Tom Froemming

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over a Minnesota Twins team that averaged 92.5 mph on four-seam fastballs. In their fifth year at the helm of the organization, the pitching staff averaged … 92.2 mph on four-seam fastballs. What gives? Before we dig into some of the numbers, here’s a quick video on a handful of harder-throwing starting pitchers who could be value targets for the Twins this offseason: Here is a team-by-team breakdown sorted by average four-seam fastball velocity. It’s color coded, so green is good and red is bad. The information below was gathered from FanGraphs. Team vFA ERA FIP xFIP WAR CHW 95.5 3.73 3.74 3.85 27.1 NYY 94.9 3.76 3.90 4.00 22.3 BOS 94.8 4.27 3.95 4.07 19.2 NYM 94.5 3.90 4.04 3.99 16.4 COL 94.5 4.83 4.47 4.38 13.4 SDP 94.4 4.10 4.18 4.08 12.8 CIN 94.3 4.41 4.34 4.18 16.2 ATL 94.3 3.89 4.08 4.09 15.9 LAD 94.1 3.03 3.54 3.75 26.9 TBR 94.1 3.67 3.79 3.97 18.7 PHI 94.1 4.39 4.15 4.02 17.9 DET 94.1 4.32 4.60 4.65 10.2 KCR 94.0 4.65 4.39 4.52 12.5 CLE 93.9 4.34 4.43 4.27 10.2 MIA 93.8 3.96 4.01 4.21 15.1 SFG 93.7 3.25 3.55 3.87 21.9 TEX 93.6 4.80 4.76 4.57 4.5 TOR 93.5 3.91 4.18 4.06 14.6 STL 93.4 4.00 4.30 4.66 12.1 PIT 93.4 5.08 4.74 4.70 5.0 WSN 93.3 4.82 4.87 4.53 6.5 MIL 93.2 3.50 3.72 3.75 23.5 HOU 93.2 3.78 4.12 4.12 16.9 OAK 93.2 4.02 4.10 4.35 15.1 SEA 93.2 4.30 4.26 4.47 14.3 CHC 93.0 4.88 4.88 4.43 4.9 LAA 92.9 4.68 4.25 4.26 15.4 BAL 92.9 5.85 5.15 4.91 7.9 MIN 92.2 4.83 4.66 4.44 8.2 ARI 92.2 5.15 4.88 4.85 4.0 As you can see, there’s a fairly strong correlation between teams that throw harder and success. Not only are the Twins near the bottom, there’s also a significant gap between them and the Orioles. That 0.7 mph gap is the same as what separates the fourth-place team from the 15th. Let’s switch things up a bit and look at pitches in excess of 95.0 mph instead of average fastball velocity. The information below was gathered from Baseball Savant. The color-coded column is percent of pitches thrown at least 95.0 mph. CWS 27.9 6626 23713 NYY 21.5 5112 23761 BOS 20.8 5033 24193 MIL 20.7 4966 23967 NYM 21.4 4799 22405 PHI 20.0 4745 23739 MIA 20.5 4704 22990 COL 20.0 4603 22960 DET 18.1 4339 23914 CIN 17.6 4316 24548 ATL 18.5 4294 23228 LAD 18.3 4187 22927 TB 17.4 4027 23169 KC 16.5 4017 24307 TOR 16.6 3911 23549 SD 14.0 3386 24196 OAK 14.4 3325 23102 STL 14.1 3299 23419 WSH 13.2 3125 23732 SEA 13.0 3111 23859 CLE 13.0 3057 23459 BAL 10.6 2598 24474 SF 10.4 2386 22859 HOU 9.9 2368 23917 CHC 9.4 2238 23877 PIT 9.3 2225 24045 TEX 8.3 1967 23586 LAA 7.6 1847 24415 MIN 6.4 1516 23714 ARI 5.0 1188 23827 Being 29th is bad enough, but even if the Twins were to double the number of pitches that were 95+ mph they’d still only rank 22nd. The Kansas City Royals threw 2,501 more pitches 95+ mph than the Twins — or 15 more per game played — and they barely rank in the top half of the league themselves. Do the Twins have an aversion to high-velocity pitchers? That seems like a crazy question to ask, but let’s take a look at some former Twins prospects who were shipped out in trades. 2021 % of Pitches 95.0+ mph 66.0 Brusdar Graterol 44.2 Luis Gil 38.4 Huascar Ynoa 15.1 MLB Average 6.4 Minnesota Twins Graterol (Kenta Maeda trade), Gil (Jake Cave trade) and Ynoa (Jaime Garcia trade) all have well above average velo, all were traded away. They also just lost Edwar Colina and his triple-digit heat to waivers. Are the Twins actively avoiding high-octane pitchers? At the very least it sure doesn't feel like they’re making them a priority. This seems like a great time to revisit the Twins carpool commercial from 2007 featuring Johan Santana and Joe Nathan. That’s how you win Cy Youngs, baby! While this ia a velocity-obsessed article, pitching in the big leagues is obviously about more than just throwing hard. It sure does seem to help, though. While the lack of velo is nothing new for the Twins, to be fair, it didn’t prevent them from having successful pitching staffs the previous couple years. Here’s a look at some the numbers throughout the Falvey-era: Minnesota Twins Four-Seam Fastball Velo 2021: 29th, 92.2 mph (26th in ERA) 2020: 30th, 92.0 mph (4th in ERA) 2019: 24th, 93.0 mph (9th in ERA) 2018: 21st, 92.7 mph (22nd in ERA) 2017: 30th, 92.4 mph (19th in ERA) Still, any pitcher who tells you he wouldn’t like to throw harder is either a liar or in denial. View full article

