Joe Ryan and the Piggybacks: Time to See What the Twins Have in the Stable

Talk to a baseball fan over the age of 60, and they’ll tell you about pitchers just don’t work as long. “Back in my days, they had four-man rotations, and the goal was to go nine innings every time you took the mound.” 

For most of the past 30 years, MLB teams have moved to five-man rotations, and reaching 200 innings has become a badge of honor. In fact, most front offices and pitching staff just consider it a badge. More important in today’s game is going all out and using your pitches whether you get through three innings or seven innings. 

The last couple of seasons, the Twins have been working on a new strategy for pitching development for some pitchers. We saw it in 2024 with Marco Raya. We’ve seen it this year with several pitchers including Raya and Connor Prielipp.

We’ve even seen it with a few pitchers who have been workhorses in the past. Twins rookie pitchers Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl worked through the minor leagues primarily as starting pitchers. In the progression, they each reached 127 innings in a season. The goal was always to add to that number, to go from 127 to 152 to 181. Honestly, at that point, the pitcher is averaging nearly six innings per start. From there, if you progress to 200 innings, great. There is nothing wrong with saving the bullpen arms when possible. 

The reality is that in today’s game (and likely has always been the case), that there are some starting pitchers who may not quite fit the mold of being able to go six to eight innings in starts very awesome. If they can, great. I mean, if Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan are starting, you plan for them giving you six innings and have no problem with them going seven or eight frames. 

But for some pitchers, they might have some really, really good stuff, but they just can’t maintain that stuff through 100 pitches. They can dominate for about 50 to 75 pitches. Should that pitcher automatically be pushed to a one or two inning spot? You can’t help but wonder how many pitchers were like that over the years. They just couldn’t cut it as a “regular” starter. 

There are many “failed” starters who have become some of the best relievers and closers in baseball history. Consider John Smoltz. He was a Cy Young caliber starting pitcher, and when he would be the Braves’ closer, he was as good as anyone in the game. When he spent a season as a starter, he helped Atlanta for 200 to 250 innings. When he was a closer, he helped Atlanta for 45 to 80 innings per year. What if he could have worked four innings every fourth or fifth day instead of the bullpen, one-inning guy? Instead of helping Atlanta for 60 innings in a season, he could have given them 120-130 innings. 

It’s with that mindset that I’d love to see the Twins test-drive a new model down the stretch; not as a gimmick, but as an honest evaluation tool. We’ve got 50-ish games left, and plenty of intriguing arms in the system. So let’s see what a modified rotation might look like with Joe Ryan and the Piggybacks.

Here’s a few versions of how it might look:

OPTION 1 : TWO-MAN STARTS
Game 1: Joe Ryan (goes 5-8 innings) 
Game 2: Zebby Matthews (4-5 innings), Pierson Ohl (4-5 innings)
Game 3: Bailey Ober (4-5 innings), Taj Bradley (4-5 innings)
Game 4: Mick Abel (4-5 innings), Travis Adams (4-5 innings)
Game 5: Marco Raya (4-5 innings), Simeon Woods Richardson (4-5 innings) 
Remaining BP: Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk (Anthony Misiewicz), Jose Urena. 

With this, the goal should be for the starting pitcher to hopefully get through five innings, but really to get through at least four. The goal for the "piggybacker" should be to complete the rest of the game, though based on game situations, the high-leverage arms could come into those late innings as well. 

It will be good to have a couple of those high-leverage bullpen guys to close out a game in the ninth. It will be equally important to have a long man or two available in the bullpen as well. There is enough depth in Triple-A and even Double-A to fill slots. 

In doing this, it is absolutely crucial to set a tone with the team that this is about creating opportunities and giving more people a chance to work and get innings and try to make their case for a 2026 roster spot. The hitters need to know that this is about development and opportunity, but they are working under the same lens, trying to make an impression for 2026 and beyond. The goal is always to win as well and that will be the goal in every game. “We believe that each and every one of these pitchers has a big-league arm and a big-time, big-league future and that journey starts now.” 

I included Woods Richardson on here because I believe he will be back soon. We don’t know a whole lot about the timelines for Pablo Lopez or David Festa. Festa could fill one of those eight spots. Because of his veteran-ness, I would let Lopez determine if he wants to fill a spot in this type of plan, or if he would want to jump right back in that Joe Ryan (normal) role. He’s earned that opportunity. And so has Ober, of course, but this might really be good for him down the stretch. If Lopez comes back, the two ‘regular’ starters could be very similar. 

OPTION 2: TRADITIONAL HYBRIDS
Game 1: Joe Ryan
Game 2: Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews 
Game 3: Taj Bradley, Mick Abel 
Game 4: Pablo Lopez
Game 5: Bailey Ober, Travis Adams
Remaining BP: Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk, Jose Urena, Pierson Ohl. 

Or how about this?

OPTION 3: THREE-MAN TANDEMS
Game 1: Joe Ryan
Game 2, Simeon Woods Richardson, Pierson Ohl, Travis Adams (3 innings each)
Game 3: Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober (4-5 innings each)
Game 4: Taj Bradley, Kendry Rojas, Mick Abel (3 innings each)
Game 5: Zebby Matthews, 
Remaining BP: Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk 

There are other pitchers on the 40-man roster. Maybe a Kendry Rojas will be added to the roster and inserted into a few starts. The final bullpen spots can be updated every 10-12 days as needed based on usage. Honestly, it’s a lot of plug-and-play. It’s a lot of planning, and for that 50-game stretch, it may feel a little regimented.   

Why Do This Now?

Because it matters. Because fans want to see what’s next. Because the front office needs data. Because payroll flexibility means young, controllable players matter. And because, frankly, Twins fans need something to believe in again.

And these pitchers — Abel, Raya, Matthews, Bradley, SWR, Ohl, Rojas — they give us a reason to watch. They represent hope. They represent the next great Twins rotation. We already know Joe Ryan’s part of that. So is Ober. So is Pablo López. But who else?

Let’s find out.

Oh, and one more thing: giving these kids a shot might just help season ticket sales too. I’d bet the front office wouldn't mind giving their sales team something to get excited about this offseason.

Let’s see the arms. Let’s see the future. Let's ride with Joe Ryan and the Piggybacks.