The Minnesota Twins activated Nelson Cruz off the 10-day injured list on Monday, giving them a completely healthy lineup for the first time this season.
Throughout the first two and a half months of the season, the Minnesota Twins lineup has been reminiscent of an impromptu home run derby. In their first 58 games of the season, the Twins lead all of Major League Baseball in runs scored per game (5.98) and home runs (109) which has helped Minnesota claim a MLB-best 40-18 record.
It has been an impressive offensive output for a team that used to be referred to as piranhas, but the Twins lineup has evolved into a group of blood-thirsty sharks. What might be even scarier than watching Jaws as a six-year old, is the fact that Minnesota hasn’t even had their full starting lineup intact until Monday afternoon.
That’s because with the activation of Nelson Cruz off the 10-day injured list, the Twins have the lineup they envisioned when the team opened spring training back in February. Since that moment the team has had to deal with a couple injuries, mainly a laceration on Miguel Sano‘s ankle that kept him out of the lineup until mid-May.
Just as Sano made his return from the injured list, the Twins had to deal with holes elsewhere when Cruz (wrist) and Mitch Garver (ankle) went down within a couple days of each other. Even then, other parts such as Luis Arraez (who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to make room on the roster for Cruz) and Willians Astudillo stepped up to fill the void while hot streaks from C.J. Cron and Marwin Gonzalez have also softened the blow.
The Twins have also gotten several coming of age tales they may have expected coming into the season, but not to this degree. Max Kepler has thrived in the leadoff spot, especially against right handers and Jorge Polanco is having a MVP-caliber season in the opening months. Byron Buxton has also broken out on the way to leading the American League in doubles.
All of this makes Cruz’s return (along with Garver’s return last Sunday) even scarier for opposing pitchers as the Twins have opened up an 11.5 game lead within the American League Central without their entire lineup in tact. To pour more gas on the fire, the Twins currently have 58 games remaining against said division where the other four teams all hold records under .500.
Maybe it’s too optimistic to think that this Twins lineup has another gear, but with the team back at full strength, the Summer of Bombas may not be slowing down any time soon.