Edward Thoma: Thoma column | Bullpen churn may pay off for Twins this month

Oct. 2—I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bullpens are always works in progress.

But the drastic makeover the Twins have done with their relief corps in the past month is unique.

I spent a lot of the summer fretting about the thinness of the leverage arms. One of the genuine reasons the Twins didn't reach 90 wins is that the bullpen simply wasn't deep enough to provide quality work the last three innings for four or five games in a row.

Jhoan Duran, absolutely. Griffin Jax, yep. Caleb Thielbar and Brock Stewart, good when not languishing on the injured list — but they spent a lot of time sidelined.

Which left Rocco Baldelli trying to finish too many close games with the likes of Emilo Pagán (whose good stats belie his tendency to turn arsonist at inopportune times), Jovani Moran and Jorge Lopez.

But as the Twins prepare for the playoffs, Baldelli has a plethora of power arms ready.

Duran, Jax, Thielbar and Stewart are all sound. Add to them a trio of nominal starters who are shifting to relief roles: Kenta Maeda, Chris Paddack and Louie Varland.

Maeda has worked out of the bullpen in postseason before with the Dodgers. His ERA in that role: 1.74. That will play.

He prefers starting, but he has to be behind Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober right now.

Paddack, who spent most of 2023 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, is clocking career-highs in velocity. He's signed through 2025 and figures to be in the rotation next season — but he knows he's not ready for that role now, and he has embraced the notion of working out of the 'pen this October.

Then there's Varland, whose velocity shot up when the Twins tested him in a bullpen role. He got 10 starts earlier this season with mediocre results. I suspect that a hot October in this relief role might change his future from back-of-the-rotation starter to late-inning bullpen weapon.

That's seven guys. Plus Pagán, who finished the regular season with an ERA under 3. And while 11 innings isn't much to base a conclusion on, Kody Funderburk's ERA entering the season finale was 0.87.

Many of the 12 teams in the playoff field have pitching staffs running on fumes. The Twins are an exception.

It's one reason, despite their lengthy postseason losing streak, for optimism this time around.

Babbling of Brooks

Brooks Robinson died last week, and I was startled by how much that news affected me.

I missed his peak. He won the MVP award in 1964 and finished third and second in the voting the next two years, but I was unaware of all that at the time.

But I vividly remember the 1970 World Series, when he worked defensive miracles in virtually every game — and hit over .400 to boot.

A lot of players have made me wish I could be a baseball player. Brooks Robinson that October made me want to be a third baseman.

Edward Thoma is at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com and @bboutsider.