![\"Yoendrys](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2277340548-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Though Andrew Morris has handled a multitude of relief pitching roles for the Minnesota Twins this season, his manager has identified one constant through it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cLack of heartbeat, and I mean that in such a beautiful way,\u201d manager Derek Shelton said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s only a rookie, but Morris is showing the type of maturity that comes with experience as he adapts to life in the bullpen. Morris\u2019 even-keel nature, and a 96 mph fastball, is leading to increasingly more opportunities such as Wednesday\u2019s, when the rookie was tasked with closing the game.<\/p>\n
Making the first save attempt of his career, Morris breezed through the middle of the Houston Astros lineup to close out a 4-1 victory. Morris retired the side on 10 pitches to make a winner of Joe Ryan, who struck out nine over six dominant innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou love that about (Morris), that he doesn\u2019t get too high or too low,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cNothing has really affected him. The transition to the bullpen, the transition then to a smaller role, then transition to leverage, he\u2019s handled everything about as well as a young kid could.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pitching for the third time in four days, Shelton was interested to see how Morris\u2019 velocity looked. Until earlier this month, Morris never pitched on consecutive days. The Twins are looking for signs of how he\u2019s holding up to throwing more frequently.<\/p>\n
When Morris\u2019 first offering to Yordan Alvarez registered 95.2 mph, Shelton knew his pitcher was in a good spot. Morris needed only nine more pitches to retire Alvarez, Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and convert the save. Not only did Morris generate two swings-and-misses in his 10-pitch outing, but also his fastball average increased to 96.6 mph, up from his 95.8 mph season average.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to tell myself that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been working towards,\u201d Morris said. \u201cI want to be the guy in those spots. I think I can be really good at it. I appreciate the trust and the experience that I\u2019ve been building.\u201d<\/p>\n
After joining the Twins two weeks into the season, Morris primarily worked as a long reliever. His first six outings all went one-plus innings, and four were 2 2\/3 innings or longer.<\/p>\n
But as the Twins hold open auditions to fill the back-end void in their bullpen, Morris is finding himself pitching in more high-leverage situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a jack-of-all trades right now,\u201d pitching coach Pete Maki said. \u201cHe\u2019s provided length. He\u2019s provided short bursts. He\u2019s been low maintenance about it, and he\u2019s done a nice job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s been a starter for the majority of his career, Morris isn\u2019t fighting a transition to relief. He wants to play a meaningful role in any way he can and thinks he can be successful in the role.<\/p>\n
On the season, Morris is carrying a 4.29 ERA over 21 innings. But over his last 11 innings, Morris has allowed two earned runs.<\/p>\n
Morris cites sound advice from veteran teammates on handling his new daily routine and how to attack hitters \u2014 he\u2019ll dial back the velo a tick for better command \u2014 as keys to his early success.<\/p>\n
Reliever Anthony Banda likes Morris\u2019 personality and how he\u2019s unfazed by the newness of his role. Banda also likes how the rookie is already adapting his midgame routine by watching the game with a better understanding of when he might be used.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done it so well,\u201d Banda said. \u201cThere\u2019s no hiccups. There\u2019s nothing really that stands out to where we\u2019ve got to pull him aside and let him know, coach him up a little bit. \u2026 He\u2019s starting to get a sense of \u2018This could be my lane, the opportunity where they need a right-handed thrower.\u2019 He\u2019s starting to find his groove with that and starts moving around on his own, getting prepared for it, doing his little routine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris likes the challenges he\u2019s facing, figuring out which days to lift and which to skip. During games, he\u2019s learning how to come in and unload his best stuff. He also acknowledges the calm nature he portrays isn\u2019t always what\u2019s occurring inside, but he\u2019s learning how to handle that, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it doesn\u2019t feel like the heart\u2019s beating slow,\u201d Morris said. \u201cBut I think those moments for me sometimes is when I\u2019m at my best. I think I can be good at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are three observations after the Twins won their third series:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Whereas reliever Yoendrys G\u00f3mez previously threw as many as five pitch types as a starter, including four as often as 17.5 percent this season, the Twins are primarily focused on his using his four-seamer and sweeper.<\/p>\n
