Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year: 2024

Yesterday, we named Zebby Matthews as the Twin Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. Today, we will discuss the relief pitchers in the Twins minor leagues. 

Before getting into the 2024 crop of short-season pitchers, here are the previous recipients of this award:

Past Winners of the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Award
2023: Kody Funderburk
2022: Evan Sisk 
2021: Jovani Moran
2020: No Season
2019: Anthony Vizcaya
2018: Andrew Vasquez
2017: John Curtiss
2016: Trevor Hildenberger
2015: Trevor Hildenberger

The Twins saw their major-league bullpen collapse toward the end of the season, and the minor-league bullpen reinforcements struggled mightily in their attempts to stop the bleeding. That being said, the list of relief prospects on the rise through the minor league system is worth focusing on as Twins fans evaluate the whole organization in hopes of turning the ship around in 2025.

The Twins Daily minor league writers and video providers were asked to vote on these awards. Before getting into the top four, some others received votes.

Others Receiving Votes

• RHP Jarret Whorff, 26, CR/WICH/SP: 31 G, 5 GS, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 68.2 IP, 53 H, 27 BB, 71 K
• RHP Mike Paredes, 24, FM/CR/WICH: 29 G, 3 GS, 3.06 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 61.2 IP, 56 H, 12 BB, 57 K

Minor League Full-Season Relief Pitcher of the Year
Here are the top four vote-getters for Twins Full-Season Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year

4.  RHP Nolan Santos, 23, Fort Myers/Cedar Rapids
43 G, 0 GS, 2.93 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 67.2 IP, 51 H, 26 BB, 80 K
With their seventh round pick in the 2023 draft, the Minnesota Twins selected RHP Nolan Santos out of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. The 201st overall pick began his career by climbing from rookie ball to Low-A. 2024 saw Santos continue his methodical climb. After 29 games with Fort Myers, he was promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids where he pitched in another 14 games. Santos held his opponents' batting average to just a .200 clip while continuing to lower his WHIP and increase his strike out percentage. At Fort Myers, Santos picked up eight saves. He continued to be used late in games for the Kernels, adding another three saves. At 6'1", 205 pounds, the 23-year-old should continue his climb up the organization. 

3. RHP Kyle Bischoff, 25, Cedar Rapids/Wichita
42 G, 0 GS, 3.19 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 59.1 IP, 43 H, 25 BB, 77 K
Bischoff certainly has an interesting background and story. In 2018, he started at the University of Toledo where he pitched for four seasons. Given an extra season, he pitched for Michigan State in 2022. He went undrafted and headed to the United Shores Baseball League where he pitched for Westside in 2022. He made two USBL appearances in 2023 before he signed a minor-league free agent contract with the Twins. He spent that summer in the FCL. In 2024, Bischoff rose all the way from the corn fields of Iowa to one call away from the big leagues in St. Paul. He pitched in 28 games with the Kernels, 14 games at Double-A Wichita and ended the season with three games with the Saints. The 6'2", 210 pound righty put up stronger numbers in Wichita than Cedar Rapids and held his own in St. Paul.   

2. LHP Samuel Perez, 24, Fort Myers/Cedar Rapids
38 G, 1 GS, 2.49 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 72.1 IP, 56 H, 24 BB, 82 K
Perez originally signed with the Angels in 2017 out of Venezuela. He pitched in the Dominican Summer League in 2018 and 2019. Like others, he didn't pitch in 2020, but he joined the Twins organization before the 2021 season after a brief stint in independent ball. He pitched 37 1/3 innings for the FCL Twins and went 4-2 with a 1.45 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. He also had 39 strikeouts to go with just five walks. Twins Daily named him the short-season pitcher of the year. In 2022, he pitched in 24 games for the Mussels and six games in Cedar Rapids. He spent the full 2023 season in Fort Myers where he went 6-2 with two saves. He had 63 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings with just 15 walks. 

In 2024, he made 35 appearances with Fort Myers before ending the season with five innings over three games in Cedar Rapids. Despite working with a fastball/cutter that sits around 85-86 mph, he has to pitch creatively to keep hitters off balance. However, a look at his strikeout rate and you can tell that he keeps batters off balance.  The 5'11", 205 southpaw will hope to spend most of the 2025 season in Cedar Rapids.   

1.  RHP Spencer Bengard, 22, Fort Myers/Cedar Rapids
19 G, 8 GS, 1.51 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 83.1 IP, 68 H, 14 BB, 72 K
Bengard brings home the trophy for top minor-league reliever this season, even though he started nine games. We decided that the criteria for whether a pitcher was considered a starter or reliever was based on game usage. Bengard made nine starts and 10 relief appearances. Of his 19 total appearances, only twice did he not record at least nine outs. He had starts that went six innings, and he had relief outings that went five innings. His season didn't start until the end of April when he joined the Mighty Mussels. In his first 10 games, he went 6-1 with a 1.32 ERA. Three outings later, he was promoted to High-A Cedar Rapids. When he didn't start, he was used as a bulk guy or in a piggyback situation. There isn't much not to like in Bengard's game, as he's proven that he can pitch with consistency whenever he's called upon during a game. His K/BB rate is really good, and it really needs to be. His fastball currently sits right around 89-91 mph range, but he's got good movement and terrific control. Bengard was the Twins 15th round pick in 2023 out of California-Baptist where he was teammates with Twins pitching prospect C.J. Culpepper . 

What can or should we hope for from Bengard in 2025? Will he jump into a more typical starter role, or will his ability to be adaptable be considered valuable to the Twins organization?  

Relief pitching performances across the Twins minor league system had plenty of ups and downs in 2024. Congratulations to the pitchers we discussed today on great showings. For 2024, Spencer Bengard earned and deserved our choice for Twins Daily Minor-League Relief Pitcher of the Year. 

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!