Any hopes of the Minnesota Twins jumping out of the gate and running away with the AL Central have certainly been dashed. A combination of things have led to Twins getting off to a stuttering start, with injuries to key players stunting production.
It's almost the Twins version of playing hide and seek.
In April we saw the Twins get off to a very slow start. Sophomore slumps for Matt Wallner, Louie Varland and to a lesser degree Edouard Julien (who's hopefully coming around) were a factor. Veteran newcomers Manuel Margot and Carlos Santana are currently underperforming. The departure of Sonny Gray is leaving a huge hole at the top of the rotation. Add in injuries to a variety of players and a banged up bullpen the Twins are quite honestly fortunate to be in a position where they still see the top of the division.
A late April/early May winning streak lead to the Twins getting some breathing some air back into the Twins lungs. Now we’re seeing the flip side of that coin thanks to a recent losing streak that has Twins fans wondering what the identity of the team is.
It’s not just the team that has an identity crisis, it’s fans who are wondering what to do with the stop-and-go nature of the season.
Twins fans are going to have to play the long game in 2024
In short, there’s not a whole lot fans can do other than hope the players already in-house can play better.
Perhaps prospects like David Festa could step forward, or Brooks Lee and Emmanuel Rodriguez can make some noise after their debuts. If Simeon Woods Richardson can continue to progress it would certainly help, and the same goes for guys like Jose Miranda, Eddy Julien, and Trevor Larnach. As currently seen in Cleveland the division isn't near as weak as last year, especially with the Royals and Tigers much improved.
The path for success is much narrower than it was last year.
Twins fans are going to have to ride the wave and see where this plays out. I do not see any team taking control of the division until at least mid-August. So for Twins fans who are capable of watching the Twins, insert a frustrating sigh with the Bally's saga, kick back and enjoy summer with a side of Twins baseball and see if the boys can get hot.