Twins believe bullpen could be among the best in baseball

Much like every starting pitcher, Pablo López wants the ball all the time.

“I always want to go nine,” the López, Twins’ Opening Day starter, said.

He’s also realistic: Most of the time, it’s not happening. Lopez has thrown a complete game just once in his major league career. But when he doesn’t get his wish to go nine innings, he’s comfortable with the group the Twins have put together to finish games.

“I’s a good feeling,” López said. “It’s an incredibly talented group of arms that we have here from the first pitch of the game to the last pitch of the game.”

The Twins’ bullpen figures to be a strength this season, so much so that FanGraphs currently forecasts it as MLB’s top bullpen. The group is projected to have a 5.1 fWAR (Wins Above Replacement per FanGraphs), along with a collective 3.81 earned-run average and 3.87 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching).

At least one reliever is buying into that hype.

“I hear a lot of people say that, and that’s true. We have a really good group,” Jhoan Duran said. “I’m asking so many pitchers in the bullpen about how they feel after the pitch, and everybody’s on the same page.”

Of course, an injury to one of their top arms, Brock Stewart, doesn’t help — Stewart will begin the season on the injured list but is expected back in April — but the Twins are confident in what they will get from their relief corps.

Now, it’s time to show it.

“Everybody knows that we have a lot of guys that can get some leverage outs,” Stewart said. “It’s nice when you hear those things, and it’s cool to be recognized for the group that we do have. But I don’t think anybody (is doing anything) other than hearing that and going, ‘Oh, cool,’ and then we move past it.”

Stewart has been among the best in the majors when healthy over the past couple of years, posting a 0.65 earned-run average across 27 2/3 innings in 2023. Before landing on the injured list last year, he was off to another great start, with a 0.68 ERA through 13 outings.

When he returns, Stewart should be among the Twins’ most trusted relievers, helping bridge the gap to Duran and Griffin Jax, who have established themselves as two of the top late relievers in the game. Cole Sands, who broke out last year by posting a 3.28 ERA across more than 70 innings, will pitch high-leverage innings for the Twins, as well.

“We’ve had a couple of guys get nicked up. This is all going to be part of it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “For a bullpen to be successful, you need more than three, four or five guys. You’re going to need a dozen guys to contribute in a big way. I think we have a good, deep group.”

The Twins also are excited about Louie Varland and how he fits in after converting him to a relief role late in each of the past two seasons. Baldelli raved about Varland the reliever after the 2023 season, but the Twins still needed him as starting depth last year. Now, Varland is firmly in the bullpen, where his stuff has historically played up.

Varland also had a strong spring, making 10 scoreless appearances.

“He’s got the stuff and the mentality to pitch, really, anywhere we need him,” Baldelli said. “I could see him do some different things, pitching in different situations.”

Jorge Alcala was among the Twins’ top relievers for part of last season before falling apart in the second half, and Justin Topa spent almost all of last season injured but was an important part of the Mariners’ bullpen a year earlier. Randy Dobnak is expected to be added to the 40-man roster to serve a long relief role to begin the year.

That collection of talent has them feeling good about what they have.

“We have a good, deep group,” Baldelli said. “I think we have a group that’s got good stuff, can fill roles and do different things. You can almost go one-by-one and talk about all of them, but I really like the way, as a whole, they’ve been throwing the baseball.”

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