Ranking the Twins top 10 seasons ever by a lefty RP: Eddie, Big Sweat and more

May 06, 2024

We’ve got some time on our hands, so please join me for a position-by-position look at the best seasons by individual players in Twins history. Note that each season will be evaluated independently and players are eligible only at their primary position that season. Next up? Left-handed relief pitchers.

Relievers are more complicated to evaluate than starters, because ERA often paints an incomplete/misleading picture. Most innings thrown by starters are theirs alone, but relievers constantly enter games with runners on base and exit leaving behind runners. If a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and lets in all three runs, it has no impact on their ERA but it wrecks the previous guy’s.

Inherited runners are vital to any evaluation of relievers, as is the type of spot they’re working. Entering a tie game with the bases loaded in the ninth inning is a whole lot different than coming into a blowout with the bases empty in the sixth inning, which is why context-based stats like Win Probability Added and Leverage Index can be more illuminating than raw ERA for relievers.

As for the Twins’ history with left-handed relievers … it’s a good one. Lefties account for four of the Twins’ top eight leaders in career reliever WPA and five of the nine pitchers with at least one 30-save season in a Twins uniform. Lefty relievers don’t dominate team history like lefty starters do, but this list features many of the best relievers, and best reliever seasons, the Twins have ever had.

1. Ron Perranoski — 1969

2.11 ERA, 176 ERA+, 119 2/3 IP

Perranoski didn’t miss many bats, but his sinker inhaled 119 2/3 innings. He was death on lefties, who hit .159 with zero homers, and righties slugged just .291 even though he was often asked to pitch around them. Perranoski led the AL with 31 saves, but his usage barely resembled that of a modern closer. Of his 75 appearances, 39 were multiple innings and he inherited runners in 49.

Perranoski worked three-plus innings nine times and inherited more runners (88) than Joe Nathan did in his entire Twins career (63). Nearly every pitch he threw was pressurized. Perranoski led MLB relievers with 301 batters faced in high-leverage situations, most in Twins history. That included a 0.93 ERA in an MLB-high 29 innings of extra innings, also most in Twins history.

2. Tom Hall — 1970

2.55 ERA, 149 ERA+, 155 1/3 IP

“The Blade” was listed at 150 pounds and looked even skinnier, but Hall was one of the most dominant, hardest-throwing pitchers in an era largely defined by pitching to contact. He racked up 184 strikeouts in 155 1/3 innings in 1970, whiffing 10.7 per nine innings compared to the league rate of 5.7. Hall beat the AL mark by 88 percent, equivalent to 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 2019.

Hall spent the first five months in the bullpen alongside Perranoski, averaging two innings per appearance, with a few spot starts mixed in. He threw 101 2/3 innings with a 2.92 ERA and .180 batting average against. Then on Sept. 1, with the Twins clinging to a narrow division lead, manager Bill Rigney moved Hall into the rotation, where he went 5-0 with a 1.84 ERA in seven starts down the stretch.

3. Taylor Rogers — 2019

2.61 ERA, 176 ERA+, 69 IP

After three seasons as an elite setup man, Rogers stepped into the closer role, with a twist: Rocco Baldelli used him more like an old-school fireman than a modern one-inning closer. Rogers converted 30 saves and a league-high 12 of them required more than three outs — the most by a Twins reliever since Rick Aguilera had 13 in 1990, the same year Rogers was born.

Rogers faced more batters in high-leverage spots (162) than any Twins closer since Aguilera. His average leverage index led the AL and is second in Twins history. Rogers, who just four years earlier was a marginal starter prospect at Triple-A due to modest stuff and struggles vs. right-handed hitters, struck out 11.7 per nine innings and was better vs. righties (.611 OPS) than lefties (.667).

4. J.C. Romero — 2002

1.89 ERA, 237 ERA+, 81 IP

After beginning his career by going 3-11 with a 6.72 ERA in the rotation, the Twins moved Romero to the bullpen in 2002 and it clicked. Forming an elite late-inning trio with Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins, the muscled-up sinker artist went 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 innings. Jim Thome’s double on Sept. 12 was the only extra-base hit Romero allowed to a lefty all season.

Romero’s control was spotty at best, but when he got his power sinker near the strike zone, lefties and righties pounded it into the turf. Opponents hit just .199 with one homer off Romero with runners on base, including .170 with runners in scoring position, and he stranded 44 of 54 inherited runners on the way to the highest Win Probability Added (4.4) by a lefty reliever in Twins history.

5. Glen Perkins — 2013

2.30 ERA, 178 ERA+, 62 2/3 IP

This was the first of Perkins’ three straight All-Star seasons, as the former top starter prospect had discovered how he could dominate in relief by eschewing some of the coaching he’d received. Perkins got into analytics and put what he learned into practice, swapping two-seam fastballs down in the zone for four-seamers up, ditching his changeup, and going all-in on his slider as a weapon.

