Tyler Blinn Duffey (pronounced DUFF-ee)...Twitter: @TheDoof13...Instagram: @thedoof13... married high school sweetheart, Sarah Hutchins, in 2015...son, Teddy, born in April 2020...2009 graduate of Bellaire (TX) High School...attended Rice University from 2010-12, where he went 11-5, 3.06 ERA (153.0 IP, 52 ER) with 55 walks and 189 strikeouts in 92 career games (1 start)...named MVP of the 2011 Conference USA championship...finished third in the league with 30 appearances and eighth with 76 strikeouts in 2011...led Rice with four saves as a freshman in 2010...participated in 2016 Twins Winter Caravan... enjoys playing video games in spare time, particularly Call of Duty and Battlefield...earned the nickname "Doof" by Latin teammates in Rookie Ball...switched uniform number from 56 to 21 in offseason of 2017-18 after Twins signed Fernando Rodney in 2018...starred in the 2020 Twins social media series "Scootin' with Doof," a series of short videos of him riding a Bird scooter to and around Target Field, interacting with teammates while showing fans exclusive behind the scenes footage of the team's adjustment to the COVID-19 pandemic...became known for zooming around Target Field on a Bird scooter during the 2020 season...used entrance music "Electric Feel" by MGMT in 2020 and 2021.
2021
Made Twins Opening Day roster for third time in career...Recorded three saves on the season, the third, fourth and fifth of career: 1.0 scoreless inning May 23 at Cleveland, 1.0 inning with an unearned run on June 18 at Texas and 1.0 scoreless inning Sept. 8 at Cleveland...Gave up just four home runs on the season in 62.1 innings pitched: José Ramírez on April 26 vs. Cleveland, Taylor Ward on May 20 vs. Los Angeles-AL, Eric Haase on July 26 vs. Detroit and Joey Gallo on September 13 at New York-AL...the span between the Ward and Haase home runs was 22-game stretch (22.0 IP)...Served two-game suspension from May 20-22 after being ejected for throwing behind Chicago-AL's Yermín Mercedes on May 18...it was a result of Mercedes hitting home run off position player Willians Astudillo in 16-4 defeat the previous night at Target Field...Posted 1.59 ER-(11.1 IP, 2 ER) with .179 opponent batting average in 11 June games...Recorded 400th career strikeout on August 5 at Houston, fanning Martín Maldonado...13 of final 14 appearances were scoreless from Aug. 27-Oct. 2, posting 1.76 ERA (15.1 IP, 3 ER) with a .083 opponent batting average...Struck out multiple batters in 17 of 64 appearances...Posted 1.98 ERA (27.1 IP, 6 ER) in 30 home games, compared to 4.11 ERA (35.0 IP, 16 ER) in 34 road games...Threw curveball 51.3% of the time (540 pitches), compared to his four-seam fastball 44.5% (469 pitches) and sinker 4.2% (44 pitches)...Held right-handed hitters to .197 batting average with .531 OPS, compared to lefties hitting .253 (19-for-75) with a .785 OPS...Set career-highs in games (64), holds (22) and walks-per-9.0 IP (4.04)...Led team in holds and ranked second in games and relief innings (62.1)...also led club with 52 scoreless appearances.
2020
Made Twins Opening Day roster for the second time in career, the previous coming in 2017...Did not allow a run in first nine appearances July 24-Aug. 17 (9.0 IP)…Earned only win of season Aug. 15 vs. Kansas City, pitching 1.0 scoreless inning in a Twins 4-2 victory...Held opponents scoreless in 18 of 22 appearances and hitless in 13 of 22 appearances...Twins went 16-6 in games in which he appeared...Held right-handed batters to a .136 (6-for-44) average and left-handed batters to a .171 (7- for-41) average...Ranked third on club in strikeouts-per-9.0 innings pitched (11.6), trailing Trevor May (14.7) and Matt Wisler (12.4)…Ranked third among qualified AL relievers in opponent OBP (.217), seventh in WHIP (0.79), eighth in opponent batting average (.153), 11th in opponent OPS (.488) and 13th in ERA (1.88)…Has gone unscored upon in 44 of last 49 appearances dating back to July 2019, going 5-1 with 23 holds, a 1.29 ERA (48.2 IP, 7 ER), a .153 BAA and 13.50 K/9.0 IP...Ranked second in baseball in holds (12), trailing only Oakland’s Jake Diekman (13)…Appeared in two games in AL Wild Card Series vs. Houston, allowing one run on three hits in 1.0 inning in Game 1 on Sept. 29 and 1.0 scoreless inning in Game 2 on Sept. 30.
