Minnesota Twins’ Next 15 Games A Clear Forecast of What’s To Come
Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
I like to imagine that someone in the Twins clubhouse has said the following, ‘You know what’s offensive? How offensive the media thought our offense was going to be!”
Do you think anyone on the Twins roster is that punny ? Maybe that’s why Jason Bartlett is on the team.
It is seriously amazing to think that the Minnesota Twins are simply in the top five in the American League in runs scored. In spring training it was evident that the Twins weren’t going to be able to score any runs and here we sit with 67 runs after 12 games and a 6-6 record.
It’s insanely early to make any predictions about how the Twins will finish the year, which is a problem because I desperately want to know where this team is headed. Going into the season I said the Twins would hover around the .500 mark and after 12 games it looks like it could go in three directions: surprisingly good, around .500, or a rehash of the last three seasons.
That seems like an obvious statement, but I thought I knew where this season was going for the Twins last Wednesday. Phil Hughes was on the mound and it took 40 pitches for him to get the first out of the inning and my thought was here comes another 90-loss season down the pike. The Twins somehow fought back and took the game into extras after being down 4-0 before their first swings of the contest.
Sure, the Twins lost that game against Oakland and the one after that, but the fight made me believe that something good could be brewing from this Twins team. The team then proceeded to sweep the should-be-good Kansas City Royals. I’m ready to jump on the bandwagon, but I hesitate because I don’t want to face the heartbreak.
I made a deal with myself to judge how I’m going to feel about this Twins season and I urge you to do the same: let’s wait and see how the Twins do through May 1 and then asses how to move forward.
Between now and May 2 the Twins play 15 games. The first six of those games are against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals, two teams that should be competing for a Wild Card berth this season. The next nine come against teams that are more than expected to be playing in October: the Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
What the Twins record is after those 15 games is how I’ll treat the rest of the season. It’s as simple as that.
There are three options the Twins can choose. It’s like Three-card Monte and Jason Bartlett is the dealer. That’s why he’s on the team.