The Twins Bullpen Could Use Some Help

[Cody Pirkl]

The Twins will likely be in the market for relief pitching at this year’s trade deadline as their bullpen continues to get a massive workload game after game. With the long term in mind, it may make more sense for them to start looking sooner rather than later.

The Twins bullpen has currently thrown the fourth-highest number of innings in baseball behind only the Rays (of course), Pirates and Orioles. This likely isn’t a huge surprise for fans who take issue with the Twins' starting pitching management and this regime’s avoidance of pushing their starters. There are a few reasons, however, that we find ourselves here.

For starters, the shortened spring training has impacted pitcher’s workloads, particularly Sonny Gray who was barely ready to start the season on time leading to several shorter starts as well as getting eased back in after injury. Also, consider pitchers like Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy whose repertoires make them untrustworthy to navigate the order three times through. In most of these cases, the Twins are playing better safe than sorry, and it’s worked out as the rotation has been successful overall.

Secondly, the Twins aren’t creating situations where they feel they can push said pitchers. Since the Astros series ended on May 12, the Twins have played 12 games and just three of them have been decided by three runs or less despite facing easy competition. As a result, the starting pitching has a quicker hook as the team tries to preserve the lead. An offshoot of this is the Twins needing to use their high leverage relievers almost daily. It’s only out of necessity that pitchers such as Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax ever get the day off.

This recent trend boiled over on Wednesday against Detroit, where Caleb Thielbar had to pitch against a flurry of right-handed hitters in the 9th inning of a tied game, far from the situation you want. After narrowly escaping a bases-loaded jam, the Twins were forced to turn to Trevor Megill making his second appearance since being called up from St. Paul. He promptly allowed a two-run home run in the 10th. The Twins had simply run out of relief arms, and the loss left the bullpen even more shorthanded for the first game of the series against Kansas City on Thursday.

In an ideal world, the offense would soften some of these games and allow the pitching staff some margin for error. Perhaps as the weather warms up they’ll be able to do so. Rather than hoping, however, the Twins can take matters into their own hands with an early move to solidify a bullpen that’s performed incredibly well thus far.

Adding one more high leverage reliever would go a long way in easing the stress being put on the bullpen. One more high-level arm would push pitchers such as Pagán and Jax down into roles that they’re probably better suited for. It would also make managing Jhoan Duran’s workload much easier. All of this would help the Twins maintain their solid bullpen performance in the long term of course, but it would also help them win games in the short term as we saw on Wednesday.

While it may be early, there are several obvious teams who aren’t going to be competing this year and who may be willing to talk trade already. The Baltimore Orioles have the 3rd lowest bullpen ERA in baseball and have several trade candidates such as Jorge López and Félix Bautista. Even a team like the Pirates are holding onto some quality relievers such as David Bednar.

The Twins bullpen troubles are far from what they were in 2021, but given how good the team has looked, it may just be worth being aggressive. On one hand such an early trade could be seen as paying a premium, but they would also likely avoid the bidding war we typically see hours before the deadline. It may just be worth asking around to see if they can swing a surprisingly early deal.

Jorge Alcala would have been huge for this bullpen, but after being added to the 60 day IL with little news to follow, he’s become a massive question mark. Several prospects such as Matt Canterino look like they would be dominant forces at the back end of games, but the Twins have shown no signs of moving them out of starting roles. Instead it appears most of the internal bullpen options are minor league signings in AAA. By all accounts it appears the Twins are destined to explore the bullpen trade market in July. Why not kickstart the process now?

 

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[rwilfong86]

They'll wait until their season has fallen apart and then make some moves too late. Now would be the time to make some calls and try to get a deal done, before their schedule gets much more difficult at the end of next week. 

[tony&rodney]

Even when Duffey goes multiple outings without giving up a run he looks very uncomfortable to me. Duffey seems like the relief pitching twin of Jack Cave. They both seem like decent guys, they play hard, have some talent, but are doomed. Pitchers always seemed comfortable pitching to Cave and hitters seem very comfy versus Duffey.

