New Years Resolutions: Relief Pitching

[Ted Schwerzler]

Continuing the theme of keying in on current assets and their focus for the season ahead, the Twins next area to come under fire for 2022 resolutions is the bullpen. The group wasn’t as expected last season, as was the case for most of the team as a whole, but where do we go from here?

After ranking 24th as a whole when it came to pitching in 2021, the Minnesota Twins were 20th in terms of fWAR for just relievers. While slightly better than the starting staff being 25th, relief efforts took a significant step backward last year. In 2020 Wes Johnson coached the 2nd-best bullpen in baseball, and his group was 3rd overall in 2019. Getting back to that level is where things need to be focused for 2022. How can we get there?

New Years Resolutions: Starting Pitching
 
Taylor Rogers
He’s here because he’s the best thing Minnesota’s bullpen has going. They could’ve decided to non-tender him if there was fear Rogers’ injury situation was grave, but that doesn’t appear to be reality. He was named an All-Star for the first time and got to show up for the game in his home state. In 2020 Rogers didn’t benefit from a season that allowed his numbers to normalize. In 2021, his 2.13 FIP was the best number of his career, and the strikeout rate was unmatched. If there’s something that Rogers needs to do in 2022, it’s be healthy and repeat as a dominant force. Lefties this good don’t grow on trees, and the Twins have one.
 
Cody Stashak
Once looking like a substantial bullpen piece, Stashak fell off the tracks significantly last year. He posted a 25/1 K/BB in his first 25 big-league innings and followed that up with a 17/3 K/BB in 15 innings during 2020. In 2021 Stashak had a 26/10 K/BB, and his ERA ballooned to 6.89. The homers and hits didn’t get out of whack, and his FIP was still solid at 3.62. In short, the pitcher he once was is still there, and we’re still dealing with a small sample size as a whole. Minnesota needs Stashak to again be a high command, big strikeout arm that can pitch in the middle innings.
 
Tyler Duffey
It wasn’t that Duffey was awful in 2021, but the pitcher Duffey became in 2019, and 2020 looked a whole lot different. Although Duffey did allow the lowest home run rate of his career, he also walked four batters per nine, easily a career-high, and his strikeouts dropped below double-digits per nine. Duffey is now 31, and while his velocity isn’t what it was in 2019, it did stay consistent from a year ago. Adding back to that number or staying consistent is a must. Generating chase swings again on his curveball has to happen, and if it’s not coming by pairing fastball velocity, then sequencing and tunneling are avenues he can further explore.
 
Jorge Alcala
We’ve been waiting for Alcala to break out over a whole year for a while. It looked like it would happen in 2021 after a strong showing in 2020. Pitching in nearly 60 innings last year, Alcala sat with a 5.54 ERA through his first 42 appearances. From there, he made 18 more appearances and tallied a 0.87 ERA and a 26/3 K/BB. That stretch was dominant and where Minnesota needs him to come out starting the season. At 26, Alcala isn’t exactly young anymore, but he certainly could be coming into his own.
 
Juan Minaya
This is maybe less about Minaya than the concept of his addition. The Twins did a good job finding the former White Sox arm as they also did with Danny Coulombe. Minaya contributed 40 innings with a 2.48 ERA. He’s always walked too many guys, but the strikeouts were there. Jharel Cotton was claimed by Minnesota, while Ralph Garza Jr. was a late-season addition. It’d be great for the Twins to hit on a handful of these types, especially if they aren’t going to add a higher tier reliever or two. At this point, these aren’t non-roster guys, and being correct on a few wouldn’t hurt.
 
We’re now through the pitching side of things and will turn it over to the bats for the final installment.

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[beckmt]

Yes, but this group needs a couple or 3 minor leaguers to make it for this to be a top notch group.  My fear is that the FO will add more middle of the road types, and they will pitch in the first half and be no help.  Mason, Moran, Cano and a couple of converted starters in the minor could make this a position of strength.  We just have to give some of them a chance.  

[TopGunn#22]

You can add Jax to that group beckmt and whether Alcala is the closer of the future or someone like Canterino or Duran is I just don't know.  I wish we would have signed someone like Graveman (White Sox got him) or Knebel to be that RH arm at the end of the game and use Rogers for high leverage and 8th inning situations...but we didn't.  Kimbrel would be a nice addition, but the White Sox are NOT trading him within the division.  If I was going to add an outside arm to the BP it would have had to be a Kimbrel, Graveman, Knebel high impact type of arm.  The failure to make that kind of move means I would just rather go with the "youngens" and see who shines.  Kenley Jansen is still out there but he's going back to the Dodgers, so go with the young guns !!  A Canterino or Duran could spend a season pitching out of the BP to give their arms a little less stress.  The Twins did this with Johan Santana, maybe the same plan could work for Canterino or Duran.