The Minnesota Twins bullpen is a dynamic place. The Twins enter 2025 with most of their key arms including Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran but when it comes to left-handed relievers, their options are pretty bare.
The Twins gutted through last season receiving little to no contributions from their left-handed relievers. Caleb Thielbar threw the most innings of any southpaw on the Twins roster at 47.1 but he wasn’t effective, posting a 5.32 ERA and a career-high 11.1 percent walk rate before signing with the Chicago Cubs this winter.
Steven Okert also shared some of the left-handed action from the bullpen but he posted a 5.09 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP before being designated for assignment last August.
In the end, the Twins have just two left-handers on the 40-man roster, Kody Funderburk and Brent Headrick. Neither has a sizeable amount of major league experience. With the Twins payroll restrictions and an organizational philosophy not to spend big on relievers, the Twins may have to work with what they have entering spring training.
Who are the Minnesota Twins’ left-handed relief options as 2025 spring training approaches?
Funderburk is the most recognizable name on this list after making a solid debut in 2023. Called up in the middle of a pennant race, Funderburk logged a 0.75 ERA in 12 innings and had outstanding metrics including a 34.5 percent whiff rate, a 40.4 percent strikeout rate and a 54.5 percent ground ball percentage according to Baseball Savant.
Funderburk limited hard contact a little better in 2024 but a left oblique strain limited him to just 34.2 innings while his chase rate dropped to 24.1 percent, his strikeout rate dropped to 19.9 percent and his walk rate jumped to 9.3 percent.
Some of Funderburk’s struggles are to be expected as a 28-year-old making his first tour of the majors. But it’s also concerning because the Twins don’t have a fall-back option with major league experience.
Headrick threw 26 innings for the Twins in 2023 but he was limited to three innings due to a left forearm strain last season. Headrick was effective when healthy, however, logging a 2.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts and six walks at Triple-A St. Paul but his lack of experience and 90.7 mph average exit velocity in 2023 make him far from a lock.
Outside of Funderburk and Headrick, there aren’t many true left-handed relievers in the system with Gabriel Yanez and Rafael Marcano the closest to the big leagues at Double-A Wichita. While Christian McLeod may also be a name to watch for, Connor Prelipp might be the one that makes sense – if he can stay healthy.
Prielipp was a top-10 projected pick in the 2022 draft but fell to the second round after undergoing Tommy John surgery. While the Twins have tried to use him as a starter, he needed a second elbow surgery in 2023 before finally getting an extended look toward the end of last season.
The glimpse was enticing as he struck out 41 of the 91 batters he faced and The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman pointed out that Prelipp could become a reliever if the Twins don’t believe he can handle a starter’s workload.
“Few left-handed prospects can equal Prielipp’s raw stuff and his three-pitch mix is more than enough to succeed as a starter, but the Twins may be tempted to turn him into a max-effort reliever for 60 innings because of his durability issues,” Gleeman wrote. “Shifting to the bullpen could also place him on the fast track to the majors, perhaps as soon as this summer.”
Relying on a pitcher who has just 58 innings of game action since high school is a bold move, but that’s where the Twins are at. While Tanner Scott, Danny Coulombe and Tim Hill are still on the market, Minnesota’s payroll situation has balked at modest free agents, making left-handed relief one of the most intriguing issues that need to be solved this spring.