The Minnesota Twins have received solid contributions from their bullpen this season. The Jhoan Durán–Griffin Jax tandem is among the league’s best when it comes to having a strong back end. Other players like Brock Stewart, Caleb Thielbar and José De León showed promise when they were healthy. Even fan-favorite Emilio Pagán has quietly pitched himself back into medium leverage opportunities. But as the season continues to unfold and the August 1st trade deadline approaches, it’s clear that the club will need to add an arm or two if they hope to remain contenders and make a push toward October.
While their availability at the trade deadline is in question, there are a few old friends who Minnesota could look at to bolster its relief corps. One is almost surely going to be dealt in the next few weeks, but the other two are questionable to be moved due to their current team’s place in the standings. Nevertheless, these three former Twins would look great coming out of the Twins’ bullpen in August, September, and hopefully October.
Michael Fulmer
The Twins traded for Fulmer at last year’s deadline, and he performed admirably enough that he seemed like a solid bet to return to the club in 2023. Instead, he signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, who now find themselves with a 45-50 record and fading fast in the NL Central.
Fulmer carried a 3.70 ERA through 24 innings pitched in Minnesota last year. That’s about what anyone should’ve expected from the 30-year-old, and it’s a performance that the Twins would like to have back for the rest of this year. While Fulmer’s overall numbers on the year are rather pedestrian on paper, it includes a brutal first seven weeks of the season.
He currently sports a 4.46 ERA, which doesn’t sound like much of an improvement to the current group of Twins relievers. However, since May 28th, the righty has a sterling 1.25 ERA with a strong 26.3% strikeout rate and an 86% strand rate across 22 innings pitched.
That type of performance would slide right alongside Pagán in the medium-leverage, set-up opportunities. Since he’s a free agent at year’s end again, he shouldn’t cost too much for an acquiring team.
Michael Tonkin
When he was with the Twins from 2013 to 2017, Tonkin showed inconsistent flashes of being a solid reliever. Ultimately, a growing home run problem became too much to ignore, and the club released him before the 2018 season. Tonkin didn’t make a single appearance at the game’s highest level from that point until April 2nd of this year. However, he’s planted himself in the Atlanta Braves bullpen ever since.
Now at the tender age of 33, Tonkin is having a career renaissance for baseball’s best team. He has a 3.14 ERA in 49 innings pitched, due in large part to his career-best walk rate (1.8 BB/9) and a very strong chase rate (80th percentile). While his fastball has naturally lost a few ticks since we last saw him in 2017, his slider still gets plenty of swings-and-misses (32.8 Whiff%).
Tonkin has been a major contributor to a Braves team that looks like the team to beat in the National League, so it’s going to be very hard to pry him away via trade. But if the Twins can find a way to land the tall righty, he would be a major boost for the rest of this season. Not to mention, he’s under team control for three more seasons.
Taylor Rogers
Like the Braves, the San Francisco Giants are currently in contention for a postseason appearance, holding the second wild-card spot in the National League. That means a trade of their third-best reliever is rather unlikely, but it’s fun to picture Rogers back in a Twins uniform. Not to mention, he’s having a strong season after a turbulent 2022.
Rogers currently has a 3.03 ERA as a set-up reliever alongside his brother, Tyler, out of the Giants bullpen. His strikeout numbers remain elite (11.6 K/9, 91st percentile) despite a high walk rate (4.4 BB/9), and he’s throwing his high-spin sweeper more than ever. He’s getting tons of weak contact, which has limited opponents to an impressive .164 batting average against him. His 80% strand rate is the best he’s had since 2019, and he’s displayed some of his finest work in the game’s biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, Rogers has struck out a whopping 39.5% of opponents, and he’s only allowed a .059 batting average against in those situations.
That is some high-octane stuff from a former All-Star, and it would be a welcome addition to the back end of Minnesota’s bullpen. Better yet, it would give the team another bona fide lefty that they desperately need given Thielbar’s lengthy absence. He’s still under contract for two more years after this season, with roughly $22 million left on the contract. That mucks up a potential trade with the Twins considerably, but it’s fun to imagine nonetheless.
