How the Twins and Their Pitchers Use Spring Training to Prepare for the Season

As spring training season kicks into gear, the Minnesota Twins' pitchers are honing their craft with a meticulously planned routine to optimize performance for the upcoming season. While the casual observer might only catch glimpses of players on the field during games, the behind-the-scenes regimen is organized to ensure peak physical condition and mental acuity. Let's delve into what, precisely, the pitchers' spring training schedule entails and the objectives they aim to accomplish.

At the core of the Twins pitchers' spring training routine is a structured three-day throwing cycle. The cycle consists of one side day (a bullpen with just a catcher or a live session with a hitter in the box) and two non-side days. This cycle is a common practice to ensure pitchers can maintain their skills. 

"This is what spring training is for. It's just kind of getting us broken in," said incoming reliever Josh Staumont. Staumont, who spent his career in the Royals organization, said this program is nothing new. "A three-day kind of thing that's just the standard practice field."

Staumont added that pitchers might work toward a four-day cycle later in camp, including back-to-back live side days to replicate getting called to pitch in consecutive games. However, the three-day schedule is king as arms are ramping at the beginning of spring.

During "side" days, not in-game action, pitchers focus primarily on bullpen sessions or live batting practice (BP). Side days are the time for pitchers to fine-tune their mechanics, work on specific pitches, and simulate game-like scenarios under the guidance of pitching coaches. The bullpen sessions allow pitchers to concentrate on their individual needs, whether that be refining their fastball command, perfecting the break on their curveball, or experimenting with new pitch grips.

These bullpen sessions also have a Fogo De Chao amount of technology involved. There are cameras, Trackman units, and biomechanical tools. Everything (seen and unseen) is measured. Collecting data is essential for pitchers working on a new pitch, or refining an existing one. When the Twins asked Pablo López to add a sweeper to his arsenal, they were looking for a precise amount of break, spin direction, and velocity. It was in spring training sides that he honed those. This process is vital in a strong pipeline of developing pitchers. 

"You see some of these young pitchers who have interesting pitches, interesting skills or traits, maybe velo, maybe something with the two-seamer, something with the slider. But the difference between a successful major-league pitcher with that talent and a guy who's right on the edge of that is so, so thin," Derek Falvey told reporters early in camp. "We've found that if you can find a way to get a little more consistency out of the strike-throwing or a little more consistency out of the slider, whatever you've got that separates you, all of a sudden it turns into something."