Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month - April 2023

Relief pitching in the minors is weird. Not only are pitchers often shuffled between the rotation and bullpen, leaving the designation of titles obsolete and confusing, but their broad lack of command can lead to bizarre peripherals and misleading ERAs. It is far from uncommon to see a relief outing with three or more walks. Knowing this, let us cut through the fray, hopefully striking at a few names that rose from the control muck and grime, making themselves undeniable in their excellence.

But first, a few honorable mentions:

RHP Juan Mendez
I really wanted to put Mendez on the list given his respectable peripherals, but there's something about the crudeness of a 6.35 ERA that turned me off from doing that. Still, he struck out 32.7% of hitters he faced; a commendable achievement. 

RHP Brock Stewart
Now a Twin, Stewart smoked AAA with a 48.6% (yes a 48.6%) strikeout rate. His most recent MLB outing was shaky, but he could potentially contribute to the team as they look to settle their middle relief situation. 

LHP Gabriel Yanez
41.9 K-BB%. Who cares about ERA?

RHP Jackson Hicks
Hicks' low innings total—just 7 1/3 frames—kept him off the list, but he was tremendous by every other metric. Get him some playing time!

5. RHP Connor Sadzeck - AAA St. Paul Saints, 12 2/3 IP, 25.5 K%, 3.55 ERA, 3.44 FIP
It’s been a long and winding road for Sadzeck. The member of six separate franchises, Sadzeck owns 36 career MLB innings, often finding injuries halting his effort to hone his craft. He re-entered the minors cycle after signing with Minnesota in the 11th hour on a minor league deal—this time finding himself in St. Paul. The early returns have been excellent. Often used as a two-inning stopper, Sadzeck has only allowed more than one earned run once, cultivating a respectable 3.55 ERA with a 25.5 % strikeout rate. With the unpredictability surrounding relievers and pitching injuries, Sadzeck could join the Twins at some time this season in another effort to prove himself to MLB teams.

4. RHP Ben Ethridge - A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, 10 IP, 27.5 K%, 0.90 ERA, 3.17 FIP
Hot out of Southern Mississippi, the college where Brian Dozier set hitting records and Matt Wallner broke them, Ben Ethridge fits perfectly in the mold Minnesota prefers from their pitchers: command wizards with a potential for more. He slid into the Fort Myers bullpen to start 2023, potentially in order to better utilize his classic fastball/slider combo to its full effect. The results—a miniscule ERA with plenty of strikeouts; perhaps more walks than expected—have landed him here on this list. Certainly, the height of his career, this must be. He'll likely earn a promotion to Cedar Rapids soon if he continues to pitch like this.

3. LHP Kody Funderburk - AA/AAA Wichita Wind Surge/St. Paul Saints, 10 2/3 IP, 31.9 K%, 0.84 ERA, 3.10 FIP
You cannot do it. Search your mind for days; interrogate Baseball Reference until it sputters and whines; stare at your screen until your eyes bleed red and your brain loses thought and ambition: you will not find a better name in the Twins’ system. A 15th round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft out Dallas Baptist University—the alma mater of Ben Zobrist and Lew Ford—Funderburk has trickled upwards through the years, finally receiving a promotion to AAA in April after spending parts of three seasons at AA. His April was nearly flawless; an outing on the 14th stood as the only run-allowing appearance of the month. The walks were a little high, holding Funderburk back from a better placement on this esteemed list.

2. LHP Zach Veen - A Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, 10 IP, 26.3 K%, 1.80 ERA, 2.17 FIP
Not to be confused with the “h” deficient Zac Veen drafted by the Rockies in the first round in 2020, Veen joined the Twins in 2022 from Point Loma Nazarene University (they’ve had two major leaguers in their history, don’t laugh), and is beginning to break out in 2023. With just one walk and as many strikeouts as innings pitched (10), Veen’s peripherals support the story his ERA tells: he’s been difficult to score against. Veen is in a similar boat as Ethridge, making him a possible fast-moving short-stint arm capable of impacting the major league roster if he continues his efficient ways.

1. RHP Regi Grace - A+ Cedar Rapids Kernels, 11 1/3 IP, 36.6 K%, 0.79 ERA, 2.40 FIP
This was not a difficult choice. Grace was so dominant—better than any other choice—that deciding to place him first took seconds, not minutes. Pick a stat; Grace likely crushed it. He allowed just one earned run in April, striking out 36.6% of batters over his 11 1/3 frames of work; a single April 20th outing proved to be the lone stain on his resume. He suffered from a few streaks of wildness as some hit by pitches cloud an otherwise passable walk rate, 

The start likely comes as a great relief for Grace, who earned a 4.47 ERA across a trio of levels in 2022. Improved command—about a 3% drop in walks from the season prior—appears to be the positive force working in his favor. Maybe the fifth season in the system will prove to be the best for Grace.

What are your thoughts on our choices for the top performing relievers in the Minnesota Twins organization in April? Congratulations to right-hander Regi Grace, this month's top reliever in the Twins farm system.

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!