Not Everything Has Gone Wrong in the Twins' Bullpen

The Twins’ bullpen has caught a lot of grief this season, and rightfully so.

As a unit, Minnesota’s relievers have simply not been good enough. They’re tied with the Royals for the highest bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.24, while their 1.54 WHIP ranks second-to-last in the league. It’s been an incredibly frustrating group to watch, especially in close games.

It seems like every time the Twins have built a late lead, there’s been a feeling of uncertainty about whether it would actually hold. None of this should come as a huge surprise, either. At last season’s trade deadline, the Twins dealt away several of their top late-inning relievers, and it was pretty obvious that the bullpen was going to be one of the biggest question marks entering 2026.

Sure enough, it has been.

But even with the overall state of the Twins’ late-game pitching, there have been a couple of bright spots that have really stood out. In a bullpen that has struggled to find consistency, two pitchers have quietly given Minnesota reasons to feel optimistic about the future.

The first would be the Twins’ new closer, Yoendrys Gómez. Since being acquired by Minnesota back in early May, Gómez has been awesome. Across 25.1 innings, he's posted a sparkling 1.78 ERA with a WHIP below 1.00, while striking out 24 hitters against just nine walks. Those are exactly the kinds of numbers the Twins desperately needed from the back end of their bullpen. Has he gotten a little help along the way? Maybe–his 3.04 FIP suggests he's probably benefited from some favorable luck on balls in play, and it's fair to wonder if his ERA will climb a bit over time. But even then, a 3.04 FIP is still a respectable number for a late-inning reliever.

He's missing enough bats, limiting baserunners, and consistently putting the Twins in position to close out games. Whether his ERA stays below 2.00 or not almost feels beside the point. He's looked every bit like someone capable of handling the ninth inning.

The other bright spot has been someone most fans probably didn't see coming at the start of the season–it’s rookie Andrew Morris. Morris became the first Twins prospect to make his major league debut this season, and he's been very impressive since arriving. Through his first 42 innings in the big leagues, Morris owns a 3.64 ERA with 44 strikeouts compared to just 13 walks.

On the surface, a 3.64 ERA is certainly solid, but it doesn't exactly jump off the page. The underlying numbers, however, tell a much different story. Unlike Gómez, whose ERA has outperformed some of his expected metrics, Morris' advanced numbers suggest he may actually deserve even better results than he's gotten. Both his expected ERA and FIP sit below 3.00, indicating he's pitched more like one of the better relievers in baseball than his ERA alone would suggest.

And perhaps even more impressive is how he's generating weak contact. Morris has, quite literally, been one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball at preventing hitters from squaring the baseball up.

His barrel rate and average exit velocity allowed both rank in the 90th percentile or better among qualified major league pitchers. His hard-hit rate is also comfortably above league average. That's an impressive combination for any pitcher, let alone a rookie making his first trip through the major leagues. He's keeping the ball on the ground, he's attacking hitters in the strike zone, and when opponents do make contact, they're rarely doing much damage with it. That's a recipe that tends to translate well over the long haul.

It's hard not to be impressed by what we've seen from both Gómez and Morris this season. They've each stepped into meaningful bullpen roles and produced in a year where reliable relief pitching has been hard to find for Minnesota. But perhaps the best part isn't even what they've done this year; it's how long the Twins could have them.

Both Gómez and Morris will still have five years of team control remaining after this season. They'll each have two more years before becoming arbitration-eligible, followed by three seasons of arbitration before they can eventually reach free agency. If everything continues to trend in the right direction, the Twins may have two key bullpen pieces under club control through the 2031 season.

Considering how volatile relief pitching can be, having two younger arms emerge at the same time is a pretty significant development. The bullpen as a whole still has plenty of work to do. The ERA and WHIP are too high, and blown leads have happened far too often. Those issues aren't going away because of two good individual performances.

But despite all of the frustration surrounding the Twins' bullpen this season, Andrew Morris and Yoendrys Gómez have been two genuinely good stories. Both have looked like legitimate late-inning options, and both appear to have the talent to stick around for a long time. For a bullpen that's spent most of the season searching for answers, that's a pretty encouraging place to start. Hopefully, Morris and Gómez remain staples of this unit for several years to come.