No longer searching for contact and ground balls, Perkins attacked hitters with increased velocity and hunted for missed bats. He notched 36 saves with a 2.30 ERA, averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings compared to 4.3/9 as a starter. He struck out 33 percent of the right-handed hitters he faced, holding them to a .183 batting average. And he allowed a .186 average in high-leverage spots.

As with many on this list, Taylor Rogers was a struggling starter prospect before heading into the bullpen and becoming one of the Twins’ best-ever relievers. (David Berding / USA Today)

6. Taylor Rogers — 2018

2.63 ERA, 163 ERA+, 68 1/3 IP

Rogers was similarly great two years ago, but his role was much different under Paul Molitor. Baldelli maximized Rogers’ impact by deploying him in key late-inning spots, even if they weren’t traditional modern “save” situations. Molitor had even more flexibility to utilize Rogers as a setup man, yet used him for as many low-leverage batters (129) as medium and high leverage combined (131).

Rogers allowed three runs on April 22 and three more on April 29, both while working middle relief. From that point forward, he threw 57 2/3 innings with a 1.56 ERA and .169 batting average against … and had just the seventh-highest leverage index among Twins relievers. Rogers’ career-changing transformation from Triple-A starter to shutdown reliever caught even Molitor by surprise.

7. Eddie Guardado — 2002

2.93 ERA, 153 ERA+, 67 2/3 IP

Guardado began his Twins career getting knocked around as a starter. Moved to the bullpen, he spent several years as a lefty specialist and eventually rose to setup man. Finally in 2002, at 31, he took over as the closer, leading the league with 45 saves, making his first All-Star team, and finishing 15th for MVP as the Twins reached the playoffs for the first time since 1991.

Despite a fastball that averaged just 88 mph, he struck out 70 in 67 2/3 innings and opponents hit .215. “Everyday Eddie” got a reputation for eventful ninth innings and wriggling out of self-created jams, but in two seasons as the Twins’ full-time closer he converted 89.6 percent of his save chances, fifth-highest in baseball sandwiched between Billy Wagner (89.8) and Mariano Rivera (87.2).

8. Eddie Guardado — 2003

2.89 ERA, 157 ERA+, 65 1/3 IP

For an encore, Guardado saved 41 games with a 2.89 ERA in 65 1/3 innings, striking out 60 vs. 14 walks. Lefties hit just .177 with zero homers off him, and even righties managed only a .218 batting average. He made his second straight All-Star Game and then had an even better second half, converting 21 of 23 save chances with a 1.80 ERA as the Twins won another AL Central title.

Guardado became a free agent after a dozen seasons in Minnesota and signed a three-year, $13 million deal with the Mariners. Nathan replaced him as closer and the Twins used the compensatory pick they received for losing Guardado to draft Perkins. He’s the Twins’ all-time leader with 648 games pitched, 158 more than second-place Aguilera, and his 116 saves are fourth in team history.

9. Glen Perkins — 2011

2.48 ERA, 164 ERA+, 61 2/3 IP

This was Perkins’ first full year in the bullpen, as a setup man. He spent much of the previous season at Triple-A, struggling to bounce back from injuries and a public clash with Twins management. Becoming a reliever saved his career, as Perkins’ fastball velocity shot up from 91 to 96 mph and he let his slider loose. He threw 61 2/3 innings with a 2.48 ERA, allowing just two homers.

Perkins has talked about having to re-learn how to pitch in order to best use his suddenly electric raw stuff after starting all his life, like a new superhero trying out their powers. He was a quick study and a better plan of attack enabled him to be one of the game’s best closers despite arm problems gradually diminishing his velocity. But in 2011, he was just slinging cheese and blowing hitters away.

10. Dennys Reyes — 2006

0.89 ERA, 507 ERA+, 50 2/3 IP

Reyes was a 29-year-old journeyman with a 4.80 ERA for eight teams when he signed a minor-league contract with the Twins for 2006. He failed to make the Opening Day roster and wasn’t even called up from Triple-A until April 30, at which point Reyes became the only pitcher in Twins history to throw 50-plus innings with a sub-1.00 ERA. He allowed five earned runs in 50 2/3 frames.

“Big Sweat” threw just 11 pitches per outing as a southpaw specialist, holding lefties to a .148 average while going 5-0 with a 0.89 ERA. He surrendered one earned run in his final 43 appearances. Not shown by Reyes’ shiny ERA is that he was also often asked to clean up messes for other relievers and came through like Winston Wolf, stranding 39 of a team-high 45 inherited runners.

(Top photo of Eddie Guardado: Donald Miralle / Getty Images)

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