Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Month - April 2022

[Matthew Lenz]

The Twins pitching staff as a whole had a solid first month of the season, but the starting rotation really shined. Check out who the Twins Daily writers voted as the Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Month.

Every starter, aside from maybe Sonny Gray, had some question marks heading into the season. Could Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan at least maintain, if not build off, their successful campaigns in 2021? Can Dylan Bundy return to his 2020 form, or was that just the exception to his otherwise Mediocre career? What will we get out of Chris Archer, and who will get innings when he inevitably misses time? We don't have the answer to all of those questions, but we can start to get the answers to some of them, which is reflected in the voting. And all those questions existed before the Twins traded for Chris Paddack the day before the season started, which opened up questions about the bullpen. We undoubtedly need more time to answer all of those questions, but all that considered, I think we can be happy about the first month of the season.

Without further ado, let's see how Twins Daily writers voted.

Honorable Mention #2: Joe Smith
Joe Smith had quietly been a great addition to the Twins bullpen. Raise your hand if you knew that Smith had a 0.00 ERA over 7 2/3 innings across nine outings. [Embarrassingly keeps hands at his side]... yeah, either did I. The bullpen took its lumps early, but the elder statesmen has been the model of consistency for the first month of the season, and his veteran presence could prove to benefit some of the younger arms in the bullpen.

 

The 38-year-old knows what a playoff team looks like when he sees one. He's pitched in the postseason over five different seasons, including 2017-2019 with the Indians and Astros, where he appeared in the ALCS (2018) and World Series (2019). That experience can be invaluable to a pitching staff that lacks a postseason resume.

Honorable Mention #1: Dylan Bundy

Are we getting the 2020 version of Dylan Bundy? Of course, It's too early to say for sure, and he was roughed up in his final start of the month but otherwise was brilliant for the Twins in April. The key for him, well, really any pitcher but especially Bundy, will be to limit the free bases and home runs. He did just that in April with a 1.27 BB/9 and 0.84 HR/9 supplemented with an 8.02 K/9, and his 2.95 ERA ended up being 0.68 runs higher than his xERA.

 

The early results are promising, but we need a more significant simple to see if the bing, the bang, and the boom are here to stay.

Pitcher of the Month: Joe Ryan
Can Joe Ryan build off his cup of coffee from 2021? Uh, yeah. The rookie right-hander fooled hitters all month to the tune of a 25:6 K: BB ratio and a 1.17 ERA over 23 innings across four starts. His 2.65 xERA suggests that regression is likely, but that's not surprising, and I think he would still be the winner if that were his actual ERA for April.

 

But that’s not just a great month for a rookie; that's a great month for any starting pitcher, no matter how long they've been doing it. He accrued 0.6 fWAR, which was good enough for 19th in all of baseball among starters. It's been a fantastic start to the 25-year-olds Major League Baseball career. He’ll look to continue improving in the month of May, starting with an outing against the lowly Baltimore Orioles.

If you were to rank your top 3 for the month of April, are these the three you would have ranked? In the same order?

 

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[The Mad King]

Can't argue with Ryan. He's been amazing. 

[Linus]

Ryan first for sure. I might have snuck Duran in there. His numbers are not as good but he has dominated at times. 

[TeJayDubz]

I tried really hard to come up with any variance to this list and came up empty. What can I say other than hats off to Wes Johnson, and the entire pitching staff! The Twins came into this year with an ugly prognosis for our Starting Core, and our Bullpen. Both have performed above expectations in my opinion. Especially with the departure of Rogers!

[strumdatjag]

Bundy’s last outing in April was not as sharp.  I actually would have gone with Joe Smith who has looked very good. 
Of course, that is for the Honorable Mention.  

[terrydactyls]

18 better pitchers in May than Ryan?  You must be kidding??

[Eephus]

Agree with rankings. Bundy reminds a wee bit of Phil Hughes and not in a good way.