Twins

Bullpen Buddy Hopes to be Brought Back

Statistics for relievers can be fickle, and in a lot of ways may not tell the story of just how someone pitched over the course of the season. Take Twins lefty Buddy Boshers, for instance. Boshers has an unsightly 4.59 ERA, but everything else on his stat line looks pretty dang good: 9.5 K/9, 1.23 WHIP, 2.93 FIP and solid 1.9 BB/9. As with most lefties he’s been more effective against same-sided hitters (.575 OPS against from LHH/.763 from RHH), but overall his numbers seem to dictate a longer look.

His ERA is blown up a bit from an ugly appearance against the Astros in the first part of a doubleheader at Target Field, where he allowed six earned runs in 1.1 innings to jump his ERA from 3.86 to 5.84. He was immediately placed on the disabled list after that game with left elbow inflammation, and upon returning has gotten back to doing what he did before. And while it can be fairly easy to cherry pick numbers to make a guy look good, he had a 3.86 ERA before that last appearance, and until his most recent outing had yet to allow an earned run since returning from the DL.

He’s thrown 8.2 innings in September, with a .449 OPS against and 11-3 K/BB ratio. He hopes that, with his earlier body of work, has given him enough equity in the eyes of the Twins to merit a look for next year. “I mean signing with the Twins was a big decision,” Boshers said. “There were opportunities that I thought I could get. I talked to my agent some, and finally we all decided to come here. They’ve given me an opportunity. I think I’ve pitched well enough to open some eyes for next year.”   

Boshers said the initial elbow issue wasn’t something that happened in a moment, but rather over a period of time. That lines up with his ugly August, where over a span of 11 days he allowed 10 earned runs in 6.2 innings (13.50 ERA) with opposing batters hitting .367/.382/.633 against him. After the Houston outing, he said, enough was enough.  

“I knew it was time to say something,” Boshers said. “It wasn’t one pitch that did it. It was over the course of a few weeks it started tightening up noticeably more and more. After that outing against Houston, I knew it was time to say something. Not for the fact that I gave up six runs or whatever, but it was definitely affecting the way I was throwing the ball.”

“The past is the past,” he said. “You can’t change it. All you can do is try to pitch your best, and everything hopefully evens out.”

Even with the shaky ERA, Boshers knows a reliever just has to flush the outing and move forward. “The past is the past,” he said. “You can’t change it. All you can do is try to pitch your best, and everything hopefully evens out.”

Boshers may face an uphill battle to be on the 2017 roster, especially with a new regime coming in, but it’s still worth noting how incredible his ascent has been. Boshers had a cup of coffee with the Angels back in 2013 — 15.1 innings with a 4.70 ERA — including one appearance against the Twins that September, where he worked two-thirds of an inning at Target Field. Boshers struck out Darin Mastroianni swinging, walked Pedro Florimon to force in a run and then got Alex Presley to fly out to center. He’d make nine more appearances that season, and then wouldn’t see the big leagues again for nearly three years.

Boshers said he didn’t know too much about the Twins organization, since he didn’t play them much at all on the way up — only in the Midwest League, he figured. So while he couldn’t speak to the Twins’ recent history of giving minor league free agent relievers a chance to make the club, he was certainly thankful for it.

He’s come a long way, not only from pitching for the Angels three years ago, but also from in the Indy leagues and the Venezuelan Winter League last year as well. Boshers was excellent for the Somerset Patriots in the Atlantic League — 1.00 ERA (six ER in 54 innings), 11.8 K.9 in 52 appearances — and he kept the roll going down to Venezuela. Boshers pitched for Caracas for the second year in a row, and posted just a 1.79 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning down there, as well.

Only 10 pitchers had better ERA marks in the Venezuelan League last year, including former big leaguer Ronald Belisario (0.89). Also on that list — in fact, atop that list — was Twins prospect David Hurlbut, who carried a minuscule 0.43 ERA down there (one earned run in 21 innings).

And while the opposing skills of offensive players isn’t necessarily that high — it’s basically a Quad-A haven (Travyon Robinson, Alex Cabrera, Henry Urrutia, former Twin Alex Romero) as well as a landing spot for some young, top prospects (Orlando Arcia) — it did provide another good jump-off spot for Boshers as he put together a great start to the season at Triple-A Rochester (1.04 ERA in 26 innings, 10 K/9).

None of this guarantees any further opportunity with the Twins for Boshers, but if we’ve seen anything from the likes of Casey Fien and Jared Burton, the team is willing to give guys an opportunity to prove themselves, and keep them around if they prove to be up to the task. At this point, it seems like Boshers has done that.

Twins
Can Pablo Lopez Cement His Twins Legacy In 2024?
By CJ Baumgartner - Mar 27, 2024
Twins
Minnesota’s Biggest Concern Will Be Stress-Tested Immediately
By Tom Schreier - Mar 26, 2024
Twins

The Twins Have Gotten What They Paid For In the Starting Rotation

For better or worse, the Minnesota Twins are getting what they paid for in the starting rotation. Their minimal financial investment after shedding nearly $30 million from […]

Continue Reading