The secret is your starters going deep into the game. No five innings stints (which is what I worry about with Pineda, Perez and especially Odorizzi). Gibson can shine. Berrios is pretty consistent if he can stay aheda in his counts.

But getting six innings out of your starter, and maybe even 7 (if they can refuse to walk people) is the key.

Nezt, the Twins bullpen. I have more faith than many in Trevor May. I like Zach Littell. It would be nice to have another lefty. Could that be Perez, Smeltzer, Ryan O'Rourke, Lewis Thorpe. If we had three lefties in the pen...wow! Duffey is doing well, along with Littell, and Ryne Harper is holding his own. Romo is a godsend. Dyson should be back. So the Twins pen looks pretty good. The joy would be to have TWO pitchers that can do long relief, like two innings, if the start is short.

I do like that the Twins have taken a look at so many "future" pitchers: Dobnak, Stashak, Poppen, Stewart, Eades, Romero. Hildenberger could still be in the mix. The Twins have unknowns Diplan and Gonsalves on the 40-man. Ryan O'Rourke was an intriguing pickup.

But a pen of Rogers as closer, Dyson and Romo as setup, Littell and May as long guys, Harper and Duffey in the mix. Perez could be in the pen if the Twins do decide to stretch out a rookie as the fifth starter (which I would do, especially in September).

But for now, the Twins are in a post-season drive. They have to stay ahead of the Indians, or if they slip, ahead of everyone wanting a wildcard spot!

The secret is your starters going deep into the game. No five innings stints (which is what I worry about with Pineda, Perez and especially Odorizzi). Gibson can shine. Berrios is pretty consistent if he can stay aheda in his counts.

 

But getting six innings out of your starter, and maybe even 7 (if they can refuse to walk people) is the key.

 

Nezt, the Twins bullpen. I have more faith than many in Trevor May. I like Zach Littell. It would be nice to have another lefty. Could that be Perez, Smeltzer, Ryan O'Rourke, Lewis Thorpe. If we had three lefties in the pen...wow! Duffey is doing well, along with Littell, and Ryne Harper is holding his own. Romo is a godsend. Dyson should be back. So the Twins pen looks pretty good. The joy would be to have TWO pitchers that can do long relief, like two innings, if the start is short.

 

I do like that the Twins have taken a look at so many "future" pitchers: Dobnak, Stashak, Poppen, Stewart, Eades, Romero. Hildenberger could still be in the mix. The Twins have unknowns Diplan and Gonsalves on the 40-man. Ryan O'Rourke was an intriguing pickup.

 

But a pen of Rogers as closer, Dyson and Romo as setup, Littell and May as long guys, Harper and Duffey in the mix. Perez could be in the pen if the Twins do decide to stretch out a rookie as the fifth starter (which I would do, especially in September).

 

But for now, the Twins are in a post-season drive. They have to stay ahead of the Indians, or if they slip, ahead of everyone wanting a wildcard spot!

I agree, but how does our rotation and pen match the others?  We did not match well with Cleveland this past series.

I agree 100% with your starter rankings and I would switch Houston and the NY for relief pitching. We'll have to see how Kluber performs, but I'd say Cleveland was the biggest winner in trading away Bauer. He was getting to be a problem and they've improved their hitting prowess dramatically.

I actually give the Twins kudos for getting two relief pitchers in Dyson and Romo. If Dyson can pitch like he did tonight, the Twins bullpen improves dramatically. We all know that overusing Rogers is a lose-lose situation as we experienced in the final game against the Indians.