Minnesota named Brian Reith its major league pitching coach on Wednesday, pulling him out of the organization that just reached the ALCS.
Reith, 48, spent the past five seasons as pitching coach at Triple-A Durham in the Rays system. His entire coaching career has been with Tampa Bay, working closely with Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder.
Why Minnesota Needed Someone
The Twins allowed the sixth-most runs in baseball in 2026 and finished 25th in the majors in ERA. Pete Maki was relieved of his duties as pitching coach. Assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez was let go as well and has not been replaced.
LaTroy Hawkins returns as bullpen coach for 2027.
That is a staff being rebuilt around the thing that broke. Minnesota did not have a run-prevention problem at the margins. It had one of the six worst pitching staffs in the league.
The Shelton Connection
Reith and Twins manager Derek Shelton go back a long way. Reith began his pro career in 1998 at Single-A Greensboro, where Shelton was the hitting coach.
That matters more than it sounds for a hire like this. A pitching coach who inherits a last-third staff needs a manager who will back his usage decisions through a bad April, and Shelton and Reith have known each other for nearly three decades.
What He Says He Does
Reith’s stated philosophy is simple enough to put on a wall. Throwing strikes is number one, followed by getting ahead in counts and finishing hitters efficiently, with technology used to refine deliveries rather than replace instruction.
Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll framed the hire around the room rather than the radar gun.
“He has earned a reputation as an outstanding connector and a well-rounded pitching coach,” Zoll said.
The Tampa Bay Pipeline Is the Real Story
Hiring out of the Rays organization is not a novel idea, and that is the point. Tampa Bay develops pitching at a rate no payroll explains, and Durham is where most of it gets finished before it reaches the majors.
Reith has had his hands on five years of that. The Rays are in the ALCS right now partly on the strength of arms that came through his room.
Whether that transfers is the open question with every coach who moves from a development job to a big league staff. Triple-A pitchers do what they are told. Established major leaguers with service time and contracts are a different negotiation, and Reith has not run that room before.
What to Watch
Minnesota has not replaced Ramirez, which means Reith gets input on his own assistant. That is a meaningful piece of leverage for a first-time major league pitching coach and a sign the Twins are letting him build rather than inherit.
The simplest test arrives in April. A staff that finished 25th in ERA has room to improve by accident. Reith will be judged on whether the strike-throwing philosophy shows up in walk rate and first-pitch strike percentage, because those are the two numbers he has told everyone he cares about.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.