The Minnesota Twins are cruising, and as a lifelong fan, it's freaking awesome to see. The Twins are 50-27 and control an eight game lead in the AL Central. The bats are bonkers, and the starting pitchers are monsters.

A question that is constantly brought up this season is relief pitching, and to some, that could make or break a run in October. So are the Twins utilizing its bullpen properly?

In my opinion, relief pitchers Tyler Duffey and Mike Morin have been underutilized this season despite the solid numbers they've put up. Minnesota will need to ride with what its got right now until a potential move is made to bolster the Twins bullpen.

Duffey has been hot in the month of June. The 28-year-old right-hander pitched nine innings in June, he only allowed one earned run off of six hits and struck out 10 batters. Duffey has pitched 22.2 innings in 18 games and has faced 100 batters.

He's posted a 1.99 ERA, gave up five earned runs off of 20 hits and managed 32 strikeouts. Duffey's only given up four home runs and haven't given up an earned run in six appearances. The last earned run came against the Cleveland Indians on June 5.

Like Duffey, Morin has appeared in 18 games this season, but has only pitched 17.1 innings. The six-foot-four-inch, 220-pound right-hander faced 73 batters, allowing only 17 hits, four earned runs and 10 strikeouts. Morin has only allowed two home runs off those 17 hits. Duffey had a hot month in June and Morin had his hot month in May. He posted a .87 ERA in 10.1 innings and only allowed one earned run.

Morin will look to bounce back from a rocky June performance after allowing 11 hits, three earned runs in seven innings.

The Twins will open its homestand against the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Target Field. Go here for some Rays vs Twins coverage.



I get that managers put in certain pitchers for a given situation, but if a pitcher is posting solid numbers why not roll with someone for a few innings. I never really understood why a relief pitcher gets the team out of the inning, but is replaced the next time the team takes the field.

This is my first FanPost here in Twinkie Town, so I wanted to start with something light. Hope y'all enjoyed this little piece.