Jim Souhan: Pitching shouldn't be a problem for 2026 Twins. But will the team win?

Jim Souhan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 16, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins’ marketing department is probably not going to put this sentence on billboards, but the 2026 Twins have a chance to be the most unusual bad team in recent franchise history.

Another sentence you might not see on television ads: The 2026 Twins probably won’t be the worst bad team in recent franchise history either.

You think this is a bad team? You might be right. But this team could be not so terrible for one historically unique reason:

The 2026 Twins have lots of quality arms.

Usually, when the Twins stink, it’s because they can’t dredge up enough competent pitching. This year’s team is deeper in the always important department of starting pitching than even a lot of the best teams in franchise history.

Remember, the 1987 Twins team that won the first major pro sports title in recent Minnesota history got through the playoffs and World Series with 2 1/2 starters — Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven and Les Straker. In a 12-game postseason, Straker started the three games that Viola and Blyleven didn’t.

When the Twins went from being baseball’s model franchise to a hopeless wreck in 1993, the first of eight straight losing seasons, it was because they ran out of pitching.

When the Twins averaged fewer than 68 victories per season from 2011 through 2016, it was largely because they lacked pitching.

Look at it this way: There were stretches in the 1990s when Rich Robertson was the Twins’ ace. There were stretches in the early 2010s when Carl Pavano, Scott Diamond, Kevin Correia, Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson were considered aces.

When your ace should be a third or fourth starter, you have little chance of competing.

The 2026 Twins have two advantages over those woeful teams: starting pitching quality and starting pitching depth.

Pablo López is an All-Star-caliber starter with a career postseason ERA of 1.53. He’s an ace.

Joe Ryan is an All-Star-caliber starter coming off a season in which he posted his best major league ERA at 3.42.

Bailey Ober is a quality starter who had an uncharacteristically bad season last year, probably because he tried to pitch despite nagging injuries.

Then there are the young hopefuls — Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson, Mick Abel, Kendry Rojas, Taj Bradley, Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya, Andrew Morris ... and more.

If three of the Twins’ young pitchers turn into quality starters, and a couple help in the bullpen, the Twins will not only have admirable pitching depth but also the ability to trade pitching for hitting.

What’s funny, or strange, is that the Twins hired Derek Falvey to run their baseball operation because of his success in finding and developing pitching talent in the Cleveland organization. He left the Twins organization just when his trades and farm system were producing the kind of quality pitching depth he was supposed to supply all along.

López is a gem of a human. He’s intelligent, inquisitive, friendly, diligent and a mentor to young teammates. Even if this season goes south, the Twins should avoid trading him. He is the kind of player you build a winning team around.

Ryan’s future is more of a mystery. He did not seem happy about the Twins’ 2025 midsummer sell-off. He’s a highly intelligent pitcher who should be a quality resource for young teammates, but will he accept the frustrations of what could be a rebuilding project? He’s a West Coast guy who started his career with the Tampa Bay organization. We don’t know whether he feels tied to Minnesota or would welcome a trade.

However the ‘26 Twins perform, if they finish the season with a wealth of starting pitchers and quality bullpen arms, they will have a way to build a winner regardless of their payroll size.

And if the young pitchers the Twins acquired in those infamous trades last summer turn into standouts, the level of outrage displayed by the Twin Cities’ most jaded fan base will turn out to have been a little overwrought.

____