{"id":708368,"date":"2026-05-25T13:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T13:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/708368\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T13:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T13:03:33","slug":"an-altered-arsenal-has-led-to-success-for-travis-adams-in-2026-twins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/708368\/","title":{"rendered":"An Altered Arsenal Has Led to Success for Travis Adams in 2026 – Twins"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter making his major-league debut on Jul. 5, 2025, Travis Adams<\/a> struggled in his first cup of coffee in the majors, generating a 7.49 ERA, a 5.39 FIP, and a 31-to-17 strikeout to walk ratio over 33 2\/3 innings pitched. The then-25-year-old navigated an unpredictable role, jumping between starting games and coming in as a stretch or short reliever on an appearance-to-appearance basis. Given his late struggles, Adams failed to solidify a spot on Minnesota\u2019s 26-man roster late last season, meaning the now-26-year-old would need to compete for a spot in the club\u2019s eight-pitcher bullpen this spring training.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUnfortunately, Adams pitched only 2 2\/3 innings this spring before being sidelined with right elbow inflammation in mid-March. Luckily, the righty\u2019s elbow sustained no structural damage, and he returned to the mound on a rehab assignment at Single-A Fort Myers in mid-April, before joining the Triple-A St. Paul Saints later that month. Upon his return to St. Paul, Adams\u2019s surface stats were uninspiring, including\u00a0a 9.00 ERA over six innings pitched. Still, his 2.69 FIP suggested the right-hander had been unlucky, and that maybe something new was happening.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\tDue to 40-man roster constraints, Minnesota promoted the struggling Adams to the parent club on May 9 when Taj Bradley<\/a> was placed on the 15-day IL with right pec muscle inflammation. The former mid-level prospect made two appearances for the Twins over a four-day stretch, earning a 7.36 ERA over 3 2\/3 innings pitched. Again, however, his underlying metrics suggested he was pitching better than his counting stats. Over that exceptionally small sample, Adams netted a 2.01 FIP and 25% strikeout rate, suggesting he had again been the victim of poor luck. Still, Minnesota demoted him on May 14 to make room for starting pitcher Zebby Matthews<\/a> on the 26-man roster.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\tInterestingly, Twins decision-makers were quick to provide him another opportunity, recalling him five days later after designating veteran right-handed reliever Justin Topa<\/a> for assignment. (Technically, he replaced Ryan Jeffers<\/a>, who was placed on the 10-day IL, but he took Topa\u2019s spot in the bullpen.) In two appearances since May 19, Adams has been unhittable over 13 batters faced, posting a 0.00 ERA, 1.85 ERA, and 30.8% strikeout rate. The righty has generated these results over two separate two-inning appearances, against the Houston Astros on May 19 and the Boston Red Sox on May 22. Adams particularly played an integral role in Minnesota\u2019s 8-6 comeback win against Boston, which was arguably their most impressive win of the season. He then earned his first career save against the Red Sox on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAgain, I am analyzing a very small sample. Still, it appears that Adams has made meaningful strides toward becoming an effective short reliever in a bullpen desperate for serviceable internal options. Adams\u2019s early-season success appears to be the product of an altered arsenal, highlighted by a shift in his change and cutter usage. In 2025, the righty used his changeup only 17% of the time. He’s raised his usage rate to 30% this season. The pitch has an average movement profile. However, he’s using it more effectively, almost exclusively throwing it low in the zone to left-handed hitters. It’s posted a .104 expected batting average against (xBA) and a .108 expected slugging average against (xSLG), showcasing its effectiveness against lefties.\n<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tHis cutter has also made strides, with Adams using it 22% of the time this season, up from 19% in 2025. It’s a truer cutter this season than last, with more backspin and less blending with his slider. Attacking hitters high in the zone, the pitch has netted a similarly impressive .166 xBA and .185 xSLG in 2026. The cutter and change have gotten more exercise, while he’s all but shelved his curveball and sinker.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\tAdams\u2019s fastball still needs work; it has below-average velocity and an unimpressive movement profile. Yet, it appears that Adams has refined his arsenal against both left- and right-handed hitters this season. As improbable as it would have sounded even a few weeks ago, he could remain effective and finally solidify a long-term role in Minnesota\u2019s bullpen.\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After making his major-league debut on Jul. 5, 2025, Travis Adams struggled in his first cup of coffee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":708369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,822,60,3190,4,16231,148],"class_list":["post-708368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-twins","tag-baseball","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-minnesotatwins","tag-mlb","tag-travis-adams","tag-twins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116635356609043544","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708368","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=708368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/708369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}