One Year After Duran and Jax, the Twins May Have Their Replacements

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett & Bruce Kluckhohn, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We all knew coming into the season that the Twins’ bullpen was going to be the biggest question mark on the roster.

After last year's trade deadline saw Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland , Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe all shipped elsewhere, there simply wasn't much left behind. With the front office doing very little over the winter to replenish that group, it felt inevitable that the bullpen would take a step back. That's exactly what's happened.

Minnesota's late-game arms have struggled to consistently protect leads, putting additional pressure on a team that has already dealt with its fair share of inconsistency. The Twins' bullpen currently ranks 26th in baseball with a 4.92 ERA and 29th with a 1.52 WHIP. They've also issued the sixth-most walks of any team, and they haven't generated nearly enough strikeouts to offset all of the extra traffic. It's been a difficult season for a unit that, just one year ago, was viewed as arguably the organization's biggest strength.

One of the more surprising parts of last summer's fire sale was that the Twins didn't just trade one elite reliever; they traded both Duran and Jax. Considering both pitchers were among the very best late-inning arms in baseball and would’ve remained under team control through 2028, it seemed far more likely that they’d move one while keeping the other as the anchor of the bullpen moving forward. Instead, both were gone. That decision left the Twins without proven options in the eighth and ninth innings, and replacing pitchers of that caliber was never going to happen overnight. But while the bullpen as a whole has struggled, it's becoming increasingly clear that Minnesota may already have the foundation of its next dominant late-inning tandem.

Andrew Morris and Yoendrys Gómez aren't there yet. Comparing them to Duran and Jax today would be unfair. Still, it's hard to ignore what both pitchers have done this season, and even harder to ignore the potential that's still ahead.

Gómez, in particular, has transformed into exactly what the Twins desperately needed after arriving in Minnesota. He's posted a sparkling 1.78 ERA across 30 1/3 innings with the club while converting all 12 of his save opportunities. Every time Derek Shelton has handed him the ball with a lead in the ninth inning, Gómez has delivered. For a bullpen that has struggled to consistently close out games, that reliability has been invaluable.

The underlying metrics aren't quite as enthusiastic as the traditional numbers, but there's important context there. Much of the damage to his expected statistics came earlier in the season during his brief stint with the Rays, before landing with the Twins. Since arriving in Minnesota, Gómez has looked like a completely different pitcher. His sweeper has emerged as a legitimate weapon, comparable to the devastating breaking ball that made Jax one of the league's premier setup men. It's the type of pitch that can carry a reliever through high-leverage situations, and Gómez has leaned on it with tremendous success.

The rest of his arsenal still has room to develop, but that's what makes his performance even more encouraging. He's only 26 years old. There are still adjustments to make and refinement left to come, giving the Twins reason to believe there's another level he can eventually reach.

Morris has followed a different path, but his rookie season has been every bit as encouraging. In fact, there's a strong argument that he's been Minnesota's best reliever over the course of the year. Unlike Gómez, Morris has built success through a deep arsenal and an impressive ability to avoid hard contact. Few pitchers in baseball have been better at generating weak contact this season, and that's allowed Morris to consistently work out of difficult situations despite not having a traditional wipeout offering.

What's especially exciting is that the swing-and-miss ability is already beginning to show up anyway. All six of Morris' pitches have generated whiffs on at least 20 percent of swings this season. That speaks to the quality and deception throughout his entire repertoire rather than relying on one dominant pitch. If he eventually develops a true put-away weapon to pair with everything else, his ceiling rises considerably.

The building blocks are already in place. Just like Gómez, Morris feels like a pitcher whose best baseball is still in front of him. Together, they've already become two of the most dependable relievers in the Twins’ bullpen. Blown leads and bullpen meltdowns have become all too common, yet Morris and Gómez have consistently been the exceptions. They've earned meaningful roles, and both have looked comfortable handling them.

Again, suggesting they've already replaced what Duran and Jax were would be getting ahead of ourselves. But saying Morris and Gómez are incapable of becoming that kind of duo feels just as premature. Both pitchers remain under team control through the 2031 season, with two years of pre-arbitration eligibility remaining before entering arbitration for three seasons. That gives the Twins a long runway to continue developing both arms while keeping them together during what should be the prime years of their careers.

