Ranking the Best Pitches in Twins History

[Cody Christie]

Jhoan Duran has put himself on the map during his rookie season with a seemingly unhittable repertoire of pitches. Where does his best pitch rank among the top pitches in Twins' history?

Baseball continues to evolve as technology and training regimens allow players to reach levels never previously imagined. Pitchers can put an unprecedented spin on their offerings while reaching higher velocity levels. Here are some of the most dominant pitches in team history.  

Jhoan Duran's Splinker
Earlier this week, Jhoan Duran became the first player in MLB history to throw an off-speed pitch over 100 mph. Boston's Xander Bogaert's left the batter's box after being utterly baffled by what he had just seen from Duran. His triple-digit fastball helps to set up his dominant off-speed offering. In his rookie season, Duran has posted an 11.6 K/9 while limiting walks (2.1 BB/9) and compiling a 201 ERA+. It's hard to fathom where the 2022 Twins would be without Duran. He is in his first year transitioning to a relief pitcher and has been the team's most reliable bullpen option for most of the season. 

Johan Santana's Changeup
Johan Santana learned his dominant changeup after joining the Twins organization and used the pitch to become one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. He won two Cy Young Awards and should have earned a third if the voters did value wins in 2004. From 2004-2006, he led the AL in strikeouts, WHIP, K/9, ERA+, and FIP. An argument can be made that Santana deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but injuries shortened his career. 

Francisco Liriano's Slider
Johan Santana won the 2006 AL Cy Young, but he wasn't even the best pitcher in the Twins rotation in the season's first half. Francisco Liriano started the year in Minnesota's bullpen and eventually entered the rotation. In 28 appearances, he posted a 2.16 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP and 144 strikeouts across 121 innings. It seemed like the Twins would have a dominant one-two punch for the playoffs, but Liriano's elbow didn't hold up. Tommy John surgery forced him to the sideline until 2008, and he never reached his previous level of dominance. 

Bert Blyleven's Curveball
One of the first dominant pitches in franchise history was Bert Blyleven's curveball. As a 19-year-old, he burst onto the scene and played part of 11 seasons in a Twins uniform, including the 1987 World Series squad. Blyleven played in an era when strikeouts were not as prominent, but his longevity allowed him to compile 3,701 strikeouts for his career. Even if it's hard to compare Blyleven's curveball to some of the pitches mentioned above, he used this pitch to orchestrate a Hall of Fame career.  

There are many ways one can attempt to rank these pitches, from overpowering to strikeout totals. Santana gets the top spot because he dominated baseball for multiple seasons, with his changeup being a strikeout weapon. Duran's splinker is nearly impossible to hit, especially considering its velocity and movement. When it comes to Liriano, he had a chance to top this list if his peak had lasted more than a partial season. Blyleven's curveball was a good pitch, but even he tended to leave one over the plate. 

Pitch Ranking
1. Santana's Change-Up
2. Duran's Splinker
3. Liriano's Slider
4. Blyleven's Curveball

How would you rank the pitches listed above? Would you add anyone else to the list? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

 

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[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Good article! Duran is special, no doubt. Let’s hope his shoulder holds up—no indication that it won’t at this point, at least through 2022.

If we are counting half seasons, then Scott Erickson’s splinker ranks up there too.

Joe Nathan had a great curveball, I thought. 

I’m sure I will think of some more and post again later!

[High heat]

Duran's Splinker is cool, because of the name!  I would put it on par with Liriano's slider whne he first came up.  It was dominate for a short time until his arm was gone and he never recovered that back!  Hopefully Duran's arm and body holds up and he can be dominate for yrs to come.  

Johan's Changeup stood the test of time, it was a dominate pitch for multiple season and he was a 2 pitch starting pitcher for most his career throwing just a fastball and the change with just a rare slider to lefties. 

[Seth Stohs]

I'd consider Jhoan Duran's fastball. 

