Minnesota Twins: Four Keys for How the Twins Build a Bullpen

Over the 2019 and 2020 season, the Minnesota Twins were able to build themselves one of the most dominant bullpens in the franchise’s recent memory and one of the best in all of baseball. They weren’t on the elite level of the 2015 Royals, but they were still a group with talent that could get the job done.

The team finished the year ranking fifth in baseball in both league-adjusted FIP and ERA according to FanGraphs. Those are really good numbers, especially for how hard it has been for the Twins to put together a bullpen in the past.

The team hasn’t had a group of relievers this good since the days of Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, and Joe Nathan were leading the group in the late 2000’s. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have built a consistent division winners since they took over the front office after the 2016 season, but the bullpen they built was downright bad in the first two years here.

This begs the question; How do Falvine and the Twins go about building their bullpen? What’s changed so much in the last two years that has made the Twins’ bullpen go from a weakness to a strength that they lean on so often?

How did the Minnesota Twins build such a strong bullpen? We break down four keys to the turnaround.

Minnesota Twins Bullpen Key No. 1: Evolving with the Game

It’s no secret that the game of baseball has changed dramatically over the last 10-15 years, this includes pitching. Analytical approaches of maximizing velocity and spin rates to create more swings and misses have combined with short and tactical outings for pitchers to change the game of baseball forever.

The Twins pitching philosophy seems to follow two key principles: throw hard and/or throw pitches with a ton of movement (usually sliders). Those two approaches have worked masterfully for Twins relievers over the last few seasons, enshrining their new system of generating more swings and misses.

We’ve talked a lot about Wes Johnson and his impact on the Twins and their pitching, but it’s really hard to understate. Johnson has helped pitchers maximize their mechanics and throw harder while also encouraging more off-speed usage, resulting in better numbers.

The old Twins way of pitching to contact is long gone, and their consistent evolution with the game has helped them win 61% of their games over the last two years. Using these techniques to squeeze productive innings out of no-names or has-beens has worked out incredibly.

Minnesota Twins Bullpen Key No. 2: Relying on Homegrown Talent

Outside of the Rays, the Twins are one of the teams in baseball that is most well-known teams for relying on their own prospects and young players to build their rosters. Whether it be hitting or pitching, the Twins often don’t have the assets to bring in big stars. This has been especially true for this version of the Twins bullpen.

When you think of the leaders of the bullpen from previous seasons, you think of arms like Taylor Rodgers, Trevor May, and Tyler Duffey, all guys the Twins developed. Heck, even Caleb Thielbar spent most of his career in the Twins system before going to play with the St. Paul Saints.

Taylor Rodgers may have had an up and down 2020, but there is no denying that when he is in a groove, he is one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball. Relying almost solely on his fastball and slider, the 11th round pick from 2012 worked his way up through the Twins system and broke into the big leagues in 2016.

He was very good from 2016-2018, but 2019 was the year he really started earning recognition as one of baseball’s top lefty relievers. He earned career highs with 69 innings, 90 strikeouts, and a 2.61 ERA while locking up 30 saves as the team’s full-time closer.

Trevor May, wasn’t drafted by the Twins, instead coming over to the Twins from the Phillies for Ben Revere after the 2012 season. Initially thought of as a starter, the Twins saw that role wasn’t working and transitioned him to a role as a high-leverage reliever.

May’s arsenal includes a good amount of fastballs, changeups, curveballs, and sliders but he relies largely on the fastball that has hit triple digits. He became one of the Twins’ top relievers in 2019 and had another solid year in 2020.

This offseason, he signed with the New York Mets to reunite with former Twins’ bullpen coach Jeremy Hefner, so the Twins will have to look elsewhere to replace his innings in 2021. He wouldn’t have been such a hot commodity if the Twins hadn’t helped him turn his career around, so this counts as a win.

Tyler Duffey has snuck up on everyone and become one of the most productive relievers in all of baseball. He came into the league in 2015 and was another pitcher that was hoping to be a starter, but after making several trips up and down between the majors and AAA, the Twins helped revolutionize his career by moving him to the bullpen.

Duffey flourished in that role in 2019 and was even better in 2020. Relying mainly on his fastball and curveball, (maybe a little more on his curve in 2020) Duffey’s tremendous 1.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts in high-leverage innings helped make him one of the most underrated relievers in the league in addition to productive.

