KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When he struck out Houston’s Jake Meyers for the second out of the eighth inning Sunday afternoon, right-hander Jhoan Duran did the little hop on the mound he typically does to accentuate the moment.
There seemed this time to be a bit more spring in Duran’s step, possibly because it was a particularly nasty looking pitch, one he had never thrown before in a game: a sweeper.
Sweepers are a type of slider that “sweeps” across the strike zone at a typically slower speed than a traditional slider, which is supposed to have a tighter break.
Duran threw Meyers an 87.3 mph sweeper, per MLB Statcast, that had 11 inches of horizontal break and 41 inches of drop. Perhaps it was because he had no idea it was coming, but Meyers had no chance. Statcast did list Duran as throwing one sweeper in 2024, but it appeared to be mislabeled. This pitch wasn’t on any scouting report.
If he can repeat it, the sweeper would be an important addition to Duran’s arsenal, which includes a four-seam fastball (averaging 100 mph), a split-finger fastball, and a knuckle curve — which was Duran’s most effective pitch in 2024. Duran credited Twins teammates, including right-hander Justin Topa, with helping him to learn it.
Right-hander Pablo López throws a sweeper, and explained why Duran might benefit by adding a pitch against right-handed batters. Because of how Duran releases the ball, a sweeper is a more natural pitch to execute than others. It fits in well with his repertoire.
“I don’t think he’s ever tinkered or explored with anything going to the glove side,” López said. “It might have been time for him to give himself a power pitch to the glove side. I’m not surprised he’s done this. He can throw that pitch hard and with big, big movement.”
Duran’s four-seamer remains in the top percentile of fastest pitches in the league, but he was vulnerable against it in ‘24. An effective breaking pitch of this type could make his fastball more effective, too.
Everybody go long
Lopez said he was aware of the team’s need for the starting pitchers to go longer into games. Through the first nine games of the season, Twins starters were dead last in the league in innings pitched with 40. The best comparison, the Philadelphia Phillies, had thrown 53 1/3 innings in their nine games.
“That’s what we want,” López said. “I want to be the guy who is the best option the third time through the lineup.”
In the two previous games, Twins starters didn’t get any outs in the fifth. Manager Rocco Baldelli wants the Twins starters to go deeper, and says he expects them to, but he also uses tactics to win the game as it’s being played. If that means a quicker hook, so be it. But the bullpen won’t stand up forever to the stress of getting too much extra work, so the clock is ticking.
“We do need to run into a stretch at some point soon where we’re not running through [so many relievers],” Baldelli said. “And our starters are out there giving us the innings that they’re capable of giving us.”
Cole train runnin’
The Twins and López face left-hander Cole Ragans in game two of the series Tuesday. After AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and NL Cy Young Chris Sale, it’s possible that Ragans is the best lefty starter in the league.
“Every metric you can look at says so,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said.
Ragans throws a 95-96 mph four-seamer and was effective with his changeup and curve in 2024. He posted a 1.88 ERA in four starts against the Twins a year ago.
“We see each other so many times, there aren’t a lot of secrets,” Ragans said. “They have a bunch of guys with a lot of power. It comes down to me executing my game plan, but it usually does come down to that.”
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