Twins Relievers Are Pitching Out of Their Minds

The trade for Okert has been helpful. Thielbar has missed time and Okert has shut down LH hitters. With multiple LH relievers they can afford to matchup more than once in a game if needed.

Sands has improved. Alcala has been healthy. Staumont has been healthy and effective. I think there's even some upside if they finally move Varland to the bullpen permanently.

I remember well last August on these pages where any plaudits for Griffin Jax were countered by a larger wave of disgust. How time flies.

To me, the constant of recent MLB pitching philosophy is that a deep bullpen is essential for genuine playoff contenders. For all the whiffs in free agency along the way, the Twins appear to have built a great one in 2024. Failures will happen in critical games still, but the pen's current quality is not a fluke.

I'm happy with how the group sits right now. Especially now they have Alcala up & using him right. I'm interested in Diego Castillo return to MLB. Consequently he has resolved his command problem to go with his stuff. For the time being they should have Varland in the BP & up at MLB. The same goes for Canterino whenever he gets back & ramped up. And of course the return of Stewart, our BP could be the best.

The bullpen has been so good overall that our expectations for them have risen significantly. People get mad if anything untoward happens in the late game and our middle relief is expected to be as good as a closer.

I felt good about this group coming into the season; wasn't sure about Jackson, especially because it seemed like we had few guys with options to move around, and he hasn't worked out. I thought Funderburk would do better, but he really hasn't been pitching all that long, so some patience is warranted. I think he'll be back up (unless everyone stays healthy?).But I also thought Topa was going to be a key contributor, and he's been barely missed and we've managed through missed time from Duran and Stewart pretty nicely.

If Stewart can get back soonish, the right side of the bullpen looks just destructive: Duran, Jax, Stewart, and Alcala are all playoff worthy. Okert and Thielbar have been great against LH, but are getting bombed by righties; if they can get tick up closer to average against RHers then it's going to be tough for teams to get anything going against this bullpen.

Really the only thing missing from this bullpen is a guy who can go 2 innings every 3-4 days if needed and bridge the middle innings on a day where a starter only goes 4-5 innings. And frankly, those aren't easy to find. It's an odd role and a lot of times the ones who show out at it end up getting higher leverage roles as 1 inning set-up men or closers. (and they're not as useful in the playoffs either)

they're looking pretty good right now considering no Topa or Stewart. I didn't love how they handled Alcala earlier in the season, but they seem to have him in a 1 inning role that he's more suited towards now. 

12 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

The same goes for Canterino whenever he gets back & ramped up.

I will be shocked if this ever happens.

36 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I will be shocked if this ever happens.

Like Duran, Canterino doesn't have the arm to be expected to pitch in the rotation. But Canterino has electric stuff & he's smart, IMO he'd be fine in the BP & dominates.

2 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Like Duran, Canterino doesn't have the arm to be expected to pitch in the rotation. But Canterino has electric stuff & he's smart, IMO he'd be fine in the BP & dominates.

I'll be shocked if he is ever able to pitch a full season. He hasn't pitched in 2 years and there is no timetable for a return. It's more likely he retires than he pitches 50 innings in the majors.

Once again, I can only ask the question:  can a bullpen continue to pitch approx. 40% of the innings pitched in a 162 game season?  

8 minutes ago, Mark G said:

Once again, I can only ask the question:  can a bullpen continue to pitch approx. 40% of the innings pitched in a 162 game season?  

Pretty much every team was close to 40% last year. 20 f the teams were over 

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

I'll be shocked if he is ever able to pitch a full season. He hasn't pitched in 2 years and there is no timetable for a return. It's more likely he retires than he pitches 50 innings in the majors.

60/40 split is ok if you can shuttle some pitchers across the river and you don’t have many garbage innings. It helps SP from getting fatigue from 32 starts.  We just need to keep fresh quality arms no matter what inning they are throwing in. 

The relivers, other than Sands, had a good month of May.  My question is who gets optioned of DFA'd when Stewart comes back.  My order of relievers based on my expectations are as follows:

1st 4 - Duran, Jax, Okert, Alcala

Last 4 Staumont, Thielbar Castillo, Sands, 

Sands was good in April when the Twins were without Duran, but in May he had a 9.31 ERA.  If he has options he should be sent down when Stewart is available.  Castillo has only appeared in 2 games, but did well in them pitching 2 inning each.  I don't know if he can become the "long" man to bridge a short start to 1st 4 relievers.

3 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Why do you feel Canterino's stuff is so great? He's got virtually no time above the low minors.

If some one put it on the internet.  Its gospel.

1 hour ago, IaBeanCounter said:

My question is who gets optioned of DFA'd when Stewart comes back.

Diego Castillo has 2 options left. He goes.

1 hour ago, Schmoeman5 said:

If some one put it on the internet.  Its gospel.

Absolutely not, especially if someone has to gain something. It's only what I gathered, it's my opinion, nothing more. I don't think I'm the only one who has this opinion about Canterino.

Well it's usually cheaper to build a winning bullpen than a winning rotation and looks like that's what the twins have done. With Duran Jax and Stewart in late innings, then a power arm of Alcala, Varland and hopefully at some point Canterino we've got a shot at having one of the best bullpens in the game. Seeing Alcala come back up throwing 100 is great to see.