Brandon Kintzler Climbing Twins Single Season Saves Chart

Interesting remarks about developing his slider, and having another weapon.

Glad to know he's in attack mode on the mound, as opposed to Ron Davis's attack

mode on the post-game food spreads. I know, I know...cheap shots on easy targets.

As the Twins roared back this weekend to retake the Central Division lead with a three game sweep of division rival Cleveland, it seemed an appropriate time to examine one of the players responsible for their success in 2017. Brandon Kintzler is one of the more unlikely heroes to emerge, especially among all-time Twins relievers, but is nonetheless a very compelling, feel good story. I keep waiting for him to blow up, fall back to earth, have his coach turn back into a pumpkin (all the usual cliches, dig?). Not yet, anyway!

The Twins all-time, single-season saves leaders are represented in the below chart. Kintzler is stacked up against the best the Twins have had to offer, and it's an interesting look! His percentage of saves per appearances / innings pitched is looking impressive at this point, though with some caveats. I completely expect a drop off as the schedule progresses, with more innings pitched, wear on his arm, a go-against-the-grain reliance on grounders as opposed to strikeouts, and the level of opponents and tough innings pile up. 

But who knows? I wouldn't bet on him sustaining this percentage of save conversions, but he's already surprised me about his apptitude for finishing games and ability to put away tough hitters in high leverage situations. He's doing this by relying on a sinker to generate groundballs, a 5.94 K/9 innings pitched rate, while his flyball rate has increased to 28.3% (up from 19.9), and his vaunted 61+% 2016 groundball rate is down to 47% this year. That notwithstanding, his opportunity to turn in a 30-40 plus save season is within reach, even though his past performances wouldn't seem to have provided that possibility.

The slider "thing" should be interesting to watch, to see if it becomes more of a "go-to" pitch in critical situations.

- Chart: 20 or More Saves In Team History, Kintzler at Top For comparison -

Rk	Player	SV	G	IP	Year	Age	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BAbip
1	Brandon Kintzler	21	33	33.1	2017	32	22	2.70	3.71	16.9%	.268
2	Bill Campbell	20	78	167.2	1976	27	115	3.01	3.16	16.4%	.270
3	Jon Rauch	21	59	57.2	2010	31	46	3.12	2.94	18.8%	.322
4	Mike Marshall	21	54	99.0	1978	35	56	2.45	3.00	13.9%	.259
5	Al Worthington	21	62	80.1	1965	36	59	2.13	3.34	17.7%	.244
6	Bill Dailey	21	66	108.2	1963	28	72	1.99	2.76	17.4%	.231
7	Ron Davis	22	63	106.0	1982	26	89	4.42	4.36	19.4%	.297
8	Rick Aguilera	23	44	44.2	1994	32	46	3.63	3.78	22.9%	.373
9	Doug Corbett	23	73	136.1	1980	27	89	1.98	3.06	16.8%	.247
10	Mike Trombley	24	75	87.1	1999	32	82	4.33	4.52	21.8%	.315
11	Ron Davis	25	57	64.2	1985	29	72	3.48	3.67	25.3%	.293
12	Rick Aguilera	26	61	68.1	1997	35	68	3.82	3.88	23.9%	.313
13	LaTroy Hawkins	28	62	51.1	2001	28	36	5.96	4.74	14.5%	.333
14	Ron Davis	29	64	83.0	1984	28	74	4.55	4.26	20.3%	.292
15	Ron Davis	30	66	89.0	1983	27	84	3.34	2.96	22.0%	.332
16	Jeff Reardon	31	65	73.0	1989	33	46	4.07	3.54	15.5%	.264
17	Jeff Reardon	31	63	80.1	1987	31	83	4.48	4.23	24.6%	.269
18	Ron Perranoski	31	75	119.2	1969	33	62	2.11	3.24	12.8%	.229
19	Glen Perkins	32	60	57.0	2015	32	54	3.32	3.82	22.7%	.299
20	Rick Aguilera	32	56	65.1	1990	28	61	2.76	2.99	22.8%	.279
21	Mike Marshall	32	90	142.2	1979	36	81	2.65	3.42	13.8%	.285
22	Glen Perkins	34	63	61.2	2014	31	66	3.65	3.10	25.4%	.320
23	Rick Aguilera	34	65	72.1	1993	31	59	3.11	3.60	20.6%	.252
24	Ron Perranoski	34	67	111.0	1970	34	55	2.43	3.63	11.7%	.281
25	Glen Perkins	36	61	62.2	2013	30	77	2.30	2.49	32.1%	.275
Rk	Player	SV	G	IP	Year	Age	SO	ERA	FIP	K%	BAbip
26	Joe Nathan	36	64	68.1	2006	31	95	1.58	1.68	36.3%	.243
27	Joe Nathan	37	68	71.2	2007	32	77	1.88	2.65	27.3%	.279
28	Rick Aguilera	38	68	74.1	1998	36	57	4.24	3.65	18.6%	.300
29	Joe Nathan	39	68	67.2	2008	33	74	1.33	2.79	28.4%	.236
30	Eddie Guardado	41	66	65.1	2003	32	60	2.89	3.23	23.1%	.244
31	Rick Aguilera	41	64	66.2	1992	30	52	2.83	3.40	19.1%	.272
32	Rick Aguilera	42	63	69.0	1991	29	61	2.35	3.00	22.2%	.229
33	Jeff Reardon	42	63	73.0	1988	32	56	2.47	3.00	18.7%	.287
34	Joe Nathan	43	69	70.0	2005	30	94	2.70	2.21	34.1%	.266
35	Joe Nathan	44	73	72.1	2004	29	89	1.62	2.16	31.3%	.273
36	Eddie Guardado	45	68	67.2	2002	31	70	2.93	3.46	25.9%	.259
37	Joe Nathan	47	70	68.2	2009	34	89	2.10	2.88	32.8%	.233

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Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 6/26/2017.

Kintzler also has three blown saves to this point in the season. That's as many as he had last year, in 2016. It is conceivable he could be in the running for the most blown saves in team history, but he'll have to go hard, regress to the mean, to catch up with the worst in team history.

- 10 or More Blown Saves -

Rk	Player	BSv ▼	SV	G	IP	Year	Age
1	Ron Davis	14	29	64	83.0	1984	28
2	Rick Aguilera	11	38	68	74.1	1998	36
3	Jeff Reardon	11	31	65	73.0	1989	33
4	Ron Perranoski	11	34	67	111.0	1970	34
5	Ron Perranoski	11	31	75	119.2	1969	33
6	Jeff Reardon	10	31	63	80.1	1987	31
7	Mike Marshall	10	32	90	142.2	1979	36
8	Bill Campbell	10	20	78	167.2	1976	27

NOTE: For all the criticism Matt Capps received in 2011, 9 BSs (pardon the phrase!) was the most he ever had in any season as a Twins reliever.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 6/26/2017.

"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal