The Twins have spent much of the season trying to keep their bullpen from turning every late inning into a nerve test. The group has been far steadier since the trade deadline, when the club added Tommy Nance, A.J.
Minter and Jeff Hoffman, and Derek Shelton suddenly had more dependable choices to lean on. But this weekend was a blunt reminder that the relief corps still has some cracks.
That’s part of why Garrett Acton deserves a fresh look.
Acton, a right-hander acquired from the Marlins on April 2, already showed this year that he can get major league hitters out. His big-league sample was short, but it was effective: 6 2/3 innings, two earned runs allowed, four hits, three walks and nine strikeouts. Then a strain in his throwing shoulder sent him to the injured list in late April and shut down what had been a strong start.
He ended up missing about two and a half months. After a rehab assignment that ran through most of July, he was reinstated, and with September approaching, the timing is hard to ignore.
What makes Acton interesting is not complicated. His fastball sits around 94 MPH, which is not overpowering by itself, but it gets a ton of run up in the zone and has shown it can miss bats.
His slider gives hitters a very different look, coming in about 8 MPH slower than the four-seamer. During that brief major-league stretch, the pitch drew whiffs on 41% of swings against it.
With just those two offerings, Acton managed to get results, and his 2.59 expected ERA suggests the performance had some real substance behind it.
Nobody is suggesting Acton should jump to the front of the line in the late innings. Minter, Hoffman and Nance should all be ahead of him in the bullpen hierarchy, and there’s no need to force him into a role he hasn’t earned. But he can still help.
At minimum, he looks like the kind of arm who can cover a couple of innings, keep a game from slipping away and give Shelton another bridge option when the Twins are chasing a lead or trying to hang around. If the fastball and slider are still playing the way they were in April, there may be more there than simple depth.
That matters because September 1 brings roster expansion, with active rosters going from 26 players to 28. The Twins will have room to add another pitcher, and with a playoff spot still in play, there’s a clear case for using that opening on someone who has already shown he can retire big-league hitters.
At this point, the Twins need every usable arm they can find. Acton does not have to be a headline reliever to matter.
If he can handle middle innings, get a few outs and steady things until the more established options take over, that would be valuable enough. And if the stuff that worked earlier this season is still there, the Twins might have something better than a depth piece.
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