For an organization that suddenly found itself searching for a new identity in the bullpen after last year's deadline, that's an encouraging place to start. The Twins still have plenty of work to do before their relief corps returns to being one of the league's strengths, but if Morris and Gómez continue progressing the way they have, Minnesota may already have the next great late-inning duo sitting right in front of them.

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[jmlease1]

The potential is at least there. Both have shown they can be part of a good bullpen going forward. But they still need more guys this season and to have 2 for next.

I think it's ok to have 2-3 spots that are sort of "open for business" going into a season, what with relievers being so fungible much of the time. It's ok to churn through some guys the first 2 months while you figure out which converted starter can thrive as a reliever (like Morris) or cast off can find new life in a different system with a different franchise (Gomez). But if you're serious about competing you have to have more than 2 guys that you can reasonably count on. I think you need a minimum of 4-5 and at least one needs to be a LHP.

Morris and Gomez look like success stories to me, but they're not Jax/Duran (and not that close yet; both were guys that had multiple seasons as trusted relievers), and they are not enough.

[Hunter4848]

Lol

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

I think they have performed well,  and maybe even better than we should expect their long term performance will be.  We definitely need a couple more,  but it is a very good start.  

[nicksaviking]

I like Morris quite a bit, and I'm happy the Twins have found Gomez, but Gomez in particular doesn't look the part of Duran/Jax. His K% is subpar for a high leverage reliever, he throws hardish, not hard and he's got command issues that will likely limit his consistency. 

But I think amongst the current young starters, Matthews, Preilipp, Abel, Rojas; the odd man/men out will prove to be the relief guys they are looking for. Raya Culpepper and Klien have a shot too when they commit to them being one inning pitchers.

[Road trip]

Jax, for all of his absolutely filthy stuff, had frequent meltdowns.  Sometimes it was perhaps bad luck, but bad luck sure did find him.  He was quite good in 2024, but frankly just average in 2025 and a mix of bad and good in 2022 and 2023.  Such is the nature of relievers. 

Matching his actual production is something Morris may achieve, even if he never makes opposing batter look as foolish as Jax did on the nights when his stuff was working.  I didn't mind when Jax was traded, and frankly the exchange for Taj Bradley is starting to look like a steal.

[bean5302]

Quote

The underlying metrics aren't quite as enthusiastic

yeah, they're downright bad for Gomez. All of them. SIERA, xERA, FIP, xFIP they're all over 4.50.

[jkcarew]

Jax has a 3.16 ERA this season across 18 STARTS.

Yes, he’s a starting pitcher now, and apparently a good one.

[HeresWaldo]

They've performed well and Morris in particular is interesting with that deeper pitch mix. I don't think either of them will ever come even remotely close to Duran though. A triple digit fastball not being the best strikeout weapon in the arsenal of a groundball pitcher with solid control is extremely uncommon. Duran was essentially a video game character come to life, and without some very significant luck or a blockbuster trade to bring someone in we aren't going to be replacing him any time soon. Best case scenario both guys are as good as Jax, which would still be nice, but we're unlikely to ever replicate a duo as good as the one the included Duran.

[weitz41]

Morris to Jax comparison sure fits. Gomez has been great, but comparing to Duran is a stretch. Let's give it another season.

[h2oface]

Andrew Morris may very well be the best starter we didn’t let start of the new wave, just because our bullpen sucked so bad. 

[h2oface]

Neither close to Duran. Get real. 

[KirbyDome89]

These types of claims make this place hard to stomach at times...

[dxpavelka]

Reminds me a little bit of unloading Jose Berrios in 2021.  Come deadline a year hence they found themselves in need of, well, Jose Berrios.  Enter Tyler Mahle.  Oops.  Hope this plays out better.

[Major League Ready]

The mistake was not Duran.  That trade would probably be looking just fine right now had Able not gotten injured.  The mistake was Varland.  There was just no need to trade him on the rise.  He would be even more valuable asset today and going forward.

[bean5302]

The Twins had not found their replacements is what the front office has exclaimed by acquiring Hoffman and Mintner. 

[Trov]

I want to know what happened between Ray and Twins for Gomez.  He was terrible for 9 games with Rays, we got him as a DFA pickup.  He has been very good, if he could cut his walks a little more he would be great. Not sure what happened but we will take it for now. 

[David HK]

Well, if you mean there are two guys in their roster spots, that's correct.