Ranking the Minnesota Twins starting rotation

The Minnesota Twins offense has gotten a lot of the credit this year, but the pitching staff has been wonderful, let’s take a look at the rotation ranked from 5-1.

The Minnesota Twins have been dominant at the plate  but haven’t gotten enough credit when it comes to the guys on the mound. Who ranks first out of the starting rotation and how close is it actually?

#5 – Michael Pineda

Signed to a two-year contract by the Minnesota Twins front office, Michael Pineda spent his first year with the club rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Expected to be back by possibly late last season, Pineda ran into some issues and other injuries in his rehab starts. After a long time coming, Pineda is back on the bump for the Twinkies and has performed adequately thus far.

With a current record of 4-3 and an ERA of 5.04 he has done enough to get the wins despite a below average ERA. His fastball sits around 92 MPH with some added velocity in recent starts, showing that his road to recovery is an ongoing battle.

A couple encouraging statistics are his current average against and WHIP which sits at .264 and 1.21 respectively. Both are the lowest they’ve been for Pineda since his 2014 season, some signs that the best is yet to come from “Big Mike”. He has 57 strikeouts in just over 69 innings pitched, nothing that should blow anyone away but encouraging numbers following elbow surgery nonetheless.

Big Mike has been a solid veteran addition to a relatively young rotation and has provided some much-needed stability. Finding 5 guys throughout the season for teams can be tough given set-backs and injuries. Pineda is doing a great job holding down his spot for the Minnesota Twins.