Going into 2019 one of the biggest storylines was that of
the Minnesota Twins bullpen. New manager Rocco Baldelli had a rag tag group of
arms, and there were more question marks than anyone would have liked. Fast
forward a year and Wes Johnson transformed that narrative allowing 2020 to keep
the unit entirely off the radar.
When the team broke from Spring Training down in Fort Myers
last year, only six players were truly relievers. The group consisted of Taylor
Rogers, Trevor Mayer, Blake Parker, Adalberto Mejia, Trevor Hildenberger, and
Ryne Harper. Of those, only three remain.
Over the course of 2019 that unit took on a considerably
different feeling. From one of uncertainty to a relative strength, new faces
were added, and steps forward were taken. When the dust settled, Minnesota’s unit
posted the 3rd highest fWAR in baseball, and were on par with the
vaunted Yankees relief corps. The 3.92 FIP was the best in baseball, and while
they didn’t have the best strikeout rate, a 2.9 BB/9 led the sport as well.
Fast forward to today and the bullpen is all but settled. The
Twins have some pieces to add on the roster, but this isn’t an area that needs
work. With a 26-man roster for 2020, an eight-man staff to start out the year
makes a good amount of sense. The names that make the most sense are Rogers,
May, Sergio Romo, Tyler Duffey, Tyler Clippard, Zack Littell, Cody Stashak, and
Matt Wisler. As a holdover from 2019, Ryne Harper could also push to eek his
way in.
This configuration includes hard throwers, bat missers, and
guys with a strong ability to hit their spots. Breaking balls are present in
the arms of Romo, Duffey, and Wisler. Littell and May can both shove, while
arms like Rogers, Clippard, and Stashak are well rounded overall. This group
doesn’t have names like Chapman or Britton, but you can bet that on performance
alone, there’s household contributors to be utilized.
After needing to replace four-fifths of the starting
rotation from last year, it’s there that the Twins will find the most question
marks for the year ahead. Give credit to Wes Johnson stepping in and immediately
establishing himself as a viable and impressive pitching coach at the Major
League level. The rotation is now buoyed mainly by veterans, but the
supplementation of younger arms will need to be positioned with opportunity for
success.
Last season there was a good deal of changes made on the fly
in the pen and being able to successfully navigate those waters provides a
blueprint for the year ahead. No team will ever have enough pitching, and while
Minnesota has flip-flopped the avenue in which they are needy, an
infrastructure that fosters success is clearly in place.
We don’t yet know how the Twins relievers will perform in
the year ahead, and volatility on that part of the roster is to be expected.
Given where the narrative was just a season ago however, the development and
change are to be celebrated.
