The Minnesota Twins have carved out a strange little place in American League history, and it came with Tuesday night’s win.
Jeff Hoffman’s save was the 15th by a different Twins pitcher this season, according to Aaron Gleeman, which gives Minnesota the most pitchers with a save in AL history. No other Twins team had ever had more than nine pitchers notch a save in a season, and the MLB record still belongs to the 2025 Diamondbacks, who used 17.
With a few games still left on the schedule, the Twins can still match that all-time mark. Even if they don’t get there, the number itself tells the story of how unsettled the bullpen has been.
Minnesota spent the trade deadline weighing whether to buy or sell, then chose to push in and shore up its pitching staff. But the offense’s issues - along with the decline of Ryan Jeffers and the loss of Byron Buxton - proved too much to overcome.
Still, the bullpen has been the one group that kept things moving. It’s just done it in the most unusual way possible: by spreading saves across a huge cast of arms rather than settling on one late-inning answer.
Yoendrys Gomez has handled the most saves for the Twins, even though he didn’t arrive until the deadline either. Tampa Bay sent him over after a rough year that included a 6.23 ERA, and the Rays had no issue moving on.
Since joining Minnesota, though, Gomez has been a different pitcher. In the last 6+ weeks, he has 21 saves in 23 opportunities, a 3.83 ERA, and seven holds, after recording one save with Tampa Bay.
That leaves the Twins in a place that’s hard to explain any other way: they’ve stayed in the playoff chase for this long without a true closer. The bullpen has been a revolving door all season.
Hoffman could still end up back in the closer’s role, even though Louis Varland had that job with the Toronto Blue Jays before. Hoffman’s stuff is nasty, and that may be the cleanest path Minnesota has if it wants to finally lock down the ninth inning.
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Twins Could Turn To A Former First-Round Pick Few Saw Coming
The Twins may be looking in an unexpected place for bullpen help, and it comes with a familiar name. Keoni Cavaco, their 2019 first-round draft pick, has moved from being a position player to pitching after spending two seasons in independent baseball, and the organization is now considering him as a possible relief option.
General manager Jeremy Zoll has already confirmed the clubs interest, while manager Derek Shelton has said he wants to feature as many former first-round picks as possible on the field. If Cavaco gets the call, his path would be one of the more unusual ones in recent Twins memory, taking him from High-A to independent ball and now to the edge of a major-league bullpen opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Former Twins Arm Is Putting The Jeff Hoffman Trade Back In Focus
The Jeff Hoffman deal has already had one of those little side stories that can make a trade look a lot bigger in hindsight. John Klein, the right-hander the Twins sent to Toronto in the Aug. 3 swap, had just made his major league debut in Minnesota this season before becoming part of the package that brought Hoffman to the bullpen picture.
Kleins next step came quickly, with the Blue Jays recently calling him up for a doubleheader against the Orioles, a reminder that his path is still moving even as his minor league performance has been uneven. Toronto has him ranked as its No. 29 overall prospect, so his progress will keep drawing attention in a trade that Minnesota will be measured against for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Walker Jenkins Is Making The Twins Look Right For Calling Him Up
Walker Jenkins arrived in the majors with the kind of uneven first impression that can come with a late-season call-up, but the Twins have spent the past week seeing more and more of why they brought him up. After opening his MLB career with a low batting average, the young outfielder has started to settle in, going 11-for-25 with three home runs over his last six games and giving Minnesota a much clearer look at the kind of bat he can bring.
Even with the Twins out of playoff contention, Jenkins stretch at the plate has made the promotion look worthwhile in the larger sense. He still has rookie eligibility left for 2027, and his path to this point has already included multiple injuries, which makes every productive game feel a little more meaningful for a team trying to gauge what comes next. What Minnesota is watching now is whether this late-season burst is the start of a longer run toward becoming a regular outfield option. [Read more 🡒]