Relievers Matt Bowman and John Brebbia can opt out of their minor league contracts with the Twins on Sunday, reports Darren Wolfson of KSTP and SKOR North. Assuming the right-handers trigger their out clauses, Minnesota would either need to call them up or allow them to become free agents.
Bowman is sitting on a 1.77 earned run average with a 26% strikeout rate and near-55% grounder percentage over 20 1/3 innings at Triple-A St. Paul. The sinkerballer also pitched quite well during Spring Training, reeling off 7 1/3 frames with one unearned run and seven punchouts. Bowman made five MLB appearances for the Twins early in the 2024 season and has signed a handful of minor league contracts with the club over the past three years.
Minnesota picked up Brebbia just after Opening Day. The 35-year-old (36 later this month) had been in camp with Colorado and was granted his release at the end of Spring Training. Brebbia has struggled to a 5.40 ERA across 18 1/3 innings with St. Paul. He’s striking hitters out at a near-30% clip, but he has allowed at least one run in five of his past six appearances.
Neither Brebbia nor Bowman are generating huge swinging strike rates. They’re both journeyman middle relievers who sit around 92 mph with their fastballs. There’s no guarantee the Twins select either player. That said, they could easily carve out space in a bullpen that has been one of the worst in the league.
Only the Astros have a higher relief ERA than Minnesota’s 5.54 mark. They’re also 29th in strikeout percentage (above the Nationals, in this case) and have the eighth-highest walk rate. Kody Funderburk is the only Minnesota reliever who has a sub-4.00 ERA while throwing more than 10 innings. Funderburk has more walks than strikeouts and was optioned to Triple-A yesterday. Every other Minnesota reliever has struggled to prevent runs.
Their three relievers with the highest strikeout rates — Garrett Acton, Cody Laweryson and Cole Sands — are all injured. Luis García, Taylor Rogers, Eric Orze and Anthony Banda have drawn their highest-leverage assignments.
