An in-depth look at the Twins' rotation
Matthew Leach
@matthewhleachThis story was excerpted from Matthew Leach¡¯s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
There are few things more comforting for a manager than knowing that just about every day, his starting pitcher is likely to keep his team in the game. If all goes according to plan for the Twins in 2025, manager Rocco Baldelli will have that luxury.
The Twins may not have an overpowering, Cy Young-contending ace type, but they have a top 3 in their rotation that would be the envy of most teams in baseball. They have a solid veteran No. 4 and multiple intriguing young options to fill the five spot.
If Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober stay healthy, it should be one of the better rotations in the American League. If they don¡¯t, however, that¡¯s where the questions come in.
On the 40-man roster: Travis Adams, Matt Canterino, David Festa, L¨®pez, Zebby Matthews, Ober, Chris Paddack, Marco Raya, Ryan, Louis Varland, Simeon Woods Richardson
New arrivals: None
Departures: None
The big question: How¡¯s the depth?
When the Twins reached the All-Star break last year, six starting pitchers had combined to start all but two of their games and they¡¯d only used seven starters total. Not coincidentally, the club was 54-42 and tracking for a postseason berth.
By the end of the season, 10 pitchers had gotten at least one start, and perhaps more telling, eight pitchers had started at least seven games. Not coincidentally, the club went 28-38 down the stretch.
The front of the Twins¡¯ rotation looks like one of the best in baseball, with L¨®pez, Ryan (assuming he¡¯s healthy) and Ober a formidable top three. But pitchers get hurt, and very few teams get through a year only using five or even six starters.
A year ago, Paddack and Ryan both suffered season-ending injuries. And although the players who were asked to fill in are all promising, it wasn¡¯t a fair ask to try to secure a postseason berth with three rookies in the rotation.
Now all of those rookies -- Woods Richardson, Matthews and Festa -- have a year of big league experience under their belts. And as of now, there¡¯s only one spot for the three of them, with Woods Richardson the favorite.
If there¡¯s a need for reinforcements, the hope is that the more seasoned versions of those pitchers will be equipped to keep the team in the hunt. They¡¯ll need to be, since there were no significant additions to the starting staff in the offseason.