Have The Twins Fixed Their Velocity Problem?

Fastball velocity has almost always been the sought after skill in a pitcher. Dads across the country who watched Greg Maddux dominate for decades, may scoff at this idea but the reality nowadays is that teams value speed more than ever. Relievers who throw 96 with no idea where it’s going are given chance after chance, as pitching coaches like to believe that they can finally “fix” that pitcher and create a weapon of mass destruction. Perhaps this is like searching for the lost city of gold, but this current trend will remain until someone breaks the mold.

When Wes Johnson was hired as the pitching coach before last season, he brought with him an extensive history of coaxing extra velocity out of his pitchers. This combined with his embracing of modern pitching technologies, made him an ideal pick to lead a major league pitching staff despite his lack of experience in professional baseball. Taylor Rogers, Trevor May, and Tyler Duffey all notably saw a bump in their velocity in 2019 thanks to Johnson. Were they outliers, or did the 2019 Twins take a step forward in throwing heat?

Enough beating around the bush. The Twins were 16th in MLB in fastball velocity with a heater that averaged 93.1 MPH. To break it down even further, Twins’ relievers were 21st in MLB with an average fastball velocity of 93.3 MPH while Twins’ starters were 12th at 92.9 MPH. You can all leave now, as the ad revenue has already been collected.

But it would be boring to just leave the analysis at that. Where were they in prior years? Here’s a quick breakdown:

Compared to the previous five years, the 2019 Twins were quite the outlier. They reached a higher velocity average than any other team in recent history and climbed up from the depths of league rankings to reach an average rank.

It’s hard to conclude that their velocity problems have been “fixed” but it definitely has seen improvement. The team is much more focused on adding velocity in the minors when pitchers are younger and more able to do so. In return the team will continue to compound velocity at the major league level, as these pitchers make their way up the system. Even after dealing Brusdar Graterol, the Twins still have Jhoan Duran who can occasionally hit triple digits, and Jordan Balazovic who can comfortably sit in the mid-90’s.

What is intriguing, however, is that the Twins’ pitching moves this offseason do not reflect this velo-addicted mentality. Sergo Romo, much like Madonna, has been incredibly successful making money in the 80’s. Tyler Clippard averaged just 90 MPH on his fastball last season, while Rich Hill sat just a smidge above that. Kenta Maeda hovers around 92 MPH, while Homer Bailey’s 93 MPH heater makes him look like a flamethrower in comparison.

It seems that the Twins are comfortable with their velocity and understand that there are other things that are important in order to get hitters out. Whether this works is yet to be seen (for more reasons than one), but the team is finally on track with another modern baseball trend.

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