Left-handed pitching is something that is an anomaly in professional sports. Well, it's an anomaly all the way down really to youth sports. When talking about straight up natural facts about one's person without any nurturing, only height for basketball seems to compare to the importance of left-handed pitching in baseball. With that in mind, I thought it would be appropriate to give a full Twins-system view of almost all of the viable left-handed pitchers and what they do across the various levels of the system for the Twins.

Twins:

There are three guaranteed lefties for the Twins out of the gates in April, and all three of them are in the bullpen. It isn't a totally common thing to have three lefties in a team's bullpen, but when one of them is the closer it changes the bullpen's dynamic. It is still a good idea to have two lefties for situations in innings 6-8.

Glen Perkins is an all-star closer. Born 3-2-83, he is in his prime as a closer. Perkins has dominated as a closer or the most part and should be fine for 2015.

Brian Duensing will be back with the Twins for some reason. Born 2-22-83, he is a middle reliever who should be a LOOGY. He will be paid $2.7 million to serve as a hopefully adequate MR or setup man. Duensing was good as a reliever in 2013, but that was not the case in 2014. He was quite lucky, with a ERA/FIP discrepancy of 3.31/4.51. He doesn't strike many out and walks way too many.

Caleb Thielbar is a middle reliever. Born 1-31-87, he is clinging on to a spot in the Twins bullpen even though he seems to be better than Duensing. His FIP from 2014 was 3.40 and his ERA from 2015 was 3.40! His actual ERA from 2015 was 3.54. This is probably his ceiling.

Twins/Rochester:

Tommy Milone is likely going to be the fifth starter for the Twins in April. Born 2-16-87, he has the potential to fit quite nicely at the back end of the Twins rotation. He could also be traded.

Logan Darnell will need to focus on being a relief pitcher. Born 2-2-89, it seems as though Darnell finally settled in to present himself as a legitimate pitcher. He does not really project to start, however. Time will tell here.

Aaron Thompson has come around to have a nice shot at a spot in the short-term for the Twins. Born 2-28-87, he has worked his way into LOOGY contention.

Rochester:

Ryan O'Rourke had a breakout year. Born 4-30-88, he posted an 11.5 k/9 in AA in 2014. He was absolutely dominant against lefties. He is what the Twins should want as a LOOGY instead of Duensing or Thielbar.

Taylor Rogers is ready to compete for the show. Born 12-17-90, his k/9 grew to 7.0 in 2014 upon advancement to AA. He will start and continue to develop his pitches. He probably could move to the bullpen and be the best lefty other than Perkins right now.

Jason Wheeler has successfully advanced methodically through the system. Born 10-27-90, he is a poor man's Taylor Rogers, but that still might be good enough.

Pat Dean has one shot to save his career and that is to move to the bullpen. Born 5-25-89, he is no longer a good starting option, but could find his groove as a reliever.

Chattanooga:

Mason Melotakis will be lost for the 2015 due to Tommy John surgery in October. Born 6-28-91, he still has a bright future as a reliever with good velocity. The prospects for starting are dimming.

Steven Gruver still has a chance as a reliever. Born 6-30-89, he will need a good year to remain in contention.

David Hurlbut had a down year in 2014. Born 11-24-89, he needs to get the strikeouts back up to respectability (career 6.8 K/9 after a low 4.8 in 2014).

Brett Lee continues to succeed even though he doesn't really strike anybody out. He does very well with men on base. Born 9-20-90, he will keep getting a look as a starter for now.

Corey Williams will return after injury looking to get his career back on track. Born 7-4-90, this is a huge year for Williams to re-insert himself as a top-5 lefty relief prospect in the system.

Fort Myers:

Mat Batts could be a breakout candidate for 2015. Born 7-6-91, the lefty has a career 9.57 k/bb ratio in 60+ innings.

Brandon Bixler can be a strikeout machine. Born 12-31-91, he will need to get command and reduce the walks to succeed.

Josue Montanez gained a lot by returning to Cedar Rapids in 2014. Born 1-15-92, he has proved that he should advance to A+ ball, but he needs to keep the walks down.

Cedar Rapids:

Stephen Gonsalves could move to Fort Myers at some point this season. Born 7-8-94, his velocity could continue to rise as he gets stronger.

Lewis Thorpe has shown that he is ready for a full season of pitching, if he is healthy. Born 11-23-95, the Aussie should get more innings progressively over the next few years to build towards a shot at the Show.

Randy Rosario will be pitching early in 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April. Born 5-18-94, he could fly up prospect lists with a solid season in A-ball.

Cameron Booser has lights-out potential. Born 5-4-92, he could move quickly through the system.

Sam Clay struck out 13.7 batters per 9 innings last year. Born 6-21-93, he also walked 5.3 per 9 as well.

GCL/Elizabethon:

Onas Farfan is a local guy drafted in the 21st round last year. Born 6-23-93, he will have to work on his command to succeed.

Brandon Easton made big improvements in his second professional season. Born 9-21-92, he should be in Elizabethon working as a starter.

Michael Theofanopoulos will face stiffer competition in 2015. Born 8-5-92, he should get work both in the rotation and out of the bullpen.

Jadison Jimenez has spent the past three season in the DSL and will move forward to the GCL. Born 3-19-94, he has demonstrated consistent improvement.

Other potential contributors are Wil Ledezma (AAA), Seth Wagner (GCL), and Reyson Zoquiel (GCL), but they might not perform well enough to remain in the organization.

This makes for twenty-seven lefties in the organization. A lot of the best of them are down in Cedar Rapids, but there are some solid pitchers sprinkled up and down.