PHOENIX -- Yoendrys Gómez found the going tough after his Major League debut in 2023 with the Yankees, his first organization in MLB.
But since being traded from the Rays to the Twins on May 6 of this year, the righty reliever has a 1.37 ERA in 22 appearances and 19 2/3 innings for Minnesota, with a 0.966 WHIP, a 27.8 strikeout rate and a 10.1 percent walk rate.
Although Twins manager Derek Shelton insists that he has no designated closer, Gómez leads the club with six saves in six opportunities this season.
"I’d say that the work, the focus every day and the routine you have every day help you improve and do a good job," Gómez said about his performance for the Twins so far.
For Gómez, 26, the past three years have been full of stops and starts. After his debut in 2023 with the Bronx Bombers, he had brief stints with the Dodgers, White Sox and the Rays before joining the Twins. Last year, he registered a 5.17 ERA between New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. And in his first nine appearances of 2026 with Tampa Bay, he posted a 6.23 ERA before being designated for assignment and traded to Minnesota.
“I think he’s a guy we identified in Spring Training. We saw him for the Rays pitch against us a couple times, and pitch well,” Shelton said. “And then he got [to our organization] and he got with our pitching group. We’ve made a little bit of modifications and he’s throwing strikes. But I do think the fact that he’s controlling the ball on the plate is what’s made him effective.”
In addition to a slightly dropped arm slot, one adjustment for Gómez has been to use his sweeper more frequently. This year, that pitch -- which he uses 23.9 percent of the time to accompany his four-seam fastball (43.3), cutter, sinker, and changeup -- has resulted in an opposing batting average of .158 and a .184 slugging percentage.
"I've used it quite a bit with all the hitters," said Gómez, who has also been particularly effective in general against right-handed hitters, limiting them to a .159 average and .174 slugging percentage. "So, I think it's been a good pitch. At the beginning of the season, I was also using it; it wasn't working that well for me, but now it's better. I’ve got a better feeling for it now and it's been good.”
For Shelton, Gómez's willingness to make the changes presented by the Twins’ pitching group has been key.
"I think it was just an identification of pitches that we think work,” he said. “And then No. 1, it’s sitting down and having conversations. Then No. 2, building trust with the player, because any time you’re making an adjustment, the player needs to be able to trust you to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to dive into it.' And I think our pitching group did a pretty good job of identifying, ‘This is why,' and then of explaining to him how it’s going to be beneficial in terms of his overall repertoire use.”
With or without an official closer in Minnesota, more often than not, Gómez has been on the mound in the ninth inning with the game on the line.
"It's a role that a lot of guys want and it's new for me too," said Gómez, who pitched a scoreless inning in each of the Twins’ two wins vs. the Diamondbacks over the weekend. "But I am prepared for all the innings; I don't necessarily have to close the game. I am prepared for the seventh, eighth, ninth. ... Any inning they need me, I'll be ready.
"Just grateful to the team for giving me the opportunity to step into good situations. I’m always confident in my work, in what I have. It’s about going out and giving it all I’ve got in the game and doing a good job. I have been focused on continuing to do a good job and appreciating every moment the manager has given me to be in the game."