Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

  • This Reliever Might Be the Key to Turning the Twins Bullpen Around

    Cody Christie

    By Cody Christie

    Plenty of things have gone wrong for the Twins so far including some important members of the bullpen struggling mightily out of the gate. While others will be relied on for late innings, one reliever might be the key to turning the bullpen around.

    Image courtesy of © David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

    Twins Video

    Following a strong rookie campaign, Jorge Alcalá logically had higher expectations entering the 2021 campaign. Things haven’t gone perfectly to start the year, but with a couple of small changes, Alcalá might be the key to turning the Twins bullpen around.

    Last season, Alcalá appeared in 16 games and posted a 2.63 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP. He struck out nearly 29% of the batters he faced and posted a 163 ERA+. He ranked in the 75th percentile or higher in average exit velocity, hard hit %, barrel %, and K %. Based on those numbers, it was easy to envision Alcalá taking on a high leverage role at some point during the 2021 season.

    Alcalá has made seven appearances so far in 2021 and only two of those appearances have come in a Twins win. In fact, both of those wins were by six runs or more, so his role hasn’t been in the high leverage situations. On Sunday, Alcalá got five strikeouts in two innings including nine whiffs on 14 swings. This was a welcome sight after he entered play with a 20 K%, which was well below his career average.

    MLB Statcast has him ranked in the 40th percentile or lower in max exit velocity, hard hit %, xERA, xWOBA, xSLG. The most disturbing stat might be the fact that his barrel % ranks in the bottom 4% of the league as batters are barreling up the ball against him 17.6% of the time. One of the biggest reasons for these poor numbers so far this year might be tied to his pitch usage.

    During the 2020 season, Alcalá used his fastball and slider for nearly the same percentage of pitches. He used his four-seamer 46.4% of the time, while his slider was used 44.7% of the time. There has been a large increase in his fastball usage this year as he is up to 55%, which means his slider usage has dropped nearly seven points. It seems like increasing his slider usage would be a natural solution for avoiding more barrels.

    There’s no reason to throw Alcalá directly into a late inning role, especially with some of the other names ahead of him in the bullpen pecking order. That being said, he has been used in mostly low leverage situations or when the team was up big early in the season. He’s less experienced than other bullpen options, but look for his role to increase as the season progresses.

    Rocco Baldelli needs some arms he can rely on in the bullpen and Alcalá just might be the man to help turn the bullpen around in 2021.

    What do you think Alcalá can provide to the Twins? What should his role be moving forward? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

    MORE FROM TWINS DAILY

    — Latest Twins coverage from our writers

    — Recent Twins discussion in our forums

    — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

    Cody Christie is a Twins writer and content contributor. His writing can be found exclusively at Twins Daily and his voice can be heard on radio stations throughout the Upper Midwest. Outside of the Twins, he is a father, high school teacher, and avid runner.
    Follow Cody Christie on Twitter: nodaktwinsfan

    MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
    — Latest Twins coverage from our writers
    — Recent Twins discussion in our forums
    — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email
    — Become a Twins Daily Caretaker

     Share
     Share
    Go to articles

    Community Blogs

    • How many games will the Minnesota Twins win in 2023?
    • Gopher Preview (Week 3)

    Forum Topics

    • PVTEST
    • Hey, look here
    • This is an exceptionally long title to test how various points look on a phone and smaller devices
    The Ultimate Minnesota Twins Gift Ideas Shopping Guide

    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    Featured Comments

    cHawk

    cHawk 2,006

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    He throws hard but location is just as important. He has no location and that’s the big problem. That’s the problem with the pen as a whole. It’s not a problem of the guys not throwing hard enough and their arms regressing. The only guy who’s actually noticeably lost velocity would be Duffey.

     

    Command in a pitcher can be fixed, a drop in velocity can’t. Alcala has been so bad because he hasn’t been able to command his pitches. He’s given up many HRs, he hit Jordan Luplow today, etc. So, if Alcala is to fix the pen, then we need to see him command his pitches better than he has.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    yeahyabetcha

    yeahyabetcha 379

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Watched Alcala’s effort last night. He hit 99 once, but had trouble throwing strikes. It was not a good outing. I think it is ok to keep running him out at the major league level, but not in important situations.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    umterp23

    umterp23 484

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    When your offense can't score many runs, anytime we run him out there might be a high leverage situation.  If we have to wait on big lead, he may see the mound once every couple of weeks.  

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Mahoning

    Mahoning 54

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Well, he couldn't be worse than Colome, but . . . what about his FEELINGS? I see from today's newspaper that Rocco is working on Colome's feelings too. I guess a lot of daubers are down in that bullpen. It might be time to turn to Astudillo and his 46 mph heater. 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    4twinsJA

    4twinsJA 862

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Lets see some new arms in BP, replace Stashek, Theilbar. Lets see what Anderson, Waddell, or Duran can do. Closer? Rogers and Duffy have struggled some this year also, but Colome just does not have it-would like to see Alcala in the mix with Rogers and Duffy maybe give Robles a shot also.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    cHawk

    cHawk 2,006

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    The things with bullpen arms is that there, these days, are two kinds. You have guys who throw 95 and “slider specialists.” 
     

    Are all “slider specialists” bad, well, no. But they’re called slider specialists because they rely on movement, they rely on confusing the hitters and getting swings and misses. Once that stops working, they fall apart. Guys like Cody Stashak and Caleb Thielbar are a prime example of this, batters have both of them figured out. The league is more statistics these days so batters have them figured out. That’s why it’s generally a better idea to build bullpens (and a pitching staff as a whole for that matter) around guys who throw 95, because they’re less prone to falling apart at the seams. 
     

    But bad command will kill any pitcher. If a guy who throws hard (Rogers, Robles, Duffey, Alcala) loses his command he will fall apart. But the thing is “95” guys have two ways of falling apart: 1. Losing velo (which happens with age) and 2. Losing control. Slider specialists have three ways of falling apart: 1 and 2 are the same but a 3rd is them getting figured out.

     

    More on Colome: His K% was down quite a bit last year, but he hasn’t lost velo. It’s not like he’s a “softball pitcher” either, because his fastball does average 94 (which is about 95). But he has no command. I don’t want to see him past the 6th in a close game until he fixes it, or until he’s DFA’d.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    DocBauer

    DocBauer 14,431

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    He COULD easily be a major cog for years to come. He COULD be a major factor yet this season, probably in the second half, maybe late. But he has to keep using that nasty slider, as already pointed out, and he has to find better control/consistency.

     

    He's young and relatively inexperienced. He's been handled with kid gloves to a degree thus far, and that's not a shot. It's what you do with a young pitcher to gain experience and confidence.

     

    His future is bright. But he needs time. Now, nudging him in to higher leverage roles might not be a bad idea, especially considering the state of the pen at this point.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites


    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
    Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

    Loading...
    ×

×
×
  • Create New...