Travis Adams Is Adapting To His New Bullpen Role

St. Paul, Minn. – Travis Adams has been a starting pitcher throughout college and in the minors. However, his role has changed this year.

In November, the Minnesota Twins added him to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. With a plethora of pitching talent ahead of him in Triple-A St. Paul’s starting rotation, it looked like Adams would be moving into the bullpen full-time, and that’s been the case so far in 2025.

“It’s not too bad,” Adams said about coming out of the bullpen. “It’s been not too big of an adjustment, just shortening down the weeks. Basically just getting rid of that bullpen in between starts if I were still a starter, just taking that out so it kind of stays the same. The warm-up process is a little different but not too bad.”

Some in the Twins organization believed Adams’ best opportunity for longevity in the majors was in the bullpen. It was not so much that he can’t pitch well in a starting role; it was more that there aren’t many open rotation spots between the Twins and Saints rotations, with Zebby Matthews, Andrew Morris, Marco Raya, Cory Lewis, Darren McCaughan, and Randy Dobnak filling up the rotation.

Still, the transition into the bullpen hasn’t phased Adams at all. In three appearances, Adams has allowed four runs in 9⅓ innings, with three of those runs coming in his latest outing against the Omaha Storm Chasers on Thursday, April 10. Adams took the ball in the fourth as the mop-up man. Despite battling the elements of on-again, off-again rain, kept the Storm Chasers from cutting into St. Paul’s 8-1 lead.

“It wasn’t too hard to get a grip on the ball,” Adams said. “Usually, in these cold games, it’s tough. Obviously, there was kind of rain on and off. I thought the little rain got me a better grip with rubbing up the ball and whatnot, keeping my knuckles slick. Slider felt good, cutter felt good, everything felt good.”

Adams allowed the Storm Chasers to score three of the four runs in St. Paul’s 13-4 win. However, his control of the strike zone kept the damage from worsening. While he’s still adjusting to the role, Adams has impressed his coaches in St. Paul, giving them confidence in how effective he’ll be this season.

“He’s done a nice job with it,” said Saints pitching coach Jonas Lovin. “He actually, last week, threw more innings than any of our starters did. [Adams has] handled the workload well so far, and he’s done a really nice job knowing he’s probably going to pitch twice a week. He does a nice job preparing for his outing and preparing against opposing hitters to attack them really well.”

“[Adams has] been great, he’s been great in that role,” said Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. “It’s a new thing for him, but I think he does a really good job in it. He comes out there, throws strikes, pounds the zone, he’s got good stuff too, so I think he’s doing a really nice job with it, and hopefully we can get him up to the big leagues in that role, too.”

Adams’ only critical error this season was the pitch location for the two-run homer he surrendered to Nelson Velázquez in the sixth inning on Thursday.

“I thought it was a decent pitch, but obviously could have gotten it up a little bit more,” he said. “He just put a good swing on it, and yeah, got the home run.”

Ultimately, a 3.86 ERA, 10 hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts are a good start for Adams in his role out of the bullpen. He will continue building off the early success this season, but the Twins haven’t ruled out using him as a starter again.

“No, nothing about when I could get a start,” he said. “They just told me I’ll be used in long relief and the occasional starter whenever it falls into my favor. That’s when I’ll get them. But for now, just long relief out of the pen every four days, and if I get a start, I get a start.”

On Tuesday, the Saints will travel to Des Moines for a six-game series against the Iowa Cubs. Iowa has an 8-5 record this season and features several top Cubs prospects, including RHP Cade Horton, OF Owen Caissie, and catcher Moisés Ballesteros.