The Minnesota Twins had one of MLB's worst pitching staffs and ranked at the bottom of the league in terms of velocity. Here are five free agent pitchers available this offseason who I could envision the Twins targeting who could both help the staff and bring some velo. View full video

Talking about Mitch Garver as a trade candidate, losing Edwar Colina to the Texas Rangers for nothing, coaching staff changes, Arizona Fall League rosters and more Minnesota Twins offseason news items. View full video

Minnesota Twins owner Jim Pohlad might be the easiest grader in the world. He told the Pioneer Press' Charley Walters that he'd give Twins leadership -- Derek Falvey, Thad Levine and Rocco Baldelli -- an A+. View full video

Byron Buxton hit a home run in what was otherwise a blah game for the Minnesota Twins, who lost. I briefly touch on Luis Arraez, who has been struggling of late. Meanwhile, Jose Miranda picked up another three hits in a big 11-1 win for the St. Paul Saints. Also, the Cedar Rapids Kernels season came to an end as they lost Game 5 of the High-A Central championship series 5-0. View full video

Justin Morneau was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame Saturday night. The Twins fell to the Blue Jays 6-1 but rookie reliever Jovani Moran had a very impressive outing. Also included in this video are highlights of a St. Paul Saints victory that featured a quality start from Drew Strotman. Down in High-A, Sawyer Gipson-Long struck out nine batters and Aaron Sabato hit a home run but the Cedar Rapids Kernels were walked off in a 2-1 loss. That forces a deciding Game 5 in their High-A Central championship series. View full video

Byron Buxton hit a home run off former Minnesota Twins teammate José Berríos in a 3-1 Twins victory Friday. Highlights of that blast plus Bailey Ober, Jose Miranda, Beau Burrows, Jermaine Palacios, Austin Schulfer, Aaron Whitefield, DaShawn Keirsey, Edouard Julien and Alex Isola. View full video

Minnesota Twins utility man Nick Gordon is having a tremendous finish to the season, peaking in September in his first big league season. He had three more hits tonight, including a home run, and drove in four runs as the Twins beat the Blue Jays. Also featured in this video are Luis Arraez, Mitch Garver, Michael Pineda, B.J. Boyd, Jimmy Kerrigan, Ben Rortvedt, Tomas Telis, Mark Contreras, Jose Miranda and Ryan Mason. View full video

Minnesota Twins starter Joe Ryan dominated the Cubs Wednesday night, striking out 11 batters in just five innings. Highlights from that performance plus Max Kepler, Jose Miranda, Cole Sands, Austin Martin and more. View full video

Minnesota Twins High-A minor league affiliate Cedar Rapids won Game 1 of their championship series 2-1. The Kernels benefitted from a strong start from Louie Varland and a late home run from Jair Camargo. Double-A Wichita lost their playoff game 7-5 as Jordan Balazovic had an underwhelming outing. Leobaldo Cabrera, D.J. Burt and Jermaine Palacios all hit home runs for the Wind Surge. View full video

The Minnesota Twins' 2021 season has been sunk for some time now but three of their affiliates take aim at championships this week. The St. Paul Saints are out to win the Triple-A Final Stretch, a new season-ending feature for that level in 2021. Meanwhile, both the Wichita Wind Surge and Cedar Rapids Kernels will be playing in a best-of-five series to determine the champion of their respective leagues. Here's a quick rundown of what's left in the 2021 baseball season. View full video

Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Drew Maggi finally got the call. After 11 seasons in the minor leagues, more than 1,000 games played, the 32-year-old was promoted to the Twins. Stick around to the end of this video to see some of his introductory press session. Also featured in this video are Brent Rooker, Josh Donaldson, Austin Martin, Edouard Julien, Aaron Sabato and Sawyer Gipson-Long. There's also an update on a trio of 2021 draftees, including Chase Petty. View full video

Minnesota Twins Jorge Polanco, Josh Donaldson and Miguel Sanó went back-to-back-to-back in Toronto Friday evening. Highlights of those home runs plus some of Brent Rooker, Mitch Garver, Cole Sands, Aaron Sabato and Jose Miranda. View full video