The Twins have been a huge disappointment this year. For a team that’s been expected to contend in the American League Central every season during the past decade, Minnesota now is 15 games under .500 and in fourth place. But there’s one thing the Twins can take from this season — the emergence of southpaw Glen Perkins as a shutdown reliever.

A member of the Twins’ rotation in 2008 and 2009, the 28-year-old made the team out of spring training this season and took on a new role as a short-reliever. In the rotation, he was a low-walk, low-strikeout guy who allowed a few too many fly balls and homers (though his home run prevention improved in 2009). But in the bullpen this year, he looks like a completely different pitcher. His ERA/FIP/xFIP slash is 2.20/1.99/2.66, making him the only Twins’ pitcher to be below 3 in any of those metrics. And while Perkins’ K% (per plate appearance) sat around 11% during his 2008-2009 stints, it has skyrocketed to 27% this year — a number that Perkins hasn’t approached at any level since 2006 (between classes AA and AAA). His walk totals are still low, and his groundball rate — which has been on the rise throughout his career — is now at 51%.

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