Joe Ryan has high praise for Twins trade deadline additions to bullpen

Budding Twins ace Joe Ryan has high praise for the club’s additions at the trade deadline.

Joe Ryan, budding Minnesota Twins ace and AL Rookie of the Year contender, is thrilled with how his team went about this year’s trade deadline. Per MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park, Ryan had an excellent quote after last night’s game about his newest teammates.

Not only did the club bring aboard high-end starting pitcher Tyler Mahle at the deadline this year, but it also added two shutdown relievers in Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers and Jorge López from the Baltimore Orioles.

Ryan, 26, is having a dominant season of his own in what is his first full year in the big leagues. For the first-place Twins, he is 8-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 89 batters in just over 90 innings.

Ryan made a very strong start for the team yesterday, going five innings and striking out nine Tigers batters, allowing just one earned run along the way. After he exited the game, one of the newest Twins, Fulmer, pitched a scoreless sixth inning, notching a strikeout along the way.

To close things out, López came in in the ninth inning, also allowing no runs and notching his first save as a Minnesota Twin.

Twins: Joe Ryan is thrilled with new bullpen arms

Fulmer, 29, is a former AL Rookie of the Year and 2017 All-Star, both as a member of the Tigers. He was a strong starting pitching prospect for the first few seasons of his big league career but has since made the full-time shift to the bullpen, a move that has been working out tenfold so far.

In 2022, Fulmer has a total of 42 appearances between the Twins and the Tigers, going 3-4 with a 3.12 ERA and 40 strikeouts in as many innings. He has allowed just one home run this year and has earned two saves, both with Detroit. Behind Gregory Soto on the Tigers closer depth chart, there weren’t many save opportunities to go around, but he may earn some looks in that role for Minnesota down the stretch.

López, 29, is another failed starter-turned-shutdown reliever. This season as a member of the Orioles was his first full-time gig as a reliever, which even saw him notching some saves for the O’s.

In a combined 45 appearances between his two clubs, the flamethrowing righty is 4-6 with a sparkling 1.64 ERA, earning 20 saves along the way and striking out 55 in 49 innings. López made his first-career All-Star Game this year and has been one of the game’s best relief options.

Performance aside, the Twins undoubtedly had their eye on López because he is not set to hit free agency until the 2025 campaign. Unlike Fulmer, who is a rental on an expiring contract, López is under team control for multiple years still and will be a fixture at the back end of this Minnesota bullpen.