The Playoffs Have Proven that the Minnesota Twins Need Pitching
Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
What goes 85 MPH, but only goes about 400 feet? Any pitch thrown by a Minnesota Twins starting pitcher!
We are really just laughing because it’s better than crying at this point.
There are a lot of clichés in sports: defense wins championship, a good defense is the best offense, beer and chicken will ruin a team’s playoff chances, etc.
The fact that a team needs good starting pitching to be successful is no cliché. It’s the truth. Just look at these current playoffs.
Through three games of American League Championship Series, two of the three games have ended at a score of 1-0. In the National League Championship Series, no team has scored more than three runs in a game, until Tuesday night when the Cardinals scratched across four in a 4-2 game.
The Twins do not have starting pitching and that is quite the concern. The Twins didn’t have a great offense that is true. 23rd in the major leagues in on-base-plus-slugging is not acceptable, but those numbers should be changing with a fully healthy Joe Mauer, a more seasoned Oswaldo Arcia and the future that is Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton.
The main problem is the pitching. The Twins have no one going for them that throws the first pitch of a ballgame. Kyle Gibson is probably the Twins best current starting pitcher who looks to be more of a third or fourth guy in the rotation, be it he is on a good team.
Alex Meyer is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League, he is the prospect to watch for a potential star in the rotation. On Monday night, Meyer threw two innings of hitless ball and striking out half the batters he faced in the Fall League.
After Alex Meyer, who projects to be good, it gets a little sketchy. Sketchy is not a good place to be.
If the Twins want to compete, heck, if they want to be competive to any extent, they need to get some starting pitching and that costs money if you want someone that’s worth a darn.
We are all looking towards that future, I sure am, but Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton can’t pitch.
Maybe Joe Mauer can? It’d put a squash to that whole first base or catcher debate.
But I’ll leave that for a whole other rant.