Minnesota Twins: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the first half
The Minnesota Twins wrapped up the first half with an 11-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. However, fans would like to put the past few months in the rearview mirror.
Expectations were high for the Minnesota Twins at the start of this season. Unfortunately, very little has gone according to plan for this team and they’re fading fast from playoff contention. Today we’ll take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly for the Twins first half, but first…
A brief look back at this season
The season got off to a rocky start following the suspension of Jorge Polanco during Spring Training. However, Eduardo Escobar (more on him later) stepped up and helped fill the void that was created with the loss of Polanco.
Unfortunately, Miguel Sano (more on him later too) struggled enough to earn a demotion and Minnesota has struggled to fill that void. Although Polanco has returned to the lineup, it might be too little, too late at this point.
Brian Dozier (more on him soon) has struggled and it looks like he could be traded soon. On top of that, Logan Morrison (more on him later too) has been abysmal for the Twins and his acquisition is looking like a monumental failure.
However, it hasn’t all been bad for the Twins during the first half. The pitching staff has pitched well. Everybody knows about José Berríos (more later) by now and for good reason. Even more than Berríos, Kyle Gibson is the pitcher that has stepped up the most.
Berríos has always been expected to have this type of impact for the Twins. Gibson on the other hand has suddenly become a steady presence in the back-end of the Twins rotation. The 30-year-old has turned the corner and become a legit rotation piece for Minnesota.
He has a 3.42 ERA with 114 strikeouts in 115 2/3 innings pitched during this season. He also has a career best 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings while maintaining a solid 1.228 WHIP. Although the Minnesota Twins have struggled, Gibson has shown he belongs in this rotation.
Gibson wasn’t quite good enough to make the list that follows but he is having a very good season. He is not alone in that category either. However, plenty of players have underperformed during the first half of this season.
That being said, let’s start this off with the disappointing performances so far this season. Now, let’s jump into this list and start with the ugly side of the Twins first half.