A Look Into the Twins' Bullpen Struggles in '08

Through the ups and downs of a 162 game season, the Minnesota Twins were supposed to have one constant, their bullpen. Anyone who has followed the Minnesota Twins lately has noticed the recent bullpen mishaps.  Minnesota's "biggest strength" has cracked under the pressure of injuries,switched roles, and is driving the team to ruin in a year that Minnesota needed them to step up.

Initially the bullpen stayed healthy, helping the Twins get through the first month of the season with an extremely inexperienced starting rotation, and the injury of Kevin Slowey. Then on May 8, one of the American League's top set up men, Pat Neshek was lost for the season with a torn ligament in his pitching arm.  Minnesota has been looking for someone to fill his role since then, and has been for the most part unsuccessful. Matt Guerrier was the logical choice to take over the role, after a fantastic 2007.  The numbers haven't been the same for Matt in 2008 though, compiling a 4.79 ERA which is high for a reliever, but to his credit has pitched over 70 innings. The Twins have had trouble trying to fill Nesheks shoes this year, which led to other changes.

When Boof Bonser was sent to the bullpen, and Pat Neshek went on the disabled list, the bullpen had to adjust. Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain struggled moving from their middle relief roles in trying to adjust to setup men, and it left a big void in the middle of the bullpen.  Dennys Reyes was overworked and couldn't get right handed batters out, and Bonser was demoted to mop up duty.  The trade for Craig Breslow helped take pressure off both situations, and he has done a better job with control than Reyes had, and has is significantly more successful against right handers. But one more move was to be made, when former Twin Eddie Guardado was acquired from Texas for Minnesota native minor leaguer Mike Hamburger. These changes haven't exactly led to a strong bullpen though.

In a pennant race, your bullpen needs to be able to pick up starters and keep the other team off the board for at least 3 innings. Minnesota's bullpen has done anything but that, and through the 9 losses in September, the bullpen has pitched 27 and 2/3 inning. That is about a normal workload for a bullpen, but they have given up a whopping 20 earned runs, which calculates to an ERA of 7.23.  In those 9 games, the bullpen is responsible for 5 of the losses. That is unacceptable for a group that had been dubbed one of the leagues best coming into the season.

During the Twins' fantastic 2000s run, manager Ron Gardenhire had always been able to rely upon his bullpen to get him out of jams and into the ninth inning with All-Star Joe Nathan. In 2008, however an array of injuries, switched roles, and poor performance down the stretch has limited the Twins' ability to compete for the American League Central crown. If things don't turn around quickly, Twins Territory's playoff hopes will all but fade.