[In My La Z boy]

Totally agree. Very frustrating pulling Smeltzer last night. 79 pitches. Considering the amount of games coming in a row and the way he was getting everyone on soft contact along with 6 K's. Dangit guys. KC switched relievers when we loaded the bases in the 8th. Rocco makes me crazy some days.

[Minderbinder]

The bullpen is challenged even when the team gets 7 innings out of a starter, like last night with Smeltzer, and is about to hit the overworked wall as the schedule heats up in June.  Duffey's imploded.  He need to fix whatever he's experimenting with and get down to business or he'll be in (very) long relief or a fire sale casualty.   

[cHawk]

After the last two games, yeah, we need to improve the back end of the pen.

Although I’m not sure exactly where those improvements are coming from. The team has options.

[TopGunn#22]

This is where Rocco infuriates me.  79 pitches !!!  Smeltzer was in command, and for a guy that doesn't throw hard (i.e. MAX effort on every pitch) he could easily have gone at least another inning, probably even finished the game.  I know hindsight is 20/20 but this is just one of my persistent pet peeves with Rocco.  Duffey ain't the Duffey of old.  Neither is Theilbar.  It's time to look to deal both of those guys and load up with Lopez types.  

[RJA]

I agree that the Twins need more bullpen help.  Getting Acala back would help, but for the bullpen to have this many innings so early in the year sets us up for usage issues in the last half of the season.  As noted, it does not appear either Bundy or Archer are going to go more than 5 at the most, so I don't see the need for innings changing as long as the two of them are in the rotation.  Even Ryan and Ober are not really innings eaters.  To do what the Rays do requires a lot of depth and I don't think the Twins are there yet.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

25 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Totally agree. Very frustrating pulling Smeltzer last night. 79 pitches. Considering the amount of games coming in a row and the way he was getting everyone on soft contact along with 6 K's. Dangit guys. KC switched relievers when we loaded the bases in the 8th. Rocco makes me crazy some days.

Plus 2 of the next three hitters batted left handed. I totally agree. Smeltzer's ERA is 1 . 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

13 minutes ago, RJA said:

I agree that the Twins need more bullpen help.  Getting Acala back would help, but for the bullpen to have this many innings so early in the year sets us up for usage issues in the last half of the season.  As noted, it does not appear either Bundy or Archer are going to go more than 5 at the most, so I don't see the need for innings changing as long as the two of them are in the rotation.  Even Ryan and Ober are not really innings eaters.  To do what the Rays do requires a lot of depth and I don't think the Twins are there yet.

If they are only going to pitch 4-5 innings per game, why not use Bundy and Archer in the same game?

[Drunk_Goose]

Need to improve just a tad sure, but I don't think right now at least it requires anything drastic.

[USAFChief]

Said so all winter: need bullpen help.

Said so on opening day: stupid idea to trade Rogers. Really stupid.

 

As for now, sure. Try to get legit help. Good luck. Prepare to deal some of that "pitching pipeline" to get anyone who is a legit upgrade. If you can even find an available reliever or two in May.

[LewFordLives]

Maybe Taylor Rogers will become available at the trade deadline. A guy like him would come in handy, because he can close or be used as a situational lefty. Also, the Twins are already paying his salary!

[chpettit19]

They are definitely going to need bullpen reinforcements. Maybe sooner than later. Problem is I don't know where that comes from. A trade sounds all well and good, but there has to be a team willing to deal in May, and you rarely find that. I sure hope there's internal conversations about a plan to bolster the pen, though. Canterino ready soon? Alcala still has 2 weeks on the IL, if I'm not mistaken. If Canterino could come up and be a 2 inning guy a couple times a week and Alcala can come back and resemble the guy he was at the end of last year that'd be huge. But I think some prospects need to head out for more established arms at some point. I'd prefer soon, but it's difficult to convince another team to trade guys in May.

