Minnesota Twins: Three Silver Linings in Recent Weeks
It’s no secret that the Minnesota Twins aren’t exactly having the season that they had hoped for. At 15-28, the Twins currently possess the worst record in all of baseball. In this disastrous start, it seems that everything has been working against the team, with some things worse than others.
However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all been negative. Yes, it has been overwhelmingly negative when it comes to the Twins this season, but there are still some positives worth highlighting. Even though we’re just looking for blue sky mixed amongst the dark clouds of 2021, it’s not all bad.
Hopefully these positives are enough to partially save the mental state of Twins fans everywhere, so with that being said, here are a few promising takeaways from recent days, starting with Miguel Sanó.
Minnesota Twins: Miguel Sanó Starting to Hit
Miguel Sanó is a very talented hitter, with raw gifts that rival anyone in baseball. He’s also a notoriously slow starter, and he once again got off to a dreadful start to the season, batting just .111 with a .555 OPS through April 20th.
After that game, Sanó was placed on the IL with a hamstring issue, and didn’t see action again until May 5. Since that date, his hitting has been much more productive. Since Sanó’s return from the IL, he is slashing .225/.295/.525, with an .820 OPS entering Thursday.
In that 11-game span, he hit 4 home runs. He hit just 2 homers in the 15 games before his injury. To top it all off, Sanó had a double, a walk, a run, and a grand slam (his fifth homer in thirteen games) in seven plate appearances yesterday. He’s finding his stroke.
Sanó is also striking out less since his return, albeit not by a major difference. However, for a guy who has struck out in 36.3% of his plate appearances this year, any small improvement is notable. His improved walk rate is an added bonus.
Now, it’s not necessarily as if there was long-term concern over Sanó, but when a team is struggling as bad as the Twins have been, a key bat like Sanó slumping tends to weigh a little extra.
The struggles of Sanó’s powerful bat have been well-documented, but it appears that he’s starting to find himself at the plate in recent days. After a monster game consisting of 3 home runs and a Twins victory on Tuesday, manager Rocco Baldelli had this to say of Sanó:
“There’s not many people that have had a type of ballgame like this. Coming on the heels of some of the games that he’s had, we know that this is part of who he is and what he’s capable of on a regular basis.”
If that game was any indication, Sanó is ready to do even more damage as the year rolls on.
Minnesota Twins: The Ageless Wonder of Nelson Cruz
I mean, what else can really be said about Nelson Cruz that we haven’t heard already? The slugger is just a few months away from turning 41 years old, and still has yet to show signs of real regression at the plate.
Cruz hit his team-leading 10th home run of the year in Wednesday’s loss, and finished the game slashing .289/.338/.535, with an .873 OPS. Since becoming a member of the Twins in 2019, Cruz has recorded a 165 OPS+ in 212 games. And he was 38 years old when he first joined the team.
The underlying numbers suggest that he won’t slow down anytime soon, either. Cruz hits the ball harder than almost anyone in the game (92nd percentile in average exit velocity, 99th in maximum exit velocity, 97th in hard-hit rate, says Baseball Savant).Another encouraging sign is his improvement against breaking pitches.
During the 2020 season, Cruz slugged just .424 against breaking balls, with a 48.9% whiff rate. Through Wednesday, Cruz is slugging .681 against breaking balls, and his whiff rate has dropped to 39.5% in 2021. He already has more home runs on breaking balls this year (5) than he did last season (3), in 12 less at-bats ending with the pitch type.
It remains to be seen how many years Cruz has left. He’ll be 41 by the end of the season, and a free agent. But, if anyone can outsmart Father Time, it appears to be Cruz and his ever-consistent, ever-powerful bat.
Minnesota Twins: Recovering from Bullpen Blues
I last discussed the Twins’ bullpen over a month ago, and things weren’t going very well then. Over the past month of baseball, not much has changed. To make matters worse, it hasn’t just been the bullpen, either.
As a whole, Twins pitching has recorded a 4.84 ERA entering Wednesday, which ranked 14th of 15 teams in the American League while also landing 13th in strikeouts, and 14th in home runs allowed. That’s absolutely brutal, but it doesn’t mean there still aren’t some positives to discuss, starting with Alex Colomé.
Alex Colomé was a big-name signing by Minnesota this offseason, and was expected to provide more stability at the back end of the ‘pen. However, he struggled heavily to begin the year, with an 8.31 ERA through his first 9 appearances. But since the month of May began, Colomé has looked significantly better.
Since May 1, Colomé has thrown 7 & 2/3 innings without allowing a run. After opponents hit .316 off him through April, they’ve recorded just 2 hits in 24 at-bats (.083 avg) since the start of May through Wednesday’s loss. His underlying numbers are still terribly rough (13.3% barrel rate, 93.7 mph of average exit velocity, says Baseball Savant), but it’s hard to argue with results.
It’s extremely encouraging to see for someone who is expected to be an important part of the team, and the Twins certainly will need Colomé to continue the success he’s had this month. That’s one pitcher though. What about the rest of the bullpen?
To answer, I would point you to some encouraging results from the last two games for the Twins. In a 5-4 win over the White Sox on Thursday, Twins relievers threw 5 scoreless innings to secure the victory, combining for 9 strikeouts while allowing only 1 hit. They followed that performance with 3 scoreless innings in Wednesday’s loss, piggybacking off a good start from Matt Shoemaker.
6 innings and 2 runs was a strong outing for Shoemaker, despite being charged with the loss. For a guy who entered the game with a 6.62 ERA, throwing 6 solid innings is a huge step in the right direction.
So the pitching has been better in the past few games. Of course, that’s only two games. But, after a disastrous 16-4 loss to the White Sox on Monday (a game that sparked some controversy, courtesy of Tony La Russa), it’s a very encouraging response for the Twins.
Minnesota Twins: On the Right Track?
Who knows, maybe the blowout loss can be the kick-in-the-butt that the Twins need. The pitching has looked strong in the two games since, which is a great answer. The 16-4 pummeling could serve as rock bottom for this Twins team, propelling their season upwards. Maybe they put together a run soon, and get their season back on track.
But, yes, the Minnesota Twins have looked really, really bad this year. They’ve disappointed in almost every possible aspect of the game, and are currently one of the worst teams in baseball. But, like in life, there’s always a few positives to take away. Hang in there, Twins fans. It’s a long year.
Next. Minnesota Twins: Ranking the Twins’ 3 Biggest Issues. dark