Over the course of the winter the Minnesota Twins did a lot
of good things. The front office continued bringing in top tier developmental
talent. They added pop to the lineup, and Rocco Baldelli looks the part of an
exciting big-league manager. What they didn’t do was address a pitching staff,
and namely a bullpen, that looked like it could use some help. Now with the
depth being tested, an unexpected stalwart has emerged. Can Ryne Harper be the
hero no one knew they were expecting.
Entering Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, Harper
looked like a long shot to make the 25-man roster. Despite once having his
contract selected, he’s never played in a big-league game, and has something
like three days of service time accrued. The 29-year-old turned in a nice 2.54
ERA across 39 IP at Double-A last season but stumbled to the tune of a 5.19 ERA
with Triple-A Rochester.
The surface numbers have been mostly good for Harper, but it’s
the ratios that jump off the page for me. Across 65 IP on the farm last season,
he posted an 11.9 K/9 with a sparkling 1.4 BB/9. In just over 450 innings of
minor league relief, Harper owns an 11.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. Should that hold up
at the big-league level any club would find themselves in a state of ecstasy.
Having not gotten any major league time to date in his
career, it’s been on the back of an exceptional Spring Training that will
likely get Ryne over the hump. Working 11 innings down in Fort Myers, Harper
turned in a flawless 0.00 ERA allowing just two unearned runs. He’s given up
only seven hits while fanning 14 and walking none.
Look at the Twitter feed of Twins Daily’s Tom Froemming and
you’ll find a barrage of benders that are certainly Pitching Ninja worthy. It’s
on the back of this pitch that Harper has burst onto the scene, and he’s had
hitters of all abilities looking plenty foolish the past few weeks. Pairing his
curveball with pinpoint command has added up to a blueprint that should
translate just fine when the games start to matter later this week. He’ll likely
take home the coveted Sire of Fort Myers trophy, but a big-league payday should
be a nice secondary prize as well.
It’s always great when an unexpected talent pops up and can
make a big-league impact. It’s never going to be expected from a late blooming,
career minor leaguer. Minnesota is also banking on this kind of situation with
Matt Magill. Whether or not Harper and Magill can provide consistency over the
course of a full season remains to be seen, however. There should be some level
of fear or caution regarding how the pen fares for the Twins, but these
glimmers of hope are feel-good stories in the present.
Maybe Harper was a guy that the front office knew they could
count on all along. Maybe Baldelli and Wes Johnson saw a moldable piece that
was just waiting to be unleashed. We’ve seen the results in exhibition
contents. The next piece of this puzzle is putting up numbers when it counts.