[roger]

Thru the first six weeks of the season, the bullpen results were excellent.  But too many games were really scarry.  For whatever reason, Duffey has serious problems with KC.  Recall hearing that his ERA at Kaufman is alarmingly high.  

Agree with those who say a major change isn't needed.  Understand Columbe will be back in the coming days.  He was actually solid and will help.  Article in the Strib this morning indicated that Alcala could/should be back by mid-late June.  Assuming he is anything like last year, that will be a big plus.  And then they could get help in August from Maeda, who will likely be used out of the pen if he makes it back. 

Those three additions would make a huge difference.  Will also help a ton if the starters keep going six or seven innings and the hitters start scoring more than two runs so the middle relievers can eat up some/most of the innings every other day.  

 

[Dave The Dastardly]

At the rate Rocco is going every bullpen arm will have more innings than any of the starters. Maybe that's the plan; after the All-Popular game the starters will move to the pen and the pen will be the starters.

God! What have I done! Erase this before Rocco sees it!

[Bamboo Bat]

Totally agree the bullpen needs help, but no article like this is complete without a discussion of Rocco's use of the pen. His name isn't even mentioned! The relievers have been better than expected but putting them in a position to fail (see: Duffey last night & Cano's five run meltdown) is driving further impressions that the corps is exploding. 

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

This is where Rocco infuriates me.  79 pitches !!!  Smeltzer was in command, and for a guy that doesn't throw hard (i.e. MAX effort on every pitch) he could easily have gone at least another inning, probably even finished the game.  I know hindsight is 20/20 but this is just one of my persistent pet peeves with Rocco.  Duffey ain't the Duffey of old.  Neither is Theilbar.  It's time to look to deal both of those guys and load up with Lopez types.  

This is what infuriates me.  Comments like "he could have easily gone at least another inning, probably even finished the game" stated as god-given truths when they are nothing more than one person's opinion.  There is also the scenario where he comes back out for the 8th inning and gets shelled or injures himself.  And comments like "it's time to deal both of these guys and load up with Lopez types.". First, who is going to take Theilbar and Duffy?  And if anyone did, what would be the return?  A ham sandwich and a bag of chips?  And second, who are all these Lopez types that can be loaded up?  Having said all this, I agree that improvements are needed but some degree of reality should be included.  How many (and which) prospects would be needed to trade for Lopez?  Is Baltimore even interested in moving Lopez?  I have no idea.  Hopefully, the front office has an unlimited calling plan and is asking Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and other similarly positioned teams who might be available right now for some help in a year or two.

[Rosterman]

So many of the minor league free agents on the Saints staff have imploded. Ian Hamilton is still the only non-roster guy that should be under considerataion.

Derek Rodriguez is pitching well as a starter. His one Twins appearance was marred by Rocco keeping him in one inning too long when it wasn't necessary.

Balazovic and Henriquez should both be switched out with starters prospering at AA Wichita, for the moment. Or we jsut let them take their lumps?

Cole Sands is also overmatched. WIll he be this season's Charlie Barnes?

Strotman has been a disaster in relief and probably will be the next arm to go from the 40-man roster.

Will the Twins make a roster move (Godoy and COntreras are both 40-man expendables at this point) and bring up Chi Chi Gonzalez to start in the double header?

They did sign Hunter Wood, who is working out at FCL camp. Not sure why he didn't sign anywhere in the off-season. His stats show some promise. He is coming off of an IL-stint last season for "elbow discomfort."

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/woodhu01.shtml

Coulombe is coming back this weekend, I imagine. Maybe WInder will be back next week. 

[PDX Twin]

2 hours ago, Bamboo Bat said:

Totally agree the bullpen needs help, but no article like this is complete without a discussion of Rocco's use of the pen. His name isn't even mentioned! The relievers have been better than expected but putting them in a position to fail (see: Duffey last night & Cano's five run meltdown) is driving further impressions that the corps is exploding. 

