The Twins are bringing back a familiar face in right-hander Matt Bowman, signing the veteran reliever to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp. It’s Bowman’s third stint with Minnesota, and while he’s bounced around the league over the past couple of seasons, there’s a real chance he could carve out a role in what’s shaping up to be one of the more unsettled bullpens in baseball.
Bowman’s journey with the Twins has been a bit of a revolving door. He first signed with the club ahead of the 2023 season, worked his way onto the roster by mid-April, and made five appearances before getting designated for assignment and shipped off to Arizona.
After a whirlwind 2024 that saw him land with multiple teams, he found his way back to Minnesota in July on another minor league deal. He opted out six weeks later and finished the year pitching for the Orioles and Astros.
Now 34, Bowman logged 20 big league outings with Baltimore last season, but the results weren’t pretty. He posted a 6.20 ERA over 24 2/3 innings, with a strikeout rate of just 15.8%.
That’s never been his calling card, though-Bowman has long relied on keeping the ball on the ground. But even that deserted him in 2024, as he posted a career-low 35% ground-ball rate.
For a pitcher who built his game on inducing weak contact, that’s a red flag.
Still, there were signs of life in Triple-A. Across 31 appearances split between affiliates, Bowman managed a 3.93 ERA and struck out 22.7% of the batters he faced-right around league average.
The grounders didn’t fully return, but he showed enough to keep himself in the conversation as a depth option. Over parts of seven seasons at the Triple-A level, he’s compiled a 4.14 ERA in nearly 400 innings, proving he can still be a serviceable arm when called upon.
And here’s the thing: the Twins’ bullpen isn’t exactly overflowing with proven options. After moving most of their high-leverage relievers at last year’s trade deadline, Minnesota has been piecing things together.
They brought back Taylor Rogers on a $2 million deal, but expecting him to reclaim a full-time closer role might be asking too much at this stage. Eric Orze came over in a minor trade with the Rays, and guys like Cole Sands, Justin Topa, and Kody Funderburk figure to see high-leverage work.
That leaves the door wide open for non-roster invitees like Bowman to make a case for a middle relief spot. He’ll be competing alongside other minor league signees such as Dan Altavilla and Grant Hartwig, all looking to take advantage of a bullpen that-on paper-ranks among the thinnest in the league.
For Bowman, it’s another shot to prove he can still contribute at the big-league level. For the Twins, it’s a low-risk move that could pay off if he can rediscover the ground-ball magic that once made him a dependable middle reliever.