Minnesota Twins 3 Up, 3 Down: Twins continue to be road warriors
The Minnesota Twins are creating some room in the American League Central thanks to their stellar play away from Target Field.
As the Minnesota Twins head into the home stretch of the 2019 season, they’re starting to prove that there’s no place like being on the road. After struggling through most of a homestand with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers last week, the Twins played the same two teams on the road and looked like a different team.
Thanks to an offensive explosion that saw the team score 24 runs in the first and second innings so far in the road trip, the Twins have gone 5-1 and can pick up the series victory in Detroit with a win on Monday afternoon.
Such a stretch was needed for the Twins as they looked to create breathing room between themselves and the Cleveland Indians. With the Tribe suddenly slumping to a 7-11 record after taking a brief lead in the division back on Aug. 21, the Twins have responded by going 13-5 with a 10-2 record in road games during that stretch.
A lot of that has to do with a schedule that has swung in the Twins’ favor the past couple of weeks, but if the Twins can show that they can win on the road, then anything is possible as they head into the final stretch.
Stock Up
The Bomba Squad
It might be a cop-out to list the entire Twins lineup here, but with the way that they’ve continued to hit the ball, it’s worthy to give everyone credit. With a six-homer effort in a loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night, the Twins hit their 268th home run of the season, giving Minnesota the MLB single-season record for home runs, surpassing last year’s total of 267 set by the New York Yankees.
While this team is known for their power at the plate, the Twins have been versatile in their approach in the past week, lacing singles all over the field to jump out to an early advantage. That type of play is what fuels their success on the road and if they don’t over commit to only slugging bombs, this could be a dangerous lineup to watch down the stretch.
Jonathan Schoop
There are plenty of Twins who are enjoying great weeks at the plate, but Schoop has had a revelation at the plate. Just when it looked like the Twins would install Luis Arraez as the everyday second baseman, Schoop responded with his bat, slugging four home runs and hitting .400 in his past seven games.
Schoop is one of the more intriguing players on the Twins to watch in the season’s final month thanks to his splits between close games and blowouts. If Schoop can continue to hit like this down the stretch, the Twins will have another bat at the bottom of the lineup that will make them almost impossible to pitch to.
Brusdar Graterol
For an organization that has been obsessed with service time and arbitration costs, the Twins provided a nice breath of fresh air by calling up top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol. For weeks, we’ve wondered if the Twins would give the 21-year old with a 104 MPH fastball a shot in September. On Sunday, the Twins did just that with his major league debut coming in the ninth inning of their win over the Tigers.
In past postseasons, teams such as the 2002 Los Angeles Angels with Francisco Rodriguez and the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays with David Price, used their top pitching prospects to make deep postseason runs. Although he allowed a pair of singles on Sunday, Graterol could make a major impact if the stage isn’t too big for him and would be a major boost for the Twins’ bullpen.
Stock Down
Martin Perez
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you look deeper into it, however, it could be defined as Martin Perez throwing his cutter repeatedly and having it blasted into the neighboring county.
One week after being listed in the up section of this column, Perez turned in one of his worst starts of the season on Saturday night in Detroit. After allowing eight runs (seven earned) in just 2 2/3 of an inning, the Twins can’t rely on him to be a key piece of the starting rotation as they dive into more important games.
Kyle Gibson
Then again, the Twins may not have a choice but to keep Perez in the rotation after Kyle Gibson was put on the injured list on Sunday morning. Gibson’s digestive season has had quite the season after battling E. Coli last winter and now dealing with ulcerative colitis. The condition saps one’s strength and energy, which may explain why Gibson gutted through a tough outing in Detroit, going five innings while allowing four earned runs in a Twins victory on Friday night.
There are plenty of negatives to point out in Gibson’s performance on the mound, but the Twins don’t have many options behind him that are guaranteed to be an upgrade. If Gibson is out for a prolonged stretch, it could leave the Twins thin and looking to someone with less experience in a potential postseason rotation.
Miguel Sano
While most of the Twins’ lineup is running on all cylinders, there could be a little bit of concern for Miguel Sano. As a player that’s ran hot and cold throughout the season, Sano is starting to cool off after a blistering stretch and hit .111 with nine strikeouts in 18 at-bats last week.
Next. 5 questions for the Twins heading into September. dark
Hitters have bad weeks from time to time, but after what we saw from Sano earlier this year, this has to be a small concern. If Sano just had a rough week, then it won’t be a big deal. But the Twins definitely need Sano at full strength if they want to make a deep postseason run.