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It’s still very early in the season, but it doesn’t take long for certain patterns to start showing up. And for the Minnesota Twins, one of those patterns is already becoming pretty clear.
The starting rotation has struggled to work efficiently through lineups, and as a result, they are not pitching deep into games. That’s something we’ve seen from this team in previous seasons and now appears to be carrying over into the early part of this year.
So far, Taj Bradley’s outing on Thursday stands out for one simple reason, as it was the first time a Twins starter has completed six innings.
Even that came with some context that is worth paying attention to. Bradley needed 100 pitches to get through those six innings, and what makes that number even more notable is how his outing finished, as he threw just 21 pitches combined across his final two innings. So while he was able to give the Twins some length, it was not exactly efficient length, and that distinction matters.
When you zoom out and look at the rest of the rotation, the trend becomes even more noticeable. Joe Ryan went four innings on Wednesday, Bradley, in his first start, made it through just four and a third, and Bailey Ober also gave the team four innings in each of his two starts.
Mick Abel, who wasn’t technically making a start, still serves as another good example. He needed 81 pitches to record just 10 outs out of the bullpen, which further reinforces the point that this has been a group-wide issue rather than a one-off performance.
Individually, those outings might not raise too many alarms, especially this early in the season when pitch counts are still being built up and teams are generally cautious with their starters. But collectively, it starts to paint a much more concerning picture.
Right now, the Twins have been able to manage it because their early schedule has included a couple of off days, which has helped keep the bullpen relatively fresh. That cushion isn’t going to last much longer, with no off day now until April 16th.
That’s where this starts to become a real concern, because a lack of efficiency from your starting pitchers doesn’t just affect their individual outings, it has a ripple effect across the entire pitching staff. If your starters are consistently giving you four or five innings instead of six, you’re asking your relievers to cover at least four innings on a regular basis, and over the course of a long season, that kind of workload adds up quickly.
Even in the short term, it can start to create problems. Relievers need rest and time between outings to stay sharp and healthy. If they're being used heavily night after night, you either run out of available arms or you end up putting pitchers into situations where they are not at their best. Neither of those outcomes is ideal, especially for a bullpen that already has some question marks.
It’s also important to point out that this issue doesn’t fall entirely on the starting rotation.
Defense plays a significant role in all of this, and when routine plays are not converted into outs, innings get extended, which leads to more pitches, longer at-bats, and ultimately shorter outings for your starter. Wednesday night in Kansas City provided a clear example of how quickly that can spiral.
There was a tailor-made double play ball hit right to Victor Caratini at first base. It should have resulted in two quick outs and an inning that was firmly under control. Instead, there was a throwing error, and rather than having two outs and nobody on, the Twins suddenly found themselves with no outs and two runners on base.
From there, things continued to unravel. A walk followed, and then a strikeout that should have ended the inning if the double play had been turned. But instead, the inning stayed alive. Bases loaded with one out, and the next at-bat resulted in a grand slam. The Twins lost that game by four.
Moments like that highlight just how costly inefficiency can be, even when it is not entirely self-inflicted by the pitcher. One missed play can turn into an extended inning, that extended inning turns into a higher pitch count, and that higher pitch count leads to an earlier exit, which then forces the bullpen to cover even more ground.
That’s where everything starts to connect. The rotation needs to be more efficient, not just for their own sake, but to protect the rest of the pitching staff.
There are areas where the starters themselves can improve, such as getting ahead in counts, putting hitters away more quickly, and avoiding unnecessary walks, all of which can help keep pitch counts down and allow them to work deeper into games.
At the same time, the defense needs to support them by making routine plays and avoiding mistakes that extend innings. Those small moments can have a much larger impact over the course of a game.
Right now, it’s a combination of factors, with some of it falling on the pitchers and some of it not. But the end result is the same: the Twins are not getting enough length from their starting rotation.
And while it may not feel like a major issue just yet, it’s the kind of trend that can become a problem in a hurry, especially as the schedule tightens and the games start to stack up. If the Twins can’t start getting deeper outings from their starters, the strain on the bullpen will only increase.
Over the course of a long season, that’s not a path that usually leads to success.
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- Cory Engelhardt, Patzky, Hunter4848 and 3 others
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