Tyler Clippard News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/tyler-clippard/ Minnesota sports, but different Tue, 04 Aug 2020 12:16:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=32,height=32,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-cropped-MSF-favicon-1.jpg Tyler Clippard News - MinnesotaSportsFan https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/tag/tyler-clippard/ 32 32 WTF Has Wes Johnson Done to the Minnesota Twins Bullpen? https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/wtf-has-wes-johnson-done-to-the-minnesota-twins-bullpen/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/wtf-has-wes-johnson-done-to-the-minnesota-twins-bullpen/#respond Tue, 04 Aug 2020 12:16:23 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=28144

The Minnesota Twins have started the shortened MLB season 8-2. While the offense has started slowly, the pitching staff has absolutely dominated under the watchful eye of pitching coach Wes Johnson. The starting rotation is still working on stretching out, which means the bullpen has been shouldering a larger load. No problem.

One of the biggest keys to creating this absolute monster bullpen has been pitching coach Wes Johnson. Johnson has taken this unit and transformed it from a liability a few years ago to a total lockdown unit in 2020. So what sort of changes has Johnson implemented and what is leading to so much success from? Let’s find out.

THE JOHNSON FACTOR

Johnson had his work cut out for him when he was named pitching coach in 2018. The Twins went 78-84 that season, and had a team ERA of 4.50. Johnson was able to trim that to 4.18 in his first season as pitching coach. So far this year? The Twins boast a 2.70 ERA as a staff (through Monday night’s game), which is 4th best in all of Major League Baseball.

Johnson came to the Twins with a goal of trying to embrace analytics. Wes has long been revered for his ability to help pitchers add to their velocity. On top of that, Johnson has the Twins pitchers focusing on their secondary stuff, and throwing fewer fastballs.

Is this type of success sustainable? The answer is a resounding yes. But how are the top Twins bullpen arms so dominant? The answer is in a variety of ways.

TYLER CLIPPARD

Clippard, who the Twins signed in the offseason, has brought experience and versatility to the Twins bullpen. He has experience as an opener, and a closer, and has thrown almost every inning in between. At 35, he may not possess what he once did in terms of stuff, but Clippard has excelled so far this year with his offspeed stuff. He seemingly generates weak popups with every out he records.

TYLER DUFFEY

Wes Johnson has turned Tyler Duffey into one of the most dominant relievers in baseball in just over 2 years. As a converted starter, Duffey came to the bullpen with a full arsenal of pitches. After removing a few from his repertoire, Duffey has relied on his fastball and lethal slider. He has become adept at missing bats, I mean good luck trying to hit that slider.

TREVOR MAY

Trevor is another converted starter, but just seems much better suited for a late inning role. May has benefited from an uptick in velocity since joining the bullpen, and has the bulldog mentality required to handle high stress innings. May has dominated hitters with his explosive fastball and can lean on his offspeed pitches when necessary. But my favorite part about what he brings to this bullpen is the hunger to keep trying new things.

CODY STASHAK

Stashak is the youngest member of this core Twins bullpen group. But make no mistake, Stashak definitely deserves the innings he’s getting. After setting a Major League Record most strikeouts before his second career walk, Stashak is fearless. If you step into the box with Stashak on the mound, be ready. He is going to come right after you.

SERGIO ROMO

With so many options in the Twins bullpen that feature serious fastballs, it makes sense that there would be one or two options to slow things down. Romo has been around forever, and like Clippard, has a ton of valuable experience in many roles. An at-bat against Romo is going to feature nasty sliders and a frustrating lack of speed. Romo doesn’t need a blazing fastball to get you out. He can do that with movement and location.

TAYLOR ROGERS

All of these bullpen arms give way to the guy who finishes off most Twins wins. Rodgers has become one of the best closers in baseball. His explosive fastball is accented perfectly by his devastating slider. As previous Twins closers like to make the ninth inning eventful, Rogers usually wastes no time shutting the door. He has no fear and is the perfect leader for this group.

All of this has led to the best and deepest bullpen in Major League Baseball. Some of the adjustments made by this group have been mechanical, but others have been mentality changes. And all of them have turned this group into an absolute monster. We owe all of the success to Wes Johnson. Now hopefully Wes can fix the starting rotation.

