BOGO Pitchers and Two Other Things That Might Matter from a Spring Training Game

Twins Daily’s Ultimate Guide to Twins Spring Training has some tips on YOUR perfect time to come to spring training, but I’ll need to update it for the nichiest of nichy interest groups: the starting pitching geeks. If you consider yourself one of that fraternity, the second week of spring training is made for you.

If you do not consider yourself part of that group, you might want to try it because there’s never been a better time as a Twins fan. The Twins not only have a starting rotation that should compete to be among the best in the American League, but they also have so much depth that an MLB team wouldn’t be embarrassed to have the St. Paul Saints probable starting rotation. 

In the second week of spring training, the pitching geeks are often treated to a BOGO deal: watch one starting pitcher and see another one for free. On Sunday’s game, a 5-5 tie with the Rays, Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson, the Twins’ probable #4 and #5 starters “piggybacked.” That means Paddack threw the first three innings, and then Woods Richardson threw two more.

We’ve already seen this a couple of times. Saturday, Baily Ober was followed by David Festa, who is positioned to be the first call-up from the Saints if the Twins need a start. Wednesday, we saw the tandem of Andrew Morris and Cody Lewis, both of whom could make their MLB debuts this year if things break their way. 

Sunday’s starters both have question marks heading into 2025, but for totally different reasons because they’re in totally different places in their careers. Chris Paddack is a 29-year-old veteran who has battled injuries throughout his career, including a forearm strain that cost him the latter half of 2024 and Tommy John surgery that cost him most of 2022 and 2023.

His start provided a good example of the difference between a good spring training start versus a good regular season start. Giving up four runs in three innings would not be considered a good regular season start. But in this case, all four runs were due to back-to-back home runs by 21-year-old Junior Caminero. Paddack challenged him with his fastball twice, and he lost twice. 

It wasn’t that the fastball was bad - 14 of the 20 fastballs Paddack threw exceeded his 93.5 average velocity last year. The first one followed a swing where Caminero was fooled so badly on a 3-1 pitch that he sent his bat back to the backstop. On the second at-bat, Paddack revealed that catcher Ryan Jeffers had set up Caminero for different pitches, but Paddack shook him off to throw his fastball. That proved to be a mistake. “He humbled me a little bit,” said Paddack after the game. “In year seven, still learning. Still learning this game, man.”

However, in terms of spring training starts, there were several good signs. At a most basic level, he threw 51 pitches, so he remains on track to build his pitch count up. Second, he’s working on a slider that started where he didn’t want it - around 80 mph - but by changing the pressure of his grip during the game, he got it to where he wanted it: 84-85 mph. He also relied on his curveball more than usual because it was so effective. “I was able to steal some strikes early,” he said, “and I thought I did a really good job executing that pitch with two strikes out of the zone.”

But by far, the most important sign is that he is clearly focusing on pitching as opposed to staying healthy. At this time last year, Paddack was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the varying results and velocity through the first half of last season demonstrated that frustrating reality. None of that guarantees a healthy 2025. But at least a spring in which he’s focusing on new pitches, their velocity, and his pitch sequencing demonstrates that his health isn’t a distraction. 

Woods Richardson, on the other hand, is only 24 years old and coming off a breakthrough year. He also faded last year, but that’s because he threw a career number of innings. His bigger concern is whether his relatively weak 20.6% strikeout rate is a negative harbinger. The bad news is that he didn’t strike out anyone in his two innings and threw 39 pitches to get through them. 

On the other hand, his fastball velocity, largely attributed for the giant step forward he took last year, remained consistently at 93 and 94 mph. It was also clear that this outing focused on his slider - 16 of his 39 pitches were sliders - so he may be using spring training exactly what it should be used for: practice. He also built up his pitch count, and he’s starting this spring a little later than he has in the past since he needed to give his arm time to recover from all those innings last year. 

Both outings demonstrate why, in spring training, it’s dangerous to put the same stock in numbers that we would normally trust during the regular season. But they also demonstrate why this week can be one the best weeks to visit if you’re interested in the art of starting pitching. 

Buxton Swipes First Third
Byton Buxton has stolen 93 bases in his major league career but has never stolen third base. In Sunday’s ballgame, he did. Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli said he wasn’t aware until after that Buxton had yet to steal third in the majors. “If you’re going to implement it in the season, you might as well break it out,” said Baldelli. “He’s always looking to add something.”

Pitch to Contact?
The Twins pitchers have a new contest this year. Posted in the clubhouse yesterday was a list of which Twins pitchers had gotten through an inning with the fewest pitches this last week. The leader going into yesterday’s game was left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk, who needed only seven pitches to get through an inning versus the Tigers on Wednesday. 

“I think the whole principle of it all is to just encourage guys to pound the zone and get to the big part of the plate, said Funderburk before today’s game. “And then when you get to two strikes, obviously be a little bit more fine.”

Funderburk had a chance to take over the top two spots as he made an appearance today, but it did not go as cleanly as Wednesday. He struggles with his control, and it took 22 pitches to get through the eighth. No matter. The contest ends tomorrow, and the Twins have an off day, so he’ll be the first week’s winner regardless.