It’s clear that the team has showed a great strength in building home-grown guys into high-leverage studs, and it looks like the team is positioning to do it again with Jorge Alcala. Since coming over from the Astros in 2018 as part of the Ryan Pressley trade, Alcala has shown a lot of potential.

Once considered a starter, Alcala made his big league debut in 2019 and got his first “full” season of work in 2020. The 25 year old has recorded a 2.45 ERA, a WHIP of 1.208 in with 28 strikeouts in just over 25 innings pitched featuring a high 90s fastball and a changeup with some good movement.

He’s still a little raw but there’s not denying that he has the potential to become an elite reliever (and maybe even closer down the line). Working out homegrown talent has worked well for the Twins thus far, and I don’t see that changing.

Minnesota Twins Bullpen Key No. 3: Avoiding the “Big Splash” Free Agents

It’s been a long-standing narrative with the Minnesota Twins fanbase that the franchise will avoid spending money in free agency. The Pohlads are seen as cheapskates despite having a league-average payroll. While it’s not as black and white as it seems, one place they seem to avoid spending money at all costs is in the bullpen.

Since taking over the front office, Falvey and Levine have gone after just one notable free agent signing in the pen, bringing in Addison Reed on a two year deal worth over $16 million in January 2018. The team was fresh off of a Wild Card Berth, so it seemed like a solid addition.

In only one season with the Twins, Reed posted a 4.50 ERA in 56 innings pitched with a WHIP of 1.429 while giving up 65 hits in 56 innings. Needless to say, it didn’t go great and he was released during the 2019 season. That’s how the majority of big bullpen deals end up.

While the $8 million per year may seem extreme to spend on a solid bullpen arm, it could be a lot worse. Your team could be the 2018 Colorado Rockies, who spent $106 million on their bullpen by signing Wade Davis, Jake McGee, and Bryan Shaw. Just three years later, all three players are out the door.

The Twins have stayed away from the big name bullpen signings, choosing instead to use that money elsewhere (Hi Josh Donaldson!), a strategy that has been very solid thus far and kept the team without gargantuan contracts on the back end.

The team needs to address the bullpen and replace key innings from Trevor May, Tyler Clippard, and more. With that being said, it’s never worth the money to pay players who only impact the game for an inning every other day in their eyes. I’ll trust them on this one.

Minnesota Twins Bullpen Key No. 4: Finding Hidden Gems and
Making Under the Radar Signings

Now that we’ve covered how the Minnesota Twins avoid big names and go homegrown, who do the Twins pursue? Diamonds in the rough. They pick up someone that barely anyone knows and try to turn them into a quality big-league arm.

Sergio Romo came over to the Twins from the Miami Marlins as one of the key trades during the 2019 trade deadline. While he’s a former World Series champion, he wasn’t a highly sought after arm at the time but he excelled in the Twins slider-heavy approach.

The 13-year veteran threw absolute frisbees that were unhittable for a time and provided the Twins with playoff experience and a passion that provided a spark for the team. Romo struggled during the end of his tenure here, but he still was an inexpensive get.

Caleb Thielbar is another diamond in the rough, and one that has to be the best feel-good story for the 2020 Twins. Instead of following through on his agreement to coach for Augustana after pitching for the Twins from 2013-15 and the then Independent League St. Paul Saints, Thielbar made his way back in the show with a very good year.

He started off the year with a 7th inning, blowout kind of role that progressed into a higher leverage role with the Twins as the season went on. Thielbar posted excellent bounceback numbers including an ERA of 2.25 and 22 strikeouts in 20 inning. The Twins didn’t give up on the Minnesota native, and bringing him back on a low risk deal has worked wonders for both sides.

The last player in this group, Matt Wisler is probably the poster child of the system the Twins have in place fo no-name guys. He was claimed off waivers from the Mariners after the 2019 season after bouncing around from three other teams before that. In Minnesota, Wisler transformed from just another depth guy into a high-leverage situation pitcher for the Twins in 2020.

He upped his slider usage percentage from around 70 percent up to 83 percent, allowing him to turn in his best season as a pro, setting career lows in ERA (1.07) and FIP (3.35) in over 25 innings. The Twins decided to not pay arbitration for Wisler and he eventually signed with the San Francisco Giants but there’s no denying he played at a high level in Minnesota.

The Twins tend to sign no-name guys to short term deals, while claiming other players off of waivers. The team added three more relievers in that bill this offseason, adding Hansel Robles, Ian Gibaut, and Brandon Waddell. The process doesn’t really add a lot of long term players, but the sort of renting process works out excellently.