.”

His overall 2026 ERA across both teams has dropped from 6.23 with Tampa to 3.73. In Minnesota alone, the numbers look like those of an elite high-leverage reliever. The question worth asking at this point is whether Gómez can sustain the success over a larger sample. There's no doubt he’ll get that opportunity in 2026, but with five additional years of team control, we could be looking at the Twins' next great closer.

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Have the Twins found a diamond in the rough? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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[DJL44]

He has been the best reliever on the team by a pretty big margin. 

[IndianaTwin]

Just another castoff retreat. 

That's sarcasm, but without going back and checking, I'm guessing that's a lot of the reaction the waiver claim got a month ago. I don't know whether he'll maintain his success long-term, but this is exactly how the Twins should be approaching the bullpen this year -- claim and make cheap trades for guys, give them up to 20 innings or so to see if they've got something and then move on if they don't. Meanwhile, keep bringing up internal guys for cups of coffee, focusing on the long-term developmental nature of those. 

I've said it elsewhere, but this is a season of sifting and sorting. Any success this year is bonus, but if they end the season with a rotation of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, et. al, and a stable of at least 5 or 6 "knowns" in the bullpen, that's a contending staff. Pair it with continued sifting and sorting on the hitter side, and I think contending in 2027 is very possible.  

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Yoendrys Gomez has been amazing for the Twins since he was acquired. He definitely seems to have unlocked something with the Twins. It's amazing that we got him for so little even with all those years of team control. I'm not sure how sustainable it is, but even if he is a 3 ERA guy, that would be a huge win especially with 5 years of service time remaining. I could definitely see him being on the team in 2028 and for basically a waiver wire pickup that is a huge win. 

[Road trip]

It seems the Twins FO will, on an average year, try out a dozen or two pitching castoffs from other orgs.  Most will fail, but a few will succeed.  If you throw enough stuff against the wall, some of it will stick I guess.  Looks like Gomez is this year's lotto winner.

I can't say this is a great way to build a competitive bullpen, but the bright spot in Gomez's case is if he truly is fixed he is controllable and affordable for a long time yet.

[Linus]

History would suggest that he is hot right now but will come back to earth soon. But let’s keep running him out there and hope we caught lightning in a bottle this one time. 

[bean5302]

I'm not really seeing a lot of change. His fastball grades out as pretty elite and he's leaning on it very heavily. He's getting ahead in the count and that's paying dividends. 51% Fastball, 31% Sweeper. Just enough curve and sinker to keep hitters honest.