Side story, a friend of mine went to one of the first two Boston games and sat right behind home plate in the champions club. He couldn't stop talking about Duran... He was able to talk with Alex Verdugo after the game and asked him "What's it like to try to hit 103?" Verdugo said something like "Hitting 103 isn't the issue. It's the splinker pitch that he throws that comes in at around 100, starts out behind you and winds up over the plate." 

First... Hitting 103 "isn't an issue" is funny in its own right, but that splinker movement is crazy. 

I'd also consider adding Frank Viola's changeup too. People talk about Camilo Pascual's curveball. 

[Doctor Gast]

Your article brought back many great memories of these great pitchers. I agree with your rankings yet like Seth I'd rate Duran's FB right up there at #3 and I'm prejudice over a Camilo's curveball. 

[PDX Twin]

Why do we need to rank them? Just a list of these amazing pitches and pitchers is sufficient.

[cmoss84]

I thought Johan was good...like amazing. He could throw 3 change-ups in a row and leave the batter clueless. Then I sat behind home plate and watched Liriano pitch (before his injury). He was far dirtier than Johan, and had he not got hurt, I am convinced he would have had a HOF-type career. 

 

[minman1982]

Does anyone remember the stories about how Santana tipped his pitches?  Basically, the batters knew when the changeup was coming and still couldn't hit it.  Duran is something special.  A 100 MPH pitch with that kind of movement is ridiculous.  There is absolutely nothing a batter can do with that pitch unless they get incredibly lucky.

[dxpavelka]

Bert's in the HOF.  Gotta give that hook the nod at the top leave the rest the way you had 'em.

[Linus]

I think Viola’s change up was on par with Johans. Didn’t Duran stop throwing the splinker for a while this summer because he was giving up loud contact?

[Nine of twelve]

22 hours ago, cmoss84 said:

I thought Johan was good...like amazing. He could throw 3 change-ups in a row and leave the batter clueless. Then I sat behind home plate and watched Liriano pitch (before his injury). He was far dirtier than Johan, and had he not got hurt, I am convinced he would have had a HOF-type career. 

 

Santana deservedly won the Cy Young in 2006. But before Liriano's injury Santana was the second-best pitcher in the rotation.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

52 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

Santana deservedly won the Cy Young in 2006. But before Liriano's injury Santana was the second-best pitcher in the rotation.

Agreed. There’s nothing as fun as a pitcher on a roll.

I started saying the same thing about Brett Favre in his second season with the Vikings. “One of the best NFL quarterbacks of all time, but was the second best quarterback on the Packers.” (Aaron Rodgers)

[D.C Twins]

Scott Erickson's slider for the first half of the 1991 season was unhittable (injury issues compromised it for the rest of his career like Liriano, but like Lirano we was nearly unhittable for 1/2 season)

[ashbury]

If we're going to rank signature pitches, for me it comes down to results and (secondarily) longevity.  Close between Santana's change and Blyleven's uncle (Charlie). 

Duran's in the running someday if he keeps going for years and years like Mariano and his renowned cutter.

[D.C Twins]

On 9/2/2022 at 12:07 PM, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

Good article! Duran is special, no doubt. Let’s hope his shoulder holds up—no indication that it won’t at this point, at least through 2022.

If we are counting half seasons, then Scott Erickson’s splinker ranks up there too.

Joe Nathan had a great curveball, I thought. 

I’m sure I will think of some more and post again later!

Woops... I missed the first reference to Erickson!  I'll second Disco then!

[Nine of twelve]

I realize Pascual was before the time of many of us here, and I was too young to appreciate his deuce while he played for us. But I do remember going to a game in 1980 when he was pitching coach. Before the game he was in the outfield with the pitchers during batting practice. When BP was ending and the balls were being rounded up he picked one up and threw it to another player. And let me tell you, even at age 46 he could still make the ball bend big time.

[Stew]

We forgot to add  who had the best fastball as a twin. Any ideas?