Finding Aaron Ashby in a World Full of Kody Funderburks

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From the Twins' perspective, the most important story of this past postseason was the heavy reliance on left-handed relievers capable of throwing multiple innings. Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby’s epitomizes this trend, as he put up a 0.00 ERA, 1.38 FIP, and 33.3% strikeout rate over 18 innings pitched. Of his nine games, Ashby threw more than one inning in eight, twice tossing three innings in separate NLDS and NLCS appearances. The 28-year-old often threw multiple innings in the regular season, too, pitching more than one frame in 24 of his 75 outings.

Milwaukee’s NLDS opponent (San Diego) deployed a similar approach, having star southpaw Adrián Morejón pitch two innings once against the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card round and once against Milwaukee. San Diego often had Morejón operate in a multi-inning role during the regular season, too, alongside fellow plus lefty relievers Yuki Matsui and Wandy Peralta. The Los Angeles Dodgers used the same approach in both the postseason and the regular season with left-handed relievers Kris Bubic, Jack Dreyer, and Justin Wrobleski.

The Chicago White Sox did the same with Hagen Smith and Sean Newcomb. The list goes on and on. Baseball’s smartest and most successful organizations all utilized their top left-handed relievers and swing men in multi-inning roles during the regular season and postseason. Why is that? The best lineups in baseball have a lot of left-handed hitters. Naturally, the best way to combat that is by rostering multiple left-handed pitchers who can pitch multiple innings—fighting platoon fire with platoon fire.

As you know, one of Minnesota’s many areas of need this offseason will be its bullpen, which was a bottom-10 unit in the sport, according to Wins Above Replacement at FanGraphs (fWAR). As constructed, the Twins have one left-handed reliever who can throw multiple innings: Kody Funderburk. Funderburk is a serviceable major-league reliever who can toss multiple innings—don’t get me wrong—but he isn’t the headlining lefty reliever of a postseason-contending club. Perhaps Connor Prielipp could transition into the Ashby role and find much success. However, club decision-makers are highly incentivized to continue stretching the young southpaw out as a starter.

That being the case, Minnesota would be wise to address this roster inefficiency via free agency this November, before the lockout begins on December 2. At first glance, the most obvious option would be re-signing A.J. Minter. The 33-year-old southpaw excelled with Minnesota after being acquired from the New York Mets on July 31, posting a 2.78 ERA, 4.91 FIP, and 22.3% strikeout rate over 22 2/3 innings pitched. The club could probably retain him on a one-year deal for around $8 million. Even if Minter returned, though, he would probably operate exclusively in a one-inning role. While he'd be a fine addition, he's no facsimile of Ashby.

Aforementioned southpaws Morejón, Bubic, and Newcomb are free agents. Morejón was offered the $23.2 million qualifying offer from San Diego, which he could accept. Bubic, Newcomb, and other free-agent lefties like JoJo Romero, Brent Suter, or (to a lesser extent) Dietrich Enns could pitch multiple innings, however. There are plenty of options. To address this role meaningfully, the Twins would need to target a high-upside candidate such as Bubic, Newcomb, or Romero. Again, given how most of the offseason will be condensed into one month, Twins decision-makers will need to decide which multi-inning southpaw to invest in. The specific pitcher takes a back seat to the necessity for team decision-makers to proactively seek out and acquire a lefty reliever of this mold, capitalizing on one of the sport’s most understated advantages. It won't be easy, but it's necessary.