Should the Twins Shift Griffin Jax Back to Starting Pitcher?

No.  What a ridiculous argument.  Why take him out of an element that he is good at?

No. Removing Jax would cripple our bullpen. You don't remove your best reliever. Twins should just look to grab a starter with control at the deadline, and look for upgrades in the off-season. Maybe move Paddack to the bullpen if we can pick up a good starter with control.

Jax could have been stretched out this off-season when SP depth was in doubt & Varland proved to be a great BP piece with doubts of being a viable SP. Yet it's hard to really know how good Jax could be as a SP. The only way is to give him a shot, Some were able to make the transition back to the rotation with some success while others like A.J. Puk have not. 

Next season all those numerous prospects that you mentioned will be closer to cementing their position as a MLB SP. Which will diminish the need for Jax to be so. Jax has been the one true solid high-leverage RP so far & it'll be hard to move him off there. Like you said "if it's not broken, don't fix it" seems to ring true. 

How would this even be possible now? Jax is probably throwing like 20 pitches a game at tops and how could you stretch him out during the season and not weaken your pen at the same time?

Even if they did it next season he would have an innings limit and what happens when he reaches it? They tried it with Varland and the results aren't there.  It sucks for them because the bigger money is as a starter over being a set up guy.

He’s too valuable to the bullpen in its current state. 

We may not want to see our most consistent reliever moved out of the bullpen, but the argument by Langin is very well constructed with enough specific evidence to believe that the move would be quite successful. Despite my decades of coaching and playing, I find it easy to defer to the expertise of individuals such as Langin.

It seems unlikely that the Twins would make this move without an arm or two to fill in for Jax in the bullpen. Perhaps Jax becomes a starting pitcher once he has moved on to another team. Jax is under team control for 3.5 more years, which means the opportunity would need to come with the Twins or via a trade. One can wonder what value another team places on Jax because of the possibilities.

Jax is a totally different pitcher than when he was a starter with his mix, stuff, and experience. I believe he would be a very good starting pitcher. Will he get the opportunity? Who would replace him in the bullpen?

Jax is not going to switch this season in any event. Relief pitchers are fairly fungible. Guys like Sands, Winder, Varland, others, and even Balazovic can develop as effective one inning relievers similar to Jax. Not all pitchers can develop more than two pitches. Paddack seems like a good bullpen guy but the Twins may be reticent to put his $7.5 million contract for next season in the pen, although it may be the best use for the team. 

Moving Jax into the rotation is an interesting idea and one to watch.

Moving a short reliever into the rotation seldom works.  This isn't Johan Santana who was brought up as a bullpen guy (after working through the minors as a starter) to "get his feet wet" before his planned (and eventual) move to the rotation. 

I'm not yet sold on him being an elite reliever (give it time!), but he is likely the best, most reliable, reliever the Twins have at present.

17 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

No - we have Festa and Zebby ready to start - if I switch a BP arm it is Duran.

Personally, I am a big fan of both Festa and Matthews. They still have some tuning to do before getting their MLB opportunity, but the talent is already present. Currently, my feeling is that the Twins have a solid set of starters in Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Woods Richardson, and Paddack with Varland, Festa, and Matthews waiting their turn.

The post posits that Jax with his much improved and wider assortment may be fit for a move to a rotation. That sure seems plausible but also unlikely to occur in a Twins uniform. Maybe there is a team (Baltimore?) that is willing to match up talents in an exchange that results in Jax becoming a starting pitcher next season.

The discussion of Duran as a starter have been in Twins Daily posts in the past. Duran depends more on velocity and does not have the array of offerings of Jax, although I believe he is a better reliever. My thought is that Duran could not make the exchange from closer to starting pitcher. Others disagree, which is an interesting part of these comment boards. The Twins have received some decent bullpen work from Jax and Duran thus far. We should expect they will both will be critical to the team in September and October.

No. In order to win a World Series we need a few area that are elite. Jax gives us the best chance to have an elite bullpen and moving him creates problems to solve. 

I’m fine with it next year.  A good starter is more valuable than a good reliever.  It’s worth the risk.

This isn’t Mariano Rivera.  He’s good, but I think everyone would be fine if they traded him for a good starting pitcher.  What’s the difference, if he’s capable of doing it?

That's a terrible article and suggestion!

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I don't know about that. We've seen Jax as a starter, and it wasn't pretty. A major reason Jax's stuff plays up in the bullpen is the extra velocity he can reach back to find.

As a starter, Jax had a 92.8mph fastball.
Fastball Velo, Slider Velo, Cutter Velo, Curve Velo, Change Velo
2021 SP = 92.8, 83.3, N/A, 79.9, 86.7
2022 RP = 95.4, 86.4, N/A, 82.6, 89.8
2023 RP = 96.5, 86.7, 96.5, N/A, 91.1
2024 RP = 97.0, 89.2, 96.6, 87.0, 92.3

Stuff+ Rating
Fastball, Slider, Cutter, Curve, Change
2021 SP = 82, 135, N/A, 89, 70
2022 RP = 98, 155, N/A, 127, 76
2023 RP = 110, 151, 101, N/A, 96
2024 RP = 121, 168, 95, 153, 98

Jax in the rotation sees his pitch velocity drop by probably 3-4mph. His "stuff" may not even be effective anymore. It all starts with the fastball. Drop 3-4mph off his fastball, and it will almost certainly drop to well below average. His slider will drop off a lot, too. His cutter will be ineffective, and his changeup will go back to sucking. The curveball might hang in there.

I have no idea how Jax might react to a role change. Langin (Driveline) seems to suggest that Jax is nowhere near the guy he was previously because of changes to his pitching technique not because of being a relief pitcher. We have seen many guys pick up velocity with a change to the bullpen and if Jax lost speed it would likely affect all of his pitches. I just found it a plausible argument.

Varland got lit up today to continue his minor league struggles after a recent decent start for the Twins. Maybe it is time to shift Varland back to the bullpen to get him some confidence (if he can find the groove he had last year in the pen).

I think if Jax wants to move back to the rotation, he’s earned a chance to try.  Hard to see that with Minnesota unless Varland goes to the pen and is successful there so Jax can go to the rotation.  But Jax is entering his arbitration years and as a top reliever he will have good earning power.  Compared to others like Lugo or Montgomery.  They were solid middle relievers who could earn 5-8 million a season in the pen.  I’m sure if Jax keeps having his results will make 10+ million a year soon.  

Clickbait article! Glad this writer isn’t the GM! A silly concept to remove Jax from where he exhibits great success and switch him to starting halfway during the season. Wait until spring 2025 if they would consider this. 

Good lord....NO!!!!  For the record, going old school, Rick Aguilera was also a "failed starter".  Jax has worked hard to become maybe their best reliever (considering Duran's up and down performance in 2024), why mess with a good thing?????