Matt Bowman and John Brebbia Released by Twins After Sunday Opt-Outs
matt bowman and John Brebbia are free agents after the Twins granted both right-handers their releases on Wednesday. Minnesota let the deadline pass without putting either reliever on the 40-man roster, ending the hold they had on both pitchers at Triple-A St. Paul.
The move came after both players triggered opt-out clauses in their contracts on Sunday. The Twins had until Wednesday afternoon to add one or both arms or lose them, and they chose the latter path.
Bowman’s Minnesota return
Bowman, 34, had already logged 7 2/3 innings for Minnesota in 2024 before returning to St. Paul this year. He also gave the organization 21 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.69 ERA, along with a 28.1% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate.
That workload sat alongside a major league track record that has spanned parts of seven big league seasons. Bowman owns a 4.38 ERA across 240 2/3 major league innings, with an 18.7% strikeout rate, an 8% walk rate and a 52.3% ground-ball rate.
His pitch mix has been built around a sinker sitting 91.8 mph this year, close to his 91.3 mph career average. He also works with a 90 mph cutter and a splitter and slider in the low 80s, and his career numbers show neutral platoon splits. That profile is why the right-hander could have a major league offer waiting somewhere else.
Brebbia’s uneven stretch
Brebbia, 35, reached Wednesday with eight years of major league service and a longer list of innings than Bowman. He has a 4.04 ERA in 378 1/3 big league innings, plus a 25.6% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate.
The recent results have been rough. Brebbia has thrown 78 2/3 innings between the White Sox, Braves and Tigers over the past few seasons with a 6.41 ERA, and he has averaged 1.83 home runs per nine innings in that stretch.
This year at St. Paul, he worked 20 1/3 innings and posted a 6.20 ERA. He struck out more than 28% of his opponents but also walked 10.9% and allowed four home runs, a split that included one run and a 17-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his first 10 2/3 innings before he was tagged for 13 runs in his next 9 2/3.
Twins bullpen pressure
Minnesota passed on adding either reliever to a bullpen that already carried a blunt warning sign. Twins relievers had the third-worst ERA in baseball, and the release of two veterans opens extra room for a group that has not gotten the needed run prevention.
The Twins still could bring either pitcher back, but for now the only immediate change is roster status: both right-handers can look elsewhere, and Minnesota has two open bullpen spots to sort out after Wednesday’s deadline.
