The Twins Can Still Take A Long, Hard Look At Their Bullpen In A Lost Season

The trade deadline left the Minnesota Twins decimated on many fronts, but the team will surely feel it most when it comes to the bullpen.

Looking at what the team had in the bullpen to start the season compared to the present day, the Twins have many new faces, and they're putting players in positions where they have little to no prior experience.

While guys like Justin Topa, Michael Tonkin, Thomas Hatch, Brooks Kriske, and Erasmo Ramirez have been in the league for quite a while (all of whom are 30+), most of these arms in the bullpen have not seen multiple seasons of participation in 20+ games.

Even with those five elder statesmen in the bullpen, only Ramirez and Tonkin saw major league action before 2020 (they debuted in 2012 and 2013, respectively).

When fans think of late-game, high-leverage situations, do the Twins have any relievers who offer this team hope?

There are several ways to approach these situations when a game is in a save state.

To determine who best fits these positions, the team should consider individuals with relevant experience, the most favorable opportunities, and the most promising futures for these high-leverage situations.

Experience

Looking at the current roster, none of their relievers have ten saves in their careers. Combining the bullpen’s career saves, you get a total of 22 saves amongst all current bullpen arms. That’s an average of a little over two per player, including Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl, who are rookies and have a combined 33 and a third innings pitched in 11 combined games.

Cole Sands leads current bullpen arms with seven career saves. Ramirez (6) and Topa (5) are the only other arms with five or more saves.

These numbers help drive home the point that this team has no experience in those “got to have it” situations and could open the team up to being run as a “closer by committee” team when it comes to the ninth inning.

Opportunity

If the Twins decide to go “closer by committee,” and they are open to using any bullpen arm, the question then becomes, who do they bring in?

To determine who has the best opportunity for these types of positions, several factors indicate who the team trusts.

One of which is using fresh arms, allowing Baldelli to mix and match.

The other is basing opportunity on recent success or struggles. The season may be lost. FanGraphs gives them a 1.7% chance of making the postseason. Still, the team wants to maximize the rest of the season to prepare for the future.

Bringing in an arm that is having success down the stretch and showing faith in them by putting them in that situation, not only shows faith in said player but could light a fire under this underwhelming team.

Future 

If the season becomes completely lost, it might be in Minnesota’s best interest to evaluate the younger arms to determine what the future might hold and get these younger players experience in these situations.

Whether the team brings more guys up from St. Paul or they try to ride Adams and Ohl’s rookie arms, it will give the organization an indication of what they truly have going into the off-season.

If they determine that these younger guys can handle the bright lights, they can further develop them into successful and dependable closers. If the team feels they are in trouble, the front office can go into the off-season looking for a dependable late-game arm in hopes of avoiding a complete teardown of the bullpen.

Ultimately, the Twins have decisions to make in the bullpen in these critical game-time situations. These decisions won't just affect the rest of the current season, but can also determine the direction the team takes for years to come.