What really frustrates me is the number of times that one of our less-reliable relievers starts getting in trouble and there is no one warming up in the bullpen! I've been hearing this season that the Twins are tracking pitches thrown in the bullpen in addition to those thrown on the mound. Maybe they are going a little overboard in managing workload by avoiding warming guys up (until it is too late)?

[In My La Z boy]

2 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

This is what infuriates me.  Comments like "he could have easily gone at least another inning, probably even finished the game" stated as god-given truths when they are nothing more than one person's opinion.  There is also the scenario where he comes back out for the 8th inning and gets shelled or injures himself.  And comments like "it's time to deal both of these guys and load up with Lopez types.". First, who is going to take Theilbar and Duffy?  And if anyone did, what would be the return?  A ham sandwich and a bag of chips?  And second, who are all these Lopez types that can be loaded up?  Having said all this, I agree that improvements are needed but some degree of reality should be included.  How many (and which) prospects would be needed to trade for Lopez?  Is Baltimore even interested in moving Lopez?  I have no idea.  Hopefully, the front office has an unlimited calling plan and is asking Cincinnati, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and other similarly positioned teams who might be available right now for some help in a year or two.

This is a little harsh. One mans opinion, not even close. Even Bremer said in the 7th that Smeltzer will go deep, maybe to the end because of all the consecutive games coming. As soon as Dick said that I stood up and said NO WAY, HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED A GAME? Dick, me, Top Gunn#22, and I'll wager 90% of the audience thought Smeltzer would/should keep going. And what is the excuse for leaving Duffy out there hanging? This isn't a "low hanging fruit" critique. This was simply throwing a game away by being locked into a predetermined paradigm. You play to win the games. Fine put Duffy out there to start the 8th, but why in the world you just leave him to the end - and why do we not have 14 pitchers when everyone else does and it seems a universal request on the part of managers? Last night was just unnecessary.

[FlyingFinn]

I really think the Twins have the other top relief pitcher in the minors, Canterino. Duran was a starter in the minors and now is doing well as a reliever. Plus, we want to be very restrictive on their innings anyway. Use them on alternate days with an extra day for a blowout at some point. Have them pitch the 8th and 9th sometimes like Duran is. Coulombe and eventually Alcala will help and then one or two trades at the deadline. I actually would like to give Cano some time to adjust to MLB hitters. He seems to have the fastball. If the Twins bats would just get going, someone like Cano could get that time. The Twins hitters are currently the ones putting stress on the bullpen to be perfect every night.

[Danchat]

Yeah, I'm thinking Canterino to the bullpen is going to need to be a move if they need a top-end option. With Cano and Moran not looking like they're going to help, there's not much else in the minors, so they'll need to make some trades, but that probably won't happen until July... so perhaps it's time to prepare Canterino for his new role (call up him to AAA and have him pitch shorter stints?).

[Doctor Gast]

I've criticized from the beginning the Taylor/ broken Paddack trade. We need more proven closer type not trade the only one we had. Many fans said that it hasn't hurt us much just the one Duffy outing, I then said maybe so but it will eventually come around and bite us. It has and will continue to do so.

I've advocated for years that we need a strong long RPing corp, at least one that is used  on a frequent basis. But every year (minus the shorten season) they have ignored long relief and focused on a few short RPs which get burned out and to save them they in turn burn out the rotation. Even if we limp across the finish line our pitching is totally exhausted which contributed to our long post season losing streak.

Duran has been very effective but I'm afraid they'll burn him out in short order. They'll need to get a proven closer to fill the gap that Rogers left for sure. My hope is also on Alcala's return he can help us out as a setup man until he's 100%. And again we need some one like Winder & Smeltzer in long relief to help aleviate the pressure on short relief.

