Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins bullpen has had plenty of turnover the last month, but Kody Funderburk has adjusted well into a full-time role following the blowup of the pen.
Before the trade deadline, the Twins shuffled Funderburk between Minneapolis and St. Paul, using him primarily as a bulk innings eater whenever they needed coverage. He made 12 relief appearances between April and July, allowing 14 runs on 25 hits and eight walks through 17 innings of work.
Funderburk hadn’t stayed on the active roster for more than 23 days this season, and constantly moving between Minneapolis and St. Paul impacted his production at both levels.
“I just think that the up and down role is a lot harder than I initially realized, and that a lot of fans and baseball watchers realize,” Funderburk said. “It’s really hard not knowing where you’re going to be and knowing you’re kind of here for a few weeks and kind of eating the innings nobody wants.”
Now that Funderburk is no longer the go-to bulk innings eater in the Twins bullpen, his results out of the bullpen have changed drastically. Over 14 appearances since August 1, Funderburk has allowed only one unearned run in 11 ⅔ innings, allowing 12 hits, seven walks, and 11 strikeouts. It’s an encouraging sign for the 28-year-old lefty, stepping up in a role in the Twins bullpen, which needs dominant high-leverage relievers.
“He’s pitched more consistently, more competitively when pitching in bigger spots,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “That’s actually a good sign, I think. He’s gotten ahead of hitters a little better. He’s put away hitters, I think, a little bit better. Overall, he’s just been a better pitcher.”
Friday night was another opportunity for Funderburk to showcase how he’s improved in high-leverage situations. Baldelli called him in for the save opportunity when the Twins led the San Diego Padres 7-4 in the ninth. Funderburk walked two of the first three batters to start the inning. Ryan Jeffers and Pete Maki met him on the mound to reconfigure their plan of attack against the pinch hitter, former all-star Elías Díaz.
Funderburk battled Díaz over five pitches and struck him out swinging. With two down and two on, he faced Fernando Tatis Jr., who was 2-for-4 with two RBI on the night. Funderburk threw the first two pitches of the at-bat outside the strike zone, but he squeezed a pitch inside the lower half of the strike zone and got Tatis to fly out to James Outman in right field to end the game.
“I think it’s really props to Jeffers coming out, Maki, too,” said Funderburk. “Just give me a second to reset. Jeffers is my biggest fan out there and talking me up, telling me we’re okay, and we’re going to get through it. So, him coming out and giving me a breather, talking me through it, hyped me up, one pitch away, we get the punch out.”
“Fundy has stuff that can get off the barrel of almost any hitter,” said Baldelli. “If he makes good pitches and he’s in the zone enough, he can get in on some guys. And the fact that we did leave him out there, I did want to see him pitch, I did want to see him finish it off.
“He totally got off the barrel on a 2-0 pitch to one of the best right-handed hitters in the game. Probably tells you a little something about the action on Fundy’s pitches.”
After escaping the jam to earn his second career save, Funderburk’s numbers in high-leverage situations are now his best in any game situation on the season. In ten high-leverage situations, Funderburk holds opposing hitters to a .217/.280/.304 slash line in 8 ⅓ innings, allowing just the two walks from Friday night’s 7-4 win over the Padres and striking out seven.
“There’s some pressure on them when you get into close ball games,” said Funderburk. “You have to execute, and I think that helps as well, but I think just being in those leverage roles just helps me lock in, and I can focus in and execute.”
The Twins still need a go-to lefty reliever in the bullpen since trading Danny Coulombe to the Texas Rangers. It’s highly unlikely Funderburk will be locked into that role full-time before the 2025 season is over. Still, if he can continue to hold opponents scoreless down the stretch, he may set himself up as their go-to guy in the bullpen for lefty on lefty matchups in 2026.
“I’m really appreciative of Rocco kind of letting me work through some stuff there in the 9th inning and figure it out on my own to get out of it,” said Funderburk. “Any chance you get a save to help the team win is huge, and you just take, move on to tomorrow, and look forward to the next one to help the team win.”