2019
Optioned from Twins spring training March 16 to Triple-A Rochester where he began season...Made three appearances for the Red Wings and was recalled by Minnesota April 16...Appeared in four games for the Twins, allowing one unearned run in 5.0 innings pitched and was optioned April 24...Appeared in four games for the Red Wings in late-April/early-May, allowing one unearned run on 7.2 innings and recalled to Minnesota as 26th man May 11 but stayed with the major league club through the end of season...Posted a career-long 24.1 scoreless inning streak July 28-Sept. 28 (ended after recording two outs on the 28th at KC), longest for a Twin in 2019...during streak, recorded 42 strikeouts and 11 walks...it was the second longest streak in baseball in 2019, behind only Los Angeles-NL's Hyun-Jin Ryu's 32.0 IP streak from May 1-May 25...Did not allow a home run in 31 consecutive appearances (27.2 IP) from July 14-Sept. 25...Did not issue a walk after August 23rd (13.2 IP, 14 games)...even with a two-run home run he allowed on Sept. 28, his 0.73 ERA (24.2 IP, 2 ER) after July 28 was the lowest in baseball (min. 20.0 IP)...Earned 14 holds in 33 appearances from July 13 to end of season...Finished third on the Twins with 15 holds behind Trevor May (17) and Sergio Romo (16)...Held lefties to a .196/.245/.343 slash line with 28 strikeouts, and righties to a .205/.268/.333 slash line with 54 strikeouts...Led the Twins bullpen with a career high 12.80 K/9 ratio (82 K, 57.1 IP), as well as a 9.52 baserunners-per-9.0 innings ratio (61 baserunners)...Appeared in two games for Twins in 2019 ALDS vs. New York-AL...pitched 1.0 scoreless inning with a hit allowed and three strikeouts in Game 1 on October 4 at Yankee Stadium...allowed four runs on two hits in 0.2 innings pitched in Game 2 October 5 at Yankee Stadium, allowing a third inning grand slam to Didi Gregorius.
2018
Optioned from spring training to Triple-A Rochester March 22 where he began season...Made four different stints with the Twins on the season...Struck out six batters in 3.2 innings while pitching for Red Wings April 16 at Charlotte...Ranked fifth on the Wings staff in games (31)...Was the Opener for the Twins on September 11 vs. New York-AL, allowing one run on two hits in 2.0 innings pitched...one of four different Twins pitchers to be an Opener on the season (Gabriel Moya - 6, Trevor May - 1 & Zack Littell - 2)...Held right-handed batters to a .204 average and left-handers to a .314 average with Twins...Combined to go 6-6, 4.18 ERA (84.0 IP, 39 ER) with 24 walks and 82 strikeouts in 50 games between Minnesota and Rochester.
2017
Made Twins Opening Day roster for first time in career and spent entire season in Twins bullpen...Recorded first career save August 21 at Chicago-AL, allowing one run on one hit in 3.0 innings pitched...Posted a 8.49 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings pitched ratio, the best of his career... Struck out multiple batters in 20 of 56 games; pitched more than 1.0 inning in 25 of 56 games...Ranked fourth on Twins in games (56) and set a single-season career high...Held left-handed hitters to a .243 average and right-handed hitters to a .294 average.
2016
Optioned from Twins spring training March 29 and began season with Triple-A Rochester...Made just three starts for the Red Wings, posting a 1.72 ERA (15.2 IP, 3 ER) and was recalled April 23...Went 1-2, 1.85 ERA (24.1 IP, 5 ER) in first four starts for Twins, including a career-high nine strikeouts May 8 at Chicago-AL (7.0 IP)...struck out four batters in one inning (7th) in that start...Tied season and career-high with nine strikeouts July 7 at Texas (6.0 IP)...Optioned to Triple-A Rochester August 25...Made two starts for the Red Wings and was recalled by Minnesota September 6...Struck out six-plus batters 11 times for the Twins...Held left-handed hitters to a .266 (74-for-278) batting average with the Twins while right-handers hit .337 (93-for-276)...Led Twins in wins (9) and losses (12), second in strikeouts (114) and third in innings pitched (133.0)...Had 6.16 run support average, the highest on the Twins staff and seventh in the AL (minimum 125.0 IP).
2015
Was Twins spring training invite and attended first career Twins spring training; reassigned to minor league camp March 15…Began season with Double-A Chattanooga with 16.2 scoreless inning streak over first three starts, including 10 strikeouts (6.2 IP) in first start April 9 at Montgomery…Named Southern League Pitcher of the Week and Twins minor league Player of the Week April 19, after making one start April 15 vs. Birmingham, pitching 7.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and eight strikeouts…Set minor league career-high with 12 strikeouts (7.0 IP) May 17 vs. Montgomery…Went 2-2, 2.56 ERA (52.2 IP, 15 ER) with 12 walks and 54 strikeouts in eight starts and was promoted to Triple-A Rochester May 22; led Southern League in innings pitched and was second in strikeouts at time of promotion…Named International League Pitcher of the Week June 30, making two starts for the Red Wings, going 2-0, 0.00 ERA (14.1 IP) with two walks and 10 strikeouts, including a 7.0-inning complete game June 28 vs. Charlotte…Posted 33.2-inning scoreless streak June 17-July 9…Contract selected by Minnesota August 3…Made major league debut in a start August 5 at Toronto, allowing six runs on five hits in 2.0 innings pitched and was issued the loss…Optioned back to Rochester August 6, then recalled August 14 when the Twins placed Phil Hughes on the disabled list…Earned first major league win August 15 vs. Cleveland, pitching 6.0 shutout innings with one hit, five walks and seven strikeouts; carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning…Went 3-0, 2.35 ERA (30.2 IP, 8 ER) with eight walks and 27 strikeouts in five September starts...tied for second most wins among AL rookies during the month. A Posted opponent batting averages of .157 (13-for-83) first time through the lineup, .257 (19-for-74) second time through and .368 (21- for-57) third time through…After first start, went 5-0, 2.25 ERA (56.0 IP, 14 ER) with 18 walks and 52 strikeouts in final nine starts…Combined to go 12-9, 2.71 ERA (196.0 IP, 59 ER) with 50 walks and 175 strikeouts in 32 starts between all three levels.
