Minnesota Twins: The elite reliever you probably never heard of
Minnesota Twins closer Taylor Rogers is the best reliever you haven’t heard of. You should get to know the lefty now before he emerges as a hero in October.
Today, I made a discovery on the reliever leaderboards that needs to be brought to your attention. Taylor Rogers, an LHP for the Minnesota Twins, has accumulated 2.0 WAR in sixty innings this season.
For a reliever, this puts him top 5 of all relievers this season, square between fellow lefties Aroldis Chapman and Felipe Vazquez. Now everyone has been raving about the “Cuban Missile” since he arrived in the states armed with his 100+ fastball, likewise, Felipe Vazquez has been an elite reliever and was a sought after commodity at the trade deadline.
So how has Rogers become an elite reliever seemingly out of nowhere?
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Let’s start with his stuff, which is absolutely electric. Rogers brings a blistering 98 MPH fastball he throws 50% of the time and a high spin slider 45% of the time.
The stuff is only the beginning of what makes Rogers an elite reliever. Rogers does an incredible job of controlling his stuff. He is striking out nearly 33% (Top 8% in the league) of the hitters he faces while walking a mere 4.2%.
More impressive is his contact management where he ranks in the top 10% or better in expected Batting Average (xBA, .209), xwOBA (.259), Hard Hit % (28.9%).
This season isn’t an outlier though. Rogers enjoyed a successful 2018 for the Twins as well. Over the past two seasons, he has been the fifth-best reliever in all of baseball. That’s a pretty great outcome for a guy who was a starting pitcher in the minors from 2012-2015.
Sometimes with relief pitching, the goal is to catch lightning in a bottle. Relief pitching is so volatile season to season and there are very few you can count on. Rogers is a perfect example of that after combining for 1.1 WAR in 2016 and 2017 before exploding for 4 wins over the last two years. Pitchers are always one adjustment or role change away from being elite and Rogers epitomizes this.
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Rogers is exactly the type of guy who will be used a ton in October. He’s got the ability to be the deciding factor in a series. If the Minnesota Twins are going to get past the Astros or Yankees, Rogers is going to have to neutralize the games best hitters. The good news, he’s equipped to do just that.