In April, a team that entered the season with myriad question marks in the bullpen sent four different relievers — Cody Laweryson, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk and Eric Orze — to the mound on consecutive days to close out games against the Detroit Tigers.
Each collected a save as the Twins swept four from the defending American League Central champs.
By late May, 11 different relievers had recorded a save as the Twins searched for late-inning options in a bullpen the team had been trying to reshape since a massive 2025 trade deadline selloff that included their five of their top relievers.
Minnesota reliever Tommy Nance delivers in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 4-1 victory over the Braves at Target Field. (Abbie Parr / Associated Press)
A major weakness early this season, the bullpen has shifted considerably for the better since the early days of the season, in part because acquisitions made before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Manager Derek Shelton now has more options to handle high-leverage situations as the Twins fight for an AL playoff spot.
“It’s a little different conversation than it was in April and May,” Shelton said. “I think the ability to have options is something that we talked about at the (trade) deadline and we’re seeing that be able to come to fruition a bit.”
The group has been significantly reconstructed, with the Twins cycling through a number of different relievers in different roles to find fits. In the first half, the bullpen was among the worst in the majors. But the improvements — their relievers’ collective earned-run average was 6.94 for the month of June and dropped to 2.86 in July, for example — have come from all different directions, though primarily via trade.
“We have so many different weapons we can deploy,” deadline addition A.J. Minter said.
The Twins saw Yoendrys Gómez pitch in spring training and were impressed. After he was designated for assignment in May by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Twins acquired him for cash considerations. He has since settled in as their closer and is perfect 19 for 19 in save opportunities to go along with a 1.85 ERA across 44 games with the Twins.
Rookie Andrew Morris, who began the year in Triple-A as starting pitching depth, was used in longer stints before the Twins made him a one-inning reliever and a reliable late-inning option. At one point during the middle of the season, Morris went 16 outings without allowing a run.
That pair propped up the bullpen for much of the season, but trades in July for Minter, Tommy Nance and Jeff Hoffman, as well as others already in the bullpen turning in strong performances, has helped round out the group.
General manager Jeremy Zoll made those deals without trading a top prospect or major league player, and added starter Dean Kremer from Baltimore, as well. Hoffman, Kremer and Nance are under team control in 2027.
“We’ve been in a good flow, for sure,” Morris said of the bullpen. “Shelty said we added these guys not because we haven’t been doing well, but so we don’t have to ride you as hard.”
The group is nearly unrecognizable from the one the Twins started with. Cole Sands (elbow) and Anthony Banda (lat) have had season-ending surgery. Topa, Laweryson and Zak Kent were all designated for assignment, and Orze was optioned to Triple-A Saint Paul.
Only lefties Funderburk and Taylor Rogers started the season in the Twins’ bullpen, and only Rogers is the has remained on the active roster all season.
That group was pivotal in the Twins’ sweep of the Atlanta Braves this week.
Twins left-hander Kody Funderburk delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning during the home opener at Target Field on April 03, 2026. He’s one of the few Twins relievers who started the season with the Twins. (David Berding / Getty Images)
They covered 4⅔ scoreless innings on Monday, with Travis Adams throwing two of those innings. After Zebby Matthews threw 5⅔ innings on Tuesday, the ‘pen finished off the remainder of the game without allowing a run. On Wednesday, though Funderburk gave up a few runs, the Twins went ahead in the seventh and the bullpen protected that lead, too. Gómez picked up saves in all three games.
“Our bullpen has been unbelievable,” Matthews said. “You can feel really good about when your day’s done, you have to leave, they’re going to hold it. Can’t say enough good things about them.”
The improvements to that group are a big reason the Twins started Thursday’s off day a half game up in the race for the AL’s third and final wild card berth. Per FanGraphs, they now have a nearly 40 percent chance of making the playoffs.
The Twins (63-65) begin a three-game series Friday night in San Diego. The Padres (68-60) on Thursday were holding the third NL wild card spot, one game up on Arizona.
“One of the things we wanted to try to do is fortify our bullpen,” Shelton said. “Honestly, it’s a lot deeper. … I think as a bullpen as a whole, we feel a lot better about being able to use more people in different situations.”