[chpettit19]

55 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

 - and why do we not have 14 pitchers when everyone else does and it seems a universal request on the part of managers? Last night was just unnecessary.

Buxton playing through injury and getting mandatory rest/completely out of the game days, Correa getting rest days, and now Polanco being out for multiple days in a row is why they don't have 14 pitchers. If you're going to shorten your bench by 1 guy every game you need an extra bench guy. But they need to be at 13 pitchers after this weekend anyways. I do agree it's not great that they haven't been carrying 14 arms when they could be with these 18 games in 17 days or whatever the number is.

[In My La Z boy]

8 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Buxton playing through injury and getting mandatory rest/completely out of the game days, Correa getting rest days, and now Polanco being out for multiple days in a row is why they don't have 14 pitchers. If you're going to shorten your bench by 1 guy every game you need an extra bench guy. But they need to be at 13 pitchers after this weekend anyways. I do agree it's not great that they haven't been carrying 14 arms when they could be with these 18 games in 17 days or whatever the number is.

14 pitchers just got extended till June 19, and will probably end up being season long. No excuse for leaving Duffy hanging out to dry is my opinion no matter the amount of pitchers. Ridiculous considering our AAA team is in the same town.

[chpettit19]

3 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

14 pitchers just got extended till June 19, and will probably end up being season long. No excuse for leaving Duffy hanging out to dry is my opinion no matter the amount of pitchers. Ridiculous considering our AAA team is in the same town.

Dang, I missed that. Thanks for the info!

I certainly won't say it was the right decision last night, but I don't think it's as egregious as others do. It was 2 outs guy on first after the first 3 hitters. No reason to get anyone up and throwing then, right? Then you get a single. 2 out, guys on 1st and 2nd. Certainly a little nervous, but just needs 1 out and inning over. Whit Merrifield is a good baseball player, but he's also hitting like .220 this year. No problem with letting Duffey face him, but definitely a point in time that you'd think it's probably good to get someone up just in case he doesn't get Merrifield and things start getting ugly. After Merrifield doubles I'd definitely have someone up and throwing and I don't believe that happened so Rocco deserves some heat there. I think it's also reasonable if people think he should've had a lefty ready for Benintendi. Witt is also hitting about .220 this year so you'd expect him to get the out there. Then he gets Dozier.

I get why people are upset, but I think when you look at how it played out it's not a terribly egregious decision. Guy on first, 2 outs turned into 3 runs in in a matter of 4 more hitters. If your relievers can't get 1 out in 4 hitters you're in trouble no matter what. Certainly reasonable that people would want someone ready for Benintendi, but by then the game was already tied. Tied is certainly better than trailing, but nobody can argue in good faith that they'd have taken Duffey out with 1 on 2 outs or 2 on 2 outs before Merrifield doubled. Offense not scoring with the bases loaded 0 outs is far more egregious in my mind.

[Rosterman]

8 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Dang, I missed that. Thanks for the info!

I certainly won't say it was the right decision last night, but I don't think it's as egregious as others do. It was 2 outs guy on first after the first 3 hitters. No reason to get anyone up and throwing then, right? Then you get a single. 2 out, guys on 1st and 2nd. Certainly a little nervous, but just needs 1 out and inning over. Whit Merrifield is a good baseball player, but he's also hitting like .220 this year. No problem with letting Duffey face him, but definitely a point in time that you'd think it's probably good to get someone up just in case he doesn't get Merrifield and things start getting ugly. After Merrifield doubles I'd definitely have someone up and throwing and I don't believe that happened so Rocco deserves some heat there. I think it's also reasonable if people think he should've had a lefty ready for Benintendi. Witt is also hitting about .220 this year so you'd expect him to get the out there. Then he gets Dozier.

