Souhan: Pitching shouldn’t be a problem for 2026 Twins. But will the team win?

The Twins’ marketing department is probably not going to put this sentence on billboards, but the 2026 Twins have a chance to be the most unusual bad team in recent franchise history.

Another sentence you might not see on television ads: The 2026 Twins probably won’t be the worst bad team in recent franchise history either.

You think this is a bad team? You might be right. But this team could be not so terrible for one historically unique reason:

The 2026 Twins have lots of quality arms.

Usually, when the Twins stink, it’s because they can’t dredge up enough competent pitching. This year’s team is deeper in the always important department of starting pitching than even a lot of the best teams in franchise history.

Remember, the 1987 Twins team that won the first major pro sports title in recent Minnesota history got through the playoffs and World Series with 2½ starters — Frank Viola, Bert Blyleven and Les Straker. In a 12-game postseason, Straker started the three games that Viola and Blyleven didn’t.

When the Twins went from being baseball’s model franchise to a hopeless wreck in 1993, the first of eight straight losing seasons, it was because they ran out of pitching.

Look at it this way: There were stretches in the 1990s when Rich Robertson was the Twins’ ace. There were stretches in the early 2010s when Carl Pavano, Scott Diamond, Kevin Correia, Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson were considered aces.

When your ace should be a third or fourth starter, you have little chance of competing.

The 2026 Twins have two advantages over those woeful teams: starting pitching quality and starting pitching depth.

Pablo López is an All-Star-caliber starter with a career postseason ERA of 1.53. He’s an ace.

Joe Ryan is an All-Star-caliber starter coming off a season in which he posted his best major league ERA at 3.42.

Then there are the young hopefuls — Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson, Mick Abel, Kendry Rojas, Taj Bradley, Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya, Andrew Morris ... and more.

If three of the Twins’ young pitchers turn into quality starters, and a couple help in the bullpen, the Twins will not only have admirable pitching depth but also the ability to trade pitching for hitting.

What’s funny, or strange, is that the Twins hired Derek Falvey to run their baseball operation because of his success in finding and developing pitching talent in the Cleveland organization. He left the Twins organization just when his trades and farm system were producing the kind of quality pitching depth he was supposed to supply all along.

López is a gem of a human. He’s intelligent, inquisitive, friendly, diligent and a mentor to young teammates. Even if this season goes south, the Twins should avoid trading him. He is the kind of player you build a winning team around.

Ryan’s future is more of a mystery. He did not seem happy about the Twins’ 2025 midsummer sell-off. He’s a highly intelligent pitcher who should be a quality resource for young teammates, but will he accept the frustrations of what could be a rebuilding project? He’s a West Coast guy who started his career with the Tampa Bay organization. We don’t know whether he feels tied to Minnesota or would welcome a trade.