Minnesota Twins: 3 questions heading into the MLB trade deadline

How can the Twins upgrade their starting rotation?

For most of the year, the Twins’ starting rotation has done good enough for them to get by. With a potent offense leading the way, the pressure has been off of the starters and they’ve responded by sitting sixth in starter ERA through Sunday. The issue here is that the Twins have been slumping on the mound lately and it may trigger a need to address the starting pitching in addition to the bullpen.

While Jose Berrios has mastered his high-wire act, his performances haven’t been very ace-like while failing to complete six innings in three of his past four starts. Jake Odorizzi pitched well enough to earn his first All-Star appearance, but opposing batters have teed off for a 1.019 OPS and a 7.99 ERA in his past seven starts. Kyle Gibson has been up and down and while Michael Pineda has been coming on lately, Martin Perez has been on a downward trend since May.

Much like in the bullpen, the Twins could find a remedy to this situation by looking beyond the top names. In recent days, the Twins have been connected to Texas starter Mike Minor (via Jon Morosi of MLB Network) and Lance Lynn (via John Bonnes of Twins Daily) which could give the Twins a boost at the beginning of games as opposed to the end.

Add in the extra wrinkle that everyone except for Berrios is headed toward free agency this winter and the Twins may be aggressive in their pursuit of starting pitching that goes beyond this season.