Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
This isn’t about Jonah Bride. Well, it’s sort of about Jonah Bride, but it’s more about the spot that Jonah Bride is in right now and how it’s being used. Jonah Bride is a casualty. He’s a coincidence. He’s really more Jonah Bridesmaid, most of the time, and that’s kind of the point here.
There are four bench spots in 99% of MLB games. Technically, there could be more—and once in a while there are—but MLB teams try their darnedest to maximize their bullpen. They’d carry more than the allotted 13 if baseball allowed them to. You know all that, though.
Traditionally, an MLB bench of four will surely have a backup catcher (unless the backup catcher plays somewhere else regularly, which isn’t common). Most of the time, there’s a fourth outfielder—who can ideally play center field—and a fifth infielder—who can ideally play shortstop. But then there’s the wildcard; the fourth guy.
That fourth guy (or, more accurately, the 13th man) is very context-dependent. Maybe it’s a Donovan Solano-type, primarily a pinch hitter. Maybe it’s a Terrance Gore, only used to pinch-run. Perhaps it’s reserved for a defensive replacement—especially common when the other bench infielder really shouldn’t play shortstop, for example. A platoon hitter, perhaps, even one who will never face a single same-sided thrower. Or maybe it’s a combination of all of them, like 2023 Willi Castro—someone who can technically play anywhere, run, and hit, depending on the in-game context.
The 13th man is dependent on the construction of the rest of the roster, but man, can he complement it well.
And then there’s the, let’s call it a Cobweb 13th Man. Jonah Bride falls into this spot. Bride started a getaway day game on Thursday, but that was his first start since May 27, 16 days ago. He’s played a full game once since May 24, 19 days ago. The team doesn’t have even a part-time role player in the last bench spot. That’s not a huge issue, though. The 13th man doesn’t need to start to be useful.
Except he’s not coming off the bench within games, either. He’s not an upgrade defensively, offensively, or on the basepaths over more than a couple of players in each category, and there are generally better options on the bench for any of those roles. Bride pinch ran for the slowest player on the team—Ty France—on June 1. He pinch-hit for Byron Buxton in June 3 and June 5 blowouts, to get Buxton off his feet. He then pitched the final two innings in the June 5 game, and reprised his role as a blowout pitcher on June 10.
Those are all four of his appearances in the 16 days between May 27 and Thursday afternoon, another blowout in which he was very present but profoundly unimportant.
Bride’s player type doesn’t fit the current roster. Castro is starting many days in left field, but if the team needs him on the dirt, Trevor Larnach can slide out of the DH spot or Harrison Bader can come off the bench to play left. The Twins don’t appear keen on inserting Bride as the DH in these instances, as he hasn’t started as the designated hitter once since being acquired in April.
Beyond Castro, Brooks Lee is also a near-everyday infielder, rotating between shortstop, second base, and third base. Bride’s primary position, third base, has Royce Lewis, Lee, and Castro stacked between him and regular playing time. Bride can also play a reliable first base, but France rarely misses a game, and the Twins have been more inclined to play Kody Clemens there. (Clemens has started three games there in a Twins uniform, compared to Bride’s one.) He can technically play second base, but the aforementioned names bury him, too, and he is little more than an emergency option there.
Maybe that’s truly what the Twins want: a somewhat competent player who can be used in emergencies (including as a pitcher, I guess). If Castro, Lee, and Bader are going to play a lot, that spot doesn’t have to be terribly prominent. Bride riding the pine even comes with the benefit that fans aren’t banging the table and screaming that he should get more playing time, unlike many of the other 13th-man options in the organization at Triple-A St. Paul.
But it’s hard not to look at the spot and wish there was something more the team could do with it. There have been instances since DaShawn Keirsey Jr.’s May 31 demotion when the Twins could have used a good pinch-runner. They could use another right-handed bat to platoon with Larnach, Wallner, or Clemens, like Carson McCusker (a man can dream, can’t he?). Heck, at a bare minimum, Mickey Gasper or Diego Cartaya can be a third catcher.Â
Oh, speaking of right-handed bats, Bride himself is a righty. He is a righty with reverse splits (he’s hit righties better than lefties in his career), but when has that ever stopped the Twins from giving a righty some platoon time?
Well, now is when, I guess.
Bride hasn’t been a consistent part of the platoon lineups. Some of this is practical. He’s a first and third baseman, and France and Lewis are righties. Any advantage he may have over switch-hitting Lee is outweighed by Lee’s superior ability at second base. That leaves designated hitter, but the Twins have stuck Ryan Jeffers there quite frequently, letting fellow righty and more respected defensive catcher Christian Vázquez handle the pitching staff that day.
Again, this isn’t about Bride personally. I’d love to see him get a little more time and provide a bit more utility. Let him start against lefties, give him some time at DH and slide Larnach to the outfield, or give France the day off at first base once in a while. That’s more of the typical use for a guy like Bride, and he’s had some big-league success, namely his 120 OPS+ in 2024. I’m sure he wishes he was playing more, too.
But over the last three weeks, his most prominent role has been blowout knuckleball hurler. And that’s no way to live a life in 2025.
Maybe it’s fine. Maybe there’s no clear upgrade. Maybe the alternate names would be better served playing every day at Triple-A. Maybe the Twins truly want a guy who they’re fine not playing with any regularity as that last man, collecting cobwebs. Keirsey, Gasper and (for the blink of an eye he spent on the roster) McCusker were mothballed much of the time, themselves. But it’s hard not to feel like the spot could be used more beneficially.