Dean Kremer did not arrive in Minnesota with much of a spotlight attached. Among the four pitchers the Twins added at the 2026 trade deadline, he was probably the easiest one to miss on first glance, especially with a 6.50 ERA over 36 innings for the Baltimore Orioles. But the Twins clearly saw something they could work with, and through two starts, that bet is already looking a lot smarter.
In his first two outings with Minnesota, Kremer has given up just two runs in 12 innings. He has allowed four hits and three walks while striking out nine, and he’s coming off a seven-inning gem against his former club.
Two starts is a tiny sample, so nobody is rushing to crown him a new ace. Still, there are real changes behind the early results, and they help explain why the Twins may be getting a different pitcher than the Orioles did.
The biggest shift starts with what Kremer is throwing and how often he’s throwing it. With Baltimore, he leaned on his splitter about 30% of the time, making it the central piece of his mix.
That has changed in Minnesota. Through two starts, his four-seam fastball has jumped to roughly 37% usage, while the splitter has fallen to about 21%.
That might look like a modest tweak on paper, but it changes the whole shape of his arsenal. Kremer’s sinker usage has also taken a major dip.
He had been throwing it around 15% with the Orioles, but that number is down to 6% with the Twins. The four-seam has become the featured pitch, and that makes sense given how well it has played so far.
When it has the kind of life Kremer has shown in these two starts, it gives hitters a different look and sets up the rest of his pitches more effectively.
There’s also been a change in how the ball is coming out of his hand. In Monday night’s start, Kremer’s arm angle looked higher than usual, and that appears to have affected the movement on everything he throws.
Across his first two starts, his induced vertical break has been up by roughly an inch on average throughout his arsenal. In a game decided by tiny margins, that kind of bump can matter a lot.
The early contact numbers back that up. Opposing hitters have managed just a 34% hard-hit rate against him in a Twins uniform, which is exactly the kind of result a pitcher like Kremer needs.
He’s not built to bully hitters with raw power. His value comes from changing speeds, creating movement and making batters miss the barrel.
That has shown up in the swing decisions too. Kremer’s season chase rate sits around 31%, but it has climbed to roughly 36% over these two starts with Minnesota.
A lot of that has come against his splitter and cutter, and the revamped fastball usage seems to be a big part of it. When the four-seam is rising through the zone, hitters have to respect it.
Once that’s in their head, the splitter and cutter can work down and create the kind of vertical separation that leads to ugly swings.
That’s the formula Minnesota was after when it brought him in. The Twins were never expecting Kremer to turn into a frontline starter overnight. They were looking for a pitcher whose traits could be shaped into something more useful, and early on, that’s exactly what seems to be happening.
Of course, this isn’t a promise that he’ll keep throwing six innings of one-run ball every fifth day. Two starts can only tell you so much, and hitters will adjust.
Kremer will have nights when the fastball doesn’t carry the same way, and times when the splitter and cutter don’t generate the same chase. That’s part of the deal.
But the Twins didn’t make this move because they expected perfection. They made it because they believed there was more in there.
Right now, they’re getting evidence that they were right. With about a month and a half left in the regular season, Minnesota doesn’t need Kremer to be dominant.
It needs him to be useful. If these changes keep helping him provide quality innings and keep hitters uncomfortable, that could end up being a lot more valuable than it looked when the trade was made.
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