I get why people are upset, but I think when you look at how it played out it's not a terribly egregious decision. Guy on first, 2 outs turned into 3 runs in in a matter of 4 more hitters. If your relievers can't get 1 out in 4 hitters you're in trouble no matter what. Certainly reasonable that people would want someone ready for Benintendi, but by then the game was already tied. Tied is certainly better than trailing, but nobody can argue in good faith that they'd have taken Duffey out with 1 on 2 outs or 2 on 2 outs before Merrifield doubled. Offense not scoring with the bases loaded 0 outs is far more egregious in my mind.

Well, it seemed that Duff was the go-to guy and that, in all liklihood, Rocco was hoping he would close out the game with two innings of work. Otherwise, if you were going to close with Duran, he would be up prepping for the ninth. 

Joe Smith only threw three pitches the day before, too.

But you should be able to see that Duff was struggling. The game was close.

And then, the 8th. Even when Sanchez reached first base I would've put Gordon in to run. You need one run to keep the game going. (Although, refresh my mind, how does the DH rule work these days? The current DH can move to a position, but then you MUST use a new bat each time that position comes up in the order for the rest of the game?)

[In My La Z boy]

10 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Dang, I missed that. Thanks for the info!

I certainly won't say it was the right decision last night, but I don't think it's as egregious as others do. It was 2 outs guy on first after the first 3 hitters. No reason to get anyone up and throwing then, right? Then you get a single. 2 out, guys on 1st and 2nd. Certainly a little nervous, but just needs 1 out and inning over. Whit Merrifield is a good baseball player, but he's also hitting like .220 this year. No problem with letting Duffey face him, but definitely a point in time that you'd think it's probably good to get someone up just in case he doesn't get Merrifield and things start getting ugly. After Merrifield doubles I'd definitely have someone up and throwing and I don't believe that happened so Rocco deserves some heat there. I think it's also reasonable if people think he should've had a lefty ready for Benintendi. Witt is also hitting about .220 this year so you'd expect him to get the out there. Then he gets Dozier.

I get why people are upset, but I think when you look at how it played out it's not a terribly egregious decision. Guy on first, 2 outs turned into 3 runs in in a matter of 4 more hitters. If your relievers can't get 1 out in 4 hitters you're in trouble no matter what. Certainly reasonable that people would want someone ready for Benintendi, but by then the game was already tied. Tied is certainly better than trailing, but nobody can argue in good faith that they'd have taken Duffey out with 1 on 2 outs or 2 on 2 outs before Merrifield doubled. Offense not scoring with the bases loaded 0 outs is far more egregious in my mind.

Offense didn't score with the bases loaded because KC was trying to win the game and switched pitchers. Which we failed to do. It was Duffy. Not Pagan or Duran. I could somewhat understand not pulling your high leverage guy. Where would the Brewers be without Hader? If Hader was on the mound last night, then ok, leave him in. We need a Hader. 

[chpettit19]

4 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

Offense didn't score with the bases loaded because KC was trying to win the game and switched pitchers. Which we failed to do. It was Duffy. Not Pagan or Duran. I could somewhat understand not pulling your high leverage guy. Where would the Brewers be without Hader? If Hader was on the mound last night, then ok, leave him in. We need a Hader. 

I said I wasn't saying it's the right decision. The game was tied before anyone can say they'd have pulled Duffey. I said having someone ready for Benintendi would've made sense. 

Duffey has made 18 appearances this season. He's allowed even 1 run in 5 of those. Can we not act like he's been getting shelled left and right? He hasn't allowed a single run in 73% of his outings. Before last night he'd allowed runs in 2 of his last 13 appearance. 3 runs in 13.1 innings. It's more than reasonable to have expected him to get out of an inning that started Out, 1B, Out unscathed. After the double I'd have pulled him. All I'm saying is it's not some crazy situation. The Royals pulled their guy after he loaded the bases with no outs. That's very different than 1 on 2 outs after 3 hitters. Rocco should've pulled him before they lost the lead, but Duffey has been good at not giving up runs so it wasn't like he left me out there to give up 15 runs with a 14 run lead.