Who Will Provide Length in the Twins' Bullpen?

[Cody Pirkl]

Last week the Twins' roster plans began to reveal themselves at least a little bit. Wes Johnson pointed out he’d like to see 15-16 pitchers on the active roster as well as 2 “length options” available outside of the rotation. Today we’ll take a look at the pitchers competing for the last few spots.By all accounts, the starting rotation has impressed upon their arrival to summer camp. It appears each starter will be carrying a nearly full workload on day one because of the shape they’ve kept themselves in. Even still, two length options makes sense. Afterall, a disrupted routine this spring could make injury more of a possibility, not to mention the pandemic still relevant across the U.S. “Length option” however greatly decreases the pool to consider for candidates. There are five likely competitors to take a look at.

 

Jhoulys Chacín - Chacín was brought in on a minor league deal as a reclamation piece to compete for the 5th rotation spot. Coming off a season with an ERA over 6, he hasn’t really dazzled for the Twins thus far either as he was likely falling behind in the running for the rotation before spring training was shut down. He still sports a solid slider that gets a decent amount of whiffs, however he hasn’t shown much else over the last year. His durability paired with being two years removed from 190+ innings of a 3.50 ERA could still be enough for the Twins to try and work out whatever went wrong. As the fantasy baseball industry loves to say: “Chacín will pitch well when Jhoulys expect it”.

 

Randy Dobnak - We all know Dobnak who likely missed out on the 5th rotation spot with the return of Hill. Coming off a fantastic 1.59 ERA in his rookie year, he appears to be a steady and capable pitcher. He likely cracks the rotation with several MLB teams, just not the depth rich Twins in 2020. That being said, Dobnak is a Major League calibre pitcher and should be at the top of the list for one of the final spots.

 

Devin Smeltzer - With a ceiling limited by his fastball velocity, Smeltzer’s funkiness and pitching smarts still make him a solid option. Coming off a rookie season with a 3.86 ERA, some still argue his skill set would be best utilized in the bullpen eventually, and now he’s reportedly developed an impressive slider. That paired with him being a left hander (something the Twins really do need) who can provide length may just make Smeltzer a near sure thing to make the opening day roster.

 

Lewis Thorpe - The Twins are quite fond of Thorpe and for good reason. He led AAA in K/9 in 2019 and has a strong starter’s repertoire. While unlucky at the MLB level (6.18 ERA 3.47 FIP), he flashed his talent in 2020. He was demoted to minor league camp in early spring however after taking a personal leave. I think the Twins see Thorpe as a starting pitcher and may want to keep him stretched out to step into a rotation spot if injury hits, but things certainly could change.

 

Sean Poppen - Poppen is likely at the bottom of the list of candidates. We only saw him in a mopup role in 2019, but he was a starter for AAA all year which makes him part of the “length” pitchers Johnson is looking for. It would take a huge performance for Poppen to snag this role, but I believe the Twins think highly of him. He struggled with a 7+ ERA in 2019 while getting a bit unlucky (4.41 FIP), but there’s definitely talent in that arm.

 

 

Who takes the final few spots is likely to work out fine regardless, as the Twins can certainly identify talent and there seems to be no terrible options here. The likely choices are Dobnak and Smeltzer, after the former nearly won a rotation spot and the latter is a lefty the Twins could match up or use as length. While this is my assumption, it’s no sure bet with the options the Twins have to choose from. Who do you think fills that role as the “length options” on opening day?

 

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[Aichiman]

Dobnak and Smeltzer

[mikelink45]

I would count on Dobnak and Smeltzer - Thorpe really hurt himself with his personal leave this spring and has not established himself despite is tools.  Chacin does nothing for me.  

[DocBauer]

Dobnak and Smeltzer just seem so obvious. Agree with mike that Chacin does nothing for me. Especially after what we saw in ST 1.0. I'd rather stick with the young, talented arms vs a veteran re-tread. But is Chacin showing something more/Different in ST 2.0? I could see the Twins sticking with Chacin initially because once gone, he's gone for good.

 

I just really hope they stick to youth and upside.

 

The "problem" I see here is too much talent. Yes, I actually said that. Assuming health and Bailey fitting in to the 5th slot, the pen FIGURES to be settled with Rogers, May, Duffey, Romo, Clippard, Littell and Stashak. (Subject to poor performance we haven't seen as of yet). With one more spot available, and I'm betting Wisler takes it.

 

The roster allows for 30 men, then 28, then 26. Barring injury or illness, where is there room for Dobnak, Smeltzer and Thorpe when the roster crunch happens? This a GOOD PROBLEM to have. These things tend to work themselves out over a season, even a short one. But when have you ever been able to say the Twins have more quality arms than roster spots?

[Doctor Gast]

They know what they are doing. I see Dobnak & Smeltzer  making the roster but the others should see a lot of time. You can never have too much pitching, you never know when you get an injury, get covid or fall apart & with this rotation we need a lot of substitutions

[operation mindcrime]

It won't be Chacin! He's been released.

[MnMn]

Doesn't the piggybacking starters thing kinda take of this - or was that just for ST?

[yarnivek1972]

Other than the first couple times through the rotation, how big of an issue is length going to be with a ten or eleven man bullpen?

[Danchat]

With Chacin off the roster, I think we can safely say that barring injury or the virus, we'll see at least 15 pitchers, including the usual 5 starters, 8 relievers, and then 2 of Dobnak, Thorpe, and Smeltzer; if not all of them. 

[Linus]

Bailey looks like the clock might have struck midnight. I sure hope isn’t Perez version 2

[Aichiman]

 

Bailey looks like the clock might have struck midnight. I sure hope isn’t Perez version 2

Why, what happened?

 

[OldSchoolBaseball]

Yesterday’s Intrasquad....Don’t lose sight of Duran and Chalmers, both were extremely impressive in Sunday’s intrasquad game. We haven’t seen or heard much regarding Chalmers because of the plethora of pitchers. However, either one of these guys could make an impact before the season ends.

[DocBauer]

Yesterday’s Intrasquad....Don’t lose sight of Duran and Chalmers, both were extremely impressive in Sunday’s intrasquad game. We haven’t seen or heard much regarding Chalmers because of the plethora of pitchers. However, either one of these guys could make an impact before the season ends.

Got anything good to share? I haven't see anything about Sunday.

[OldSchoolBaseball]

Neither Dobnak or Thorpe were particularly sharp...Thorpe gave up more hits and less K’s than we’re accustomed to seeing. Dobnak had more BB’s than usual...neither was terrible ...both were grinding a bit. Chalmers came in and pitched the 5th & 6th inning and was “lights out”. His first three batters were Donaldson, Cruz, Gonzales....sat them down in order. Definitely one of the best curveballs on the team. Pretty much the same in the 6th. Duran was also dominant...typical FB, CB, SL, that we’ve seen in the past. I’d like to get another look at Chalmers, he could be a huge boost for the team.

[OldSchoolBaseball]

Neither Dobnak or Thorpe were particularly sharp...Thorpe gave up more hits and less K’s than we’re accustomed to seeing. Dobnak had more BB’s than usual...neither was terrible ...both were grinding a bit. Chalmers came in and pitched the 5th & 6th inning and was “lights out”. His first three batters were Donaldson, Cruz, Gonzales....sat them down in order. Definitely one of the best curveballs on the team. Pretty much the same in the 6th. Duran was also dominant...typical FB, CB, SL, that we’ve seen in the past. I’d like to get another look at Chalmers, he could be a huge boost for the team.

[Teflon]

No one would have provided more length in the bullpen than Loek van Mil, may he rest in peace.

[raindog]

I’ve always heard girth is more important.