Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month: April 2022

When the Twins Daily Writers sat down to review the minor league relief pitchers, it was a tough decision with all the strong numbers from this month. Who would be the pitcher of the month? 

Especially with it being so early, the four minor league affiliates: The St. Paul Saints (12-10), Wichita Wind Surge (12-8), Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (11-7) and Cedar Rapids Kernels (15-4) are teams Major League pipelines dream of. Stacked with talent and above .500 in early April, the relievers chosen this month have been responsible for a lot of the success of their teams. 

The Minor Leagues have implemented the pitch clock which has put a little more pressure on pitching, but these pitchers aren’t letting that phase them. The pitching is solid in the minor leagues, and pitchers like Osiris German, Evan Sisk, and Hunter McMahon continue to grow in their potential while others take a commanding lead in the first month of the season.  With so many outstanding choices on the mound, let's see how Twins Daily writers voted.

Honorable Mention #2: Denny Bentley LHP  6G, 0.96 ERA, 0.64 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 4H, 2BB, 13K
Bentley is back in Iowa after splitting his time between Iowa and Florida last season and was on the opening day roster. Bentley has been impressive in his just 9 1/3 innings pitched with two saves and 0.96 ERA. In his second game of the season, he got his first win versus the Quad City River Bandits after relieving Sean Mooney. 

In his following appearance, Bentley’s a top 3 reliever for the month, he’s had several 1-2-3 innings, or at least zero-run innings. His ERA and WHIP have dropped considerably in 2022 compared to 2021. His discipline continues to grow, and his stats continue to be strong. 

Bentley was drafted in 2018 by the Twins in the 33rd round of the 2018 draft out of Howard College, a Junior College in Big Springs, Texas. With the exception of not playing baseball in 2020 along with the rest of the minor leagues, he has been with the Twins since being drafted.  

Honorable Mention #1: Austin Schulfer RHP 7G, 0.00 ERA, .71 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 5H, 3BB, 14K
Austin is in his second season with the Surge but has been making an impact on minor league baseball since his time with the Kernels in 2019. Early in that season, he and teammate Jose Martinez recorded the 15th combined no-no in Cedar Rapids history. 

Last year, he was in the Wind Surge starting rotation and led the Twins minor leagues in innings pitched has given him experience and confidence. Schulfer’s April is off to a great start, registering one of the lowest WHIP’s among the other April award contenders at 0.71 and striking out 14 hitters in 11 innings. He also recorded three saves in his seven games pitched. 

Schulfer was the only UW-Milwaukee player drafted in 2018. He was picked by the Twins in the 19th round, 574th overall. Before coming to the Twins he left UWM in 2018 leading his college team in innings pitched (91.1) and wins (6). 

Relief Pitcher of the Month: Tyler Viza 12G, 0.97 ERA, 0.73 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 9H, 3BB, 21K
Tyler Viza’s first month with the Twins has been nothing short of spectacular. Viza has pitched in only six games for the Surge and is already making an impact. He has three wins and struck out 21 hitters in just over 12 innings. 

Viza was drafted in 2013 by the Phillies in the 32nd round. He stayed with them through 2019 when he became a free agent. He signed with the Padres who were hurting for starting pitching.  Viza was signed as a free agent on March 20 to the Twins, just two weeks before opening day, out of the independent American Association. 

The bullpen pitching of the minor league teams has been a huge asset to the Twins affiliates so far in April.

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? Who are you looking forward to making the Minor League Awards next month?