Minnesota native John Klein pushing for spot in Twins bullpen: ‘A surreal moment’

During the TwinsFest Live festivities on Friday, Jan. 23, there were introductions for all the Twins alumni, coaches, prospects and players who were at the event.

One by one, Twins broadcasters Cory Provus and Kris Atteberry called out a name to come down the red carpet as the crowd applauded. Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Bert Blyleven predictably received loud ovations. Same with current stars Pablo López and Royce Lewis.

In between the Hall of Famers at the beginning of the introductions and López and Lewis at the end, there was John Klein, who received one of the loudest cheers of the night.

Wait, who?

“My family was here,” explained Klein, a 6-5, 245-pound righthanded pitcher who ended the season at Class AAA St. Paul. “I’ve seen a couple of buddies around.”

Klein, the Brooklyn Park native and Osseo High School graduate, was added to the Twins’ 40-man roster in November. He went undrafted in 2022 out of Iowa Central Community College, and he’s now on the doorstep of the big leagues after a breakout minor league season last year.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, he paired with Twins free agent signing Taylor Rogers for a Twinsfest mini-golf event.

Klein, 23, posted a 3.98 ERA in 106⅓ innings between Class AA and Class AAA last year, totaling 128 strikeouts and 37 walks. His velocity jumped up 2 mph, topping out at 97 mph, and his strikeout rate followed.

“In 2024, at our end-of-season meeting, they basically said I’m doing everything good, but I just need to throw harder,” he said.

Working out at the MASH baseball facility in Savage during the offseason alongside former Twins minor league pitcher Aaron Rozek, Klein worked on his mobility, cleaned up his mechanics and added muscle. A lot of muscle.

“I was a tall, skinny guy,” Klein said. “I’d be around like 200-220 [pounds], fluctuating in there the last couple of years. Now I’m like 245, so I’ve added a couple of pounds on.”

Last year, the results were immediate. He was one of the minor league pitchers the Twins had pitching every four days, the organization’s experiment to develop more long relievers, until he had so much success he went back to starting midseason.

When the Twins were adding prospects to their 40-man roster on Nov. 18, which protected players from being taken by another team in the annual Rule 5 Draft, Klein was speaking to a group of kids at the MASH training facility about his path from growing up in Minnesota to a minor league pitcher in the Twins system.

“I leave and I have like five missed calls from Drew MacPhail,” Klein said. “I’m like, OK, this is either really good or really bad. Then he texted me, like, ‘Give me a call back whenever. I’ve got some news for you.’ Then he let me know. Once he told me, I kind of blacked out again like when I first signed. Being a Twins fan my whole life, it was a surreal moment.”

Klein projects as a reliever in the major leagues, and if he pitches as well as he did last year, he’ll be in the mix to make his debut with the Twins this year.

As Klein’s TwinsFest ovation indicated, there are a lot of people around town waiting to see him pitch for the team he grew up cheering for.