With the season completed, it’s time to look back on the 2017 Minnesota Twins season. We’ll start with the third month of the season: June
The Minnesota Twins have completed their season, and it’s now time to take a look back at what was an exciting ride for Twins fans!
Puckett’s Pond will be doing a series first on each month of the season and then by position. We have looked at April and May previously. Check back each day for different pieces of our look at the 2017 playoff Minnesota Twins!
June Overview
The Twins spent much of May in first place and entered June tied for first place. A couple swoons in the month of June led to a 14-15 record on the month.
The Twins opened the month on the road on the west coast, going 6-4 against the Angels, Mariners and Giants on the road. However, losing the last game against the Giants was the start of a swoon where the Twins went 2-7 against the Mariners and Indians at home (along with that first game with San Francisco. After righting the ship and sweeping a series in Cleveland to move into first place on June 25th, the Twins would go on to lose 4 of their next 5, and they never were in first place again on the season.
Individuals of note
June began the big starts for a few players. Eddie Rosario hit .291/.341/.519 with 5 home runs on the month over 85 plate appearances. Eduardo Escobar had a big month, though he did a lot of his damage during the swoon in the middle of the month, hitting .354/.398/.549 with 4 home runs and a 6/10 BB/K over 88 plate appearances. Backup catcher Chris Giminez had his best month of the season, hitting .250/.325/.611 with 4 home runs.
June began a 2-month swoon that nearly cost Jorge Polanco his job permanently in 2017 and made his performance to finish the season all that more impressive. In June, he hit .203/.239/.281 over 67 plate appearances. Byron Buxton struggled after a brief respite in May, hitting .184/.237/.287, eventually heading in the minor leagues after a thumb injury at the end of the month landed him on the disabled list.
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Jose Berrios was undefeated going into his final start of the month, which was still a decent start against the powerful Red Sox offense. Overall, he made 5 starts, going 4-1 with a 3.21 ERA, throwing 33 2/3 innings, with a 1.13 WHIP and a 9/33 BB/K ratio. Lefty Taylor Rogers established himself in the bullpen in June, with 11 games thrown and 12 innings pitched, with a 0.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 3/8 BB/K ratio.
After a brilliant first two months, Ervin Santana hit a rough patch in June. Over 6 starts, he went 3-3, with a 6.03 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, and a 9/30 BB/K over 34 1/3 IP. Lefty Craig Breslow struggled mightily in the month, leading to nearly no July usage before the Twins released him at the end of the month. Breslow threw 6 times for 9 1/3 innings, with a 10.61 ERA and 2.25 WHIP, along with a 4/9 BB/K ratio.
Twins hitter of the month for June: Eduardo Escobar
Twins pitcher of the month for June: Jose Berrios
Next: Preview of Twins Free Agents
Odd thing
The Twins finished 7-12 on the season against the Cleveland Indians. However, as the month of June exhibited well, the Indians absolutely owned Target Field on the season, and the two teams were well-matched in Progressive Field.
The teams traded sweeps on opponent parks in June as part of the Indians taking 9 of 10 games at Target Field in 2017. In Cleveland, the Twins were 6-3 against the Tribe.