After trading 10 active players from the roster prior to the trade deadline two weeks ago, the Twins are left with a completely new-look team, especially on the pitching side of things. It still features cornerstone players like Pablo López and Joe Ryan, but it also features a lot of guys with something to prove at the major league level, both in young, unproven players and in journeyman waiver claims. It may seem like the season is completely lost, but that doesn't have to be the case.
The odds are, the Twins aren't going to make the playoffs. Prior to Tuesday night's game, they were in fourth place in the AL Central, 12 games back of the division-leading Tigers, and 6.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. It isn't impossible, though, for the Twins to make the playoffs. Just ask the 2024 Detroit Tigers. Even if they don't make the playoffs, the next month and a half can still be plenty impactful for the Twins. It's a great opportunity to play baseball that is free of all pressure and expectations, and it will be a time to get an extended look at players who probably wouldn't be getting impactful big league innings in the midst of a playoff push. In other words, there will be guys who have every opportunity to prove that they are worthy of being a staple in the Twins' long-term plans.
A look at who will get innings on the mound for Twins the remainder of 2025
Starting Pitchers
As far as the rotation goes, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, and Zebby Matthews feel like locks to be in the rotation for the remainder of the season. Ryan was an All-Star and has been among the American League's best pitchers this season. Ober has had the worst season of his career this year, spent time on the injured list, and seen his velocity dip at times. However, he was one of the more consistent starting pitchers in baseball in 2023 and 2024, and it would be very surprising to see them move him out of the rotation rather than let him try to get back to that. Matthews is just 25 and despite an ERA over 5, he has shown plenty of reason to believe that he can be a part of the Twins' rotation long-term. His average fastball velocity has jumped to 96.6 MPH this season, and the rest of his repertoire has followed. He's also posted a 32:3 K:BB ratio since being activated from the injured list last month. His peripheral numbers show that he's pitched better than his results too, as he owns a 4.10 xERA and a 3.33 FIP. In addition to those three, the Twins can also expect Pablo López to return to the rotation soon.
Beyond those three, there are a lot of pitchers who could be in line to get starts over the final month and a half of the season. Jose Ureña was recently recalled and has made a pair of starts. Pierson Ohl and Travis Adams have each made starts as well as long relief appearances as apart of a new organizational experiment that sees pitchers making 60ish pitch appearances every fourth day. Simeon Woods-Richardson and David Festa are both currently on the 15-day injured list but both likely factor into the Twins' rotation plans in some capacity. Andrew Morris, one of the team's top pitching prospects, recently returned from injury at Triple-A. Recently acquired starting pitchers Mick Able and Taj Bradley are both currently at Triple-A as well despite making major league starts this season. The idea there is that the Twins would like to work with their young pitchers at the minor league level for a bit before seeing them make their Twins debuts. It would be incredibly surprising, however, if either of them didn't make a big league start for the Twins this season.
In all, that makes 12 pitchers to start the remaining 44 games this season. Factor in the three spots are already filled, four once López returns from the injured list, and that leaves just one spot in a five-man rotation with eight pitchers competing for it. It would seem likely that the Twins would perhaps roll with a six or even seven-man rotation at some point, lessening the workload for their top guys and giving more opportunities for their young and/or unproven starters. We may also see the Twins start to piggyback some of these guys; having one pitcher make the start, throw three or four innings, and then having another "starter" come in and do the same behind them. This would allow them to get an extended look at more guys and also lessen the workload and innings count for some of their younger guys who may be approaching high innings totals on the season.
Relievers
When the Twins stripped down their team at the deadline, the bullpen took by far the biggest hit. They traded their five best relievers, and that has left the team with very little as far as proven relievers. From what we've seen since, it looks like high-leverage work will go to Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Michael Tonkin, and Kody Funderburk. Beyond them, it's anybody's guess as to what the construction of the 'pen will look like. Journeyman waiver claims and minor league signings like Thomas Hatch, Brooks Kriske, Erasmo Ramírez, and Noah Davis will likely fill some of the relief innings, and it wouldn't be surprising to see more names like that claimed off of waivers with the hopes that the Twins can unlock something that previous teams haven't. As I mentioned previously, too, we may see piggyback days where two starting pitchers throw and combine for seven, eight, or even all nine innings on a given day.
Another thing that the Twins could do is have select pitchers begin to make the transition from starter to reliever. The back end of their bullpen prior to the deadline was majorly made up of guys who the Twins had make this transition, such as Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, and Louis Varland. Transitioning a starter into a one or two-inning reliever allows them to simplify their repertoire into their two or three best pitches, and it also typically leads to an increase in velocity and effectiveness in those pitches since they will only be expect to throw 15 to 30 pitches per outing as opposed to 60 or more as a starter/long reliever. I'll be taking a deeper look into who makes the most sense for this and why in the coming weeks, but some names that come to mind are righties John Klein, Marco Raya, Darren Bowen, and C.J. Culpepper, as well as lefties Kendry Rojas, Connor Prielipp, and Christian MacLeod. Pierson Ohl and Travis Adams also make sense for this, but it seems more likely that the Twins will continue their experiment of having the two throw medium-length outings every fourth day.
A quick shot at a playoff roster pitching staff in case the Twins make a run
A guy can dream, right? It's a long shot, but definitely not impossible for the Twins to make the playoffs. Here's my best guess as to what their playoff pitching staff would look like if that were to happen.
Rotation: Joe Ryan, Pablo López, Zebby Matthews, and Bailey Ober
Bullpen: Justin Topa, Cole Sands, Michael Tonkin, Kody Funderburk, Connor Prielipp, Simeon Woods-Richardson, David Festa, Taj Bradley, and Travis Adams