Funderstruck

Through five outings and 5 1/3 innings, Kody Funderburk has a 1.69 ERA and has struck out one-third of the hitters he’s faced. The only blemish was a poorly-timed homer allowed against Cleveland. The Twins are surely hoping that they have an emerging piece of the current and future bullpen. So far so good.

Funderburk was thrust into enough leverage in his MLB debut to pitch two innings en route to a win against Cleveland. Two days later, he entered in a huge spot and allowed a backbreaking three-run homer, though only one run was charged to him. On Wednesday, he came into a one-run game with two runners on and no outs and shut down Cleveland once more. Rocco Baldelli clearly trusts him, perhaps out of necessity. It’s an interesting development considering the front offices' refusal to call him up to the MLB roster until it was absolutely necessary, regardless of how well he pitched.

At the deadline, the Twins declined to meaningfully upgrade the bullpen. Their lone acquisition Dylan Floro has been just as unreliable as the fringe MLB relievers they chose to roster all season such as Cole Sands and Josh Winder. Even Duran and Jax have struggled mightily in recent weeks. 

The front office waited until they had no choice but to call up Funderburk, who had been absolutely dominant in St. Paul all season. Based on Funderburk’s usage, it seems as though Baldelli had been waiting on those reinforcements for a long time. Can he continue with the success he’s shown in a small sample?

The small sample of Funderburk’s pitch mix is interesting so far. His slider has been dominant, drawing whiffs nearly half of the time it’s thrown. It has a hilarious .008 xBA and .024 xSLG so far, a truly dominant pitch. On the polar opposite end, the four-seam has allowed a .345 xBA and .791 xSLG. It could be skewed by the one homer allowed in 31 pitches, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on.

We’ve seen pitchers such as Josh Winder come up and have fastballs that get consistently crushed. Not being able to ever throw a fastball makes life hard as a pitcher. Unlike Winder, Funderburk has a backup plan. His sinker is oddly two ticks harder than the four-seam and has allowed a .131 xBA and .144 xSLG in addition to a 4-degree launch angle. Hopefully, the four-seam can come around to provide Funderburk with some whiffs, but if not, it appears he has the ability to make batters pound the ball into the ground and avoid major damage. Sinkers can sometimes be used to limit platoon splits as well.

Funderburk looks like he could be more than a lefty specialist. His slider is effective regardless of the handedness of opposing hitters, and his two different fastballs give him the ability to adjust as he acclimates to the MLB level. At this point, the question is likely whether Funderburk has time to earn a postseason roster spot rather than whether he’ll stick around in the majors through the season.

Kody Funderburk’s debut was long awaited, but it appears he’s ready to make an impact now that he’s up. With Caleb Thielbar as the only other lefty in the bullpen, Funderburk has the chance to help the Twins through September and hopefully even October. Not to mention being a potential piece in 2024. The wait was worth it.