Minnesota Twins: 2017 Team Turning Over a New Leaf
By Jordan Ison
A hot start has gotten Minnesota Twins’ fans reason to be excited. Now the only question is – Are they a contender or a pretender?
The Minnesota Twins are 6-3 and tied at the top of the AL Central. For Twins‘ fans, this start is the equivalent of being 9-0 after losing their first 9 games a year ago. The season is young, but fans everywhere are wondering, is this team for real?
It’s a very good question honestly, and cannot be simply answered. First, let’s look at their team numbers. In 9 games, the Minnesota Twins have scored 45 runs and allowed 25. With +20, the Twins are 2nd in the MLB in run differential. They are 10th in runs scored, 2nd in runs allowed and are still undefeated at Target Field.
Now, let’s take a look at the Twins’ stat bar. As a team, the Twins are batting .231, while holding their opponents to a .196 batting average. The Twins have hit 9 home-runs this season which is equal to the amount they have allowed.
There is a big difference in the amount of walks the Minnesota Twins have earned (44) compared to how many batters the Twins have walked (26). This shows us that their patience at the plate has allowed runners to get on base, which, of course, gives your team a better chance to score.
Ervin Santana has been the leader of the pitching staff with a 0.69 ERA, 4 hits allowed and 7 strikeouts. Solid contribution from the veteran!
The Minnesota Twins’ pitching staff has a cumulative ERA of 2.77 with 59 strikeouts over 9 games. That means the Twins are only getting about 6.5 strikeouts per game. The fielding must be coming in to help quite a bit, which brings me to my next point…
The Minnesota Twins boast a lot of speed in the outfield and great versatility in the infield. Their fielding percentage sits at .990 thus far, only committing 3 errors this season. The Twins defensive abilities have allowed them to hold onto leads that their offense gives them.
The one concern for the Minnesota Twins at this time is consistency. As we’ve seen so far this season, the Twins could score 6 runs in one inning then not get another hit in the game. The pitchers can be rolling along then give up back-to-back home-runs. This should be a real concern for a young team like the Twins.
Consistency is something that will have to be fixed for the Twins to continue to find success during a long 162 game season. But as these young players mature, consistency will come. From what we’ve seen thus far, there’s only one answer to the question above: The Twins are a contender.