Seth Toupal | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/wtf-has-wes-johnson-done-to-the-minnesota-twins-bullpen/feed/ 0 Tue, 04 Aug 2020 07:16:27 +0000 Minnesota Twins Twins Beat Indians at Their Own Game…Again to Take Series https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/twins-beat-indians-at-their-own-game-again-to-take-series/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/twins-beat-indians-at-their-own-game-again-to-take-series/#respond Sun, 02 Aug 2020 21:09:38 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=28122

Bombas. Bullpen. Win. Repeat. The Minnesota Twins finished their series against the Cleveland Indians in similar fashion to how the first three games played out. Thanks to a Mitch Garver homerun and more brilliance from Tyler Clippard and the bullpen, the Twins sent Cleveland home with a 3-1 loss. The Twins improved to 7-2 on the season. Cleveland fell to 5-5, and dropped to 2.5 games behind the Twins in the AL Central.

MORE QUICK SCORING

The Twins wasted no time getting runs on the board. Max Kepler doubled to lead off the game, and scored on a Jorge Polanco single in the bottom of the first. Mitch Garver extended the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning with his first Bomba of the year.

After Kepler doubled again in the bottom of the third, Nelson Cruz drove him in with an RBI single to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. That was all the scoring the Twins would need.

CLIPPARD IN CONTROL

Tyler Clippard opened for the Twins, something he did three times last year for the Indians. Clippard threw the first two innings and did not allow a baserunner. After Clippard departed, Devin Smeltzer followed with a scoreless third inning, but did give up a run in the fourth. The inning could have been bigger for Cleveland if not for an absolute missle launched by Eddie Rosario to second base to nab Francisco Lindor trying to stretch out an RBI single.

After an absolutely bizarre delay in the fifth inning, Matt Wisler finished the fifth and cruised through the sixth. The Twins then went to the usual suspects to finish off the game. Tyler Duffey handled the seventh with ease. Trevor May clamped down the eighth, and Sergio Romo slammed the door to pick up the save in the ninth to pick up the save.

BAILEY TO IL: POPPEN RECALLED

The Twins placed Homer Bailey on the 10 day IL shortly before first pitch with right biceps tendinitis and recalled Sean Poppen. Bailey won his first start with the Twins, and was initially supposed to start today.

ODORIZZI TO FACE HITTERS MONDAY

Jake Odorizzi continues to make progress toward rejoining the rotation after a back injury delayed his debut. Odorizzi made it through a bullpen session Thursday, and will face live hitters tomorrow according to Betsy Helfand.

PIRATES COMING TO TOWN

The Twins welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Target Field tomorrow for the start of a home and home series. The first two games of the four game series will be played at Target Field. Veteran Derek Holland (0-0, 3.18 ERA) will pitch for Pittsburgh. As of now the Twins have not named a starter for tomorrow’s game, suggesting it may be another bullpen day.

Also, for the record, the Twins need to wear the baby blue uniforms EVERY SINGLE GAME.

Seth Toupal | Minnesota Sports Fan

]]> https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/twins-beat-indians-at-their-own-game-again-to-take-series/feed/ 0 Sun, 02 Aug 2020 16:09:45 +0000 Minnesota Twins Tyler Clippard to Serve as “Opener” Sunday for Twins https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/tyler-clippard-to-serve-as-opener-sunday-as-twins-protect-rotation/ https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minnesota-twins/tyler-clippard-to-serve-as-opener-sunday-as-twins-protect-rotation/#respond Sun, 02 Aug 2020 03:21:19 +0000 https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/?p=28104

The Minnesota Twins shuffled their rotation after defeating the Cleveland Indians 3-0 on Saturday night. They announced that RP Tyler Clippard will serve as an opener for the series finale on Sunday.

This is a method that was first used by the Tampa Rays during the 2018 season. Twins RP Sergio Romo was the first player to serve as an opener for the Rays that year. We could see him as the second pitcher used. Clippard will pitch 1 or 2 innings and then the rest of the bullpen will take over.

The originally scheduled starter Homer Bailey will be pushed back until Monday. The Twins then start a 4 game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

One reason for this could to be give Twins SP Jake Odorizzi an extra day to get ready, as he is recovering from soreness in his upper back. Odorizzi is scheduled to have a bullpen session on Monday as he looks to return to the rotation in the near future.

Usually I would be nervous for a game in which we use the opener method, but the way that this bullpen is pitching I have no worries at all.

Cameron Thompson | Minnesota Sports Fan

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