{"id":530184,"date":"2026-01-21T02:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/530184\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T02:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:57:16","slug":"bleacher-report-suggests-two-relievers-to-fix-minnesota-twins-bullpen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/530184\/","title":{"rendered":"Bleacher Report Suggests Two Relievers to Fix Minnesota Twins&#8217; Bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota Twins are facing major questions about their pitching staff heading into the 2026 season, and a recent Bleacher Report article outlined a potential solution.<\/p>\n<p>With the team coming off a disappointing 70-92 record in 2025, fixing the bullpen has become the top priority for the front office if they want to make any push for the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Two Arms That Could Make a Difference<\/p>\n<p>Bleacher Report&#8217;s Kerry Miller did not hold back when evaluating the Twins&#8217; offseason moves so far.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Are the Twins ever going to pick a lane?&#8221; Miller wrote. &#8220;They have neither doubled down on their summer fire sale, nor done anything legitimate to restock the cupboards. If they&#8217;re making any effort to contend this season, though, they need bullpen help, and a lot of it. RHP Seranthony Dom\u00ednguez is arguably the best arm still available. Veteran swingman RHP Nick Martinez is another option who can eat innings.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Dom\u00ednguez would be a significant upgrade for Minnesota&#8217;s relief corps.<\/p>\n<p>The 31-year-old right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/roundtable.io\/sports\/mlb\/twins\/opinion\/1-free-agent-twins-should-sign-before-spring-training\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:pitched for both the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in 2025;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">pitched for both the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in 2025<\/a>, posting a combined 3.16 ERA with 79 strikeouts across 62.2 innings in 67 appearances.<\/p>\n<p>His fastball still reaches the upper-90s and he brings postseason experience after making 12 appearances for Toronto in the playoffs last fall.<\/p>\n<p>Martinez offers a different kind of value as a pitcher who can start games or work out of the bullpen, and that flexibility is something the Twins desperately need right now.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old logged 165.2 innings for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025 with a 4.45 ERA while making 26 starts and 14 relief appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past four seasons since returning from Japan, Martinez has a 3.67 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 524.2 innings while filling multiple roles on pitching staffs.<\/p>\n<p>Why the Twins Need Help Now<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota&#8217;s bullpen fell apart after the front office traded away its best relievers at the 2025 deadline.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/roundtable.io\/sports\/mlb\/twins\/news\/former-minnesota-twins-pitcher-reunites-with-byron-buxton-joe-ryan-at-wbc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The team sent Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The team sent Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe<\/a> to other clubs in exchange for younger players, and the results were ugly down the stretch.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Twins&#8217; relievers posted a 4.93 ERA over August and September, which ranked better than just three other teams in the majors during that span.<\/p>\n<p>The American League Central looks like it could be up for grabs in 2026, which makes this offseason even more important for Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>The Twins still have ace Joe Ryan and a solid rotation, but none of that matters if they cannot hold leads late in games.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/roundtable.io\/sports\/mlb\/twins\/news\/encouraging-prospect-report-releases-for-twins-amid-quiet-offseason\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Signing someone like Dom\u00ednguez would give them a proven arm who could either close games or set up for whoever earns that role;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Signing someone like Dom\u00ednguez would give them a proven arm who could either close games or set up for whoever earns that role<\/a>, and Martinez would provide depth that can be used in multiple ways depending on what the team needs on any given day.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Both pitchers remain unsigned as spring training gets closer, but that window will not stay open much longer.<\/p>\n<p>If the Twins are serious about competing this season, they need to act fast before these options sign elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Twins are facing major questions about their pitching staff heading into the 2026 season, and a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[47,5,805,6440,50,7792,6439,3276,1455,2601,6438,822,60,3190,4,761,411,2539,70,148],"class_list":["post-530184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-twins","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baseball","tag-bleacher-report","tag-brock-stewart","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-danny-coulombe","tag-griffin-jax","tag-jhoan-duran","tag-joe-ryan","tag-kerry-miller","tag-louis-varland","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-minnesotatwins","tag-mlb","tag-nick-martinez","tag-ryan-pressly","tag-seranthony-dominguez","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-twins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115930847535338299","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}