As a result, the 26-year-old is throwing his fastball harder and more than ever. Averaging 95.0 mph, G\u00f3mez is throwing his four-seamer 56 percent of the time with the Twins after he used it 34 percent over the previous two seasons.<\/p>\n
Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays for cash May 6, G\u00f3mez is also throwing his sweeper 29 percent of the time in Minnesota. With the Twins, the combined usage of his changeup, two-seamer and cut-fastball is about 15 percent, down from 40 percent usage for the whole season (G\u00f3mez threw 17 1\/3 innings for the Rays before he was designated for assignment).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Like Andrew Morris, Yoendrys G\u00f3mez could find himself pitching in more high-leverage situations. (David Berding \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
G\u00f3mez threw 19 fastballs, 13 sweepers, two cutters and two changeups in striking out five batters over two scoreless innings Wednesday.<\/p>\n
One key to the increased fastball usage is command. When he started for them late in the 2025 season, the Chicago White Sox asked G\u00f3mez to throw all of his pitches because he was nibbling too much and walking batters. For his career, G\u00f3mez has issued 4.3 walks per nine innings.<\/p>\n
G\u00f3mez\u2019s command issues briefly surfaced Wednesday in his second inning. After striking out the side in the seventh inning, G\u00f3mez fell behind 3-1 in the count before Cam Smith hit a leadoff single. That prompted a visit from catcher Victor Caratini. G\u00f3mez eventually recovered, retiring the next three batters he faced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fastball is really good, and it has some unique characteristics,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cWhen he throws it on the plate (it\u2019s good). The only time he\u2019s really had issues is when he hasn\u2019t thrown strikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
G\u00f3mez has two holds, a save and six strikeouts in 5 1\/3 scoreless innings for the Twins. Similar to Morris, G\u00f3mez is likely to see several high-leverage appearances because of his velocity.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ryan Kreidler feels more athletic in his swing and less concerned with the result compared with years past. He thinks it\u2019s playing a part in his early home runs.<\/p>\n
Kreidler belted a three-run homer in the fourth inning, his third round-tripper since joining the Twins in 32 plate appearances. In his previous 211 major-league plate appearances, Kreidler, who is hitting .296\/.406\/.667, hit two home runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a productive offseason,\u201d Kreidler said. \u201cIt felt like trying to free up my athlete a little bit inside and letting the athleticism come out because that\u2019s kind of what I\u2019m good at. It felt like last year and in years past, especially in the big leagues, I just didn\u2019t really let that happen. (I was a) little afraid to fail. This year, I\u2019m trying to just let it fly a little more and be an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Twins hope a change of scenery allows Simeon Woods Richardson to regain the consistency he showed in his first two full seasons. The pitcher and his coaches discussed focusing on previously successful drills and keys in his delivery as possible solutions to his struggles.<\/p>\n
Woods Richardson has a 7.53 ERA, in large part, because of ineffective secondary pitches.<\/p>\n
Woods Richardson\u2019s splitter has a minus-13 Run Value, tying it with Aaron Nola\u2019s four-seam fastball for the worst pitch in baseball. With a minus-six Run Value, Woods Richardson\u2019s slider is the worst slider in baseball.<\/p>\n
As of now, there\u2019s no set role for Woods Richardson in the bullpen. Out of minor-league options, Woods Richardson felt better mechanically Monday than he had in a while. He acknowledged getting a zero felt good.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve just got to chop the big-ass tree one (piece) at a time,\u201d Woods Richardson said Monday. \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Though Andrew Morris has handled a multitude of relief pitching roles for the Minnesota Twins this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2326,363,99],"class_list":["post-656352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}