Minnesota Twins 2022: Good, lucky, or better than a bad division?

Hi Friends!

I hope you’re finding ways to enjoy baseball season despite it feeling like March 64th today. I was at the game on Wednesday night against the Tigers and I am still thawing out. And yes, that game on Wednesday featured a dominant performance by our favorite contender for Rookie of the Year Joe Ryan and bombas galore from our favorite German import, Max Kepler.

As my friend and I were freezing our little toesies and nosies off in the stands and being pelted by foul balls, while still enjoying every second of the beatdown the Twins were handing the Tigers, I couldn’t help but start wondering... are the Twins really back to badass? Or are we watching them destroy some really bad teams? OR, are we just REALLY lucky?

Back to Badass?

Ok. I know the start of the season wasn’t the greatest:

• Mariners Series: 4 games, split 2-2
• Dodgers Series: 2 games, lost both, 0-2
• Red Sox Series: 4 games, split 2-2
• KC Series: 3 games, 1-3

BUT THEN? Starting with that one win in Kansas City, the Twins haven’t lost since (as of the time of me writing this on Friday morning). And if you look at the losing games, two were with a pretty dang good Mariners team, two were with the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw’s perfect game where he was pulled in the 7th. (I mean.. as our Jonathan Gamble pointed out, we never stood a chance.) Oh, and Buxton left the second game of the BoSox series and was out for six games and returned <checks notes> ah yes, the day we started this win streak. So is it really just a matter of Buxton being in the lineup that makes the Twins unbeatable or is it....

Bad teams?

With the exception of the Twins, the entire AL Central has a losing record. Granted, the Twins just dominated Detroit and Chicago while decimating their records, but the Guardians, the only team that Minnesota hasn’t played yet, have been on a losing streak for as long as the Twins have been on their winning streak. Will the Twins really only need Buxton in the lineup 50% of the time, plus a healthy Correa, decent pitching, and a Miguel Sano with his .096 BA (as of now) to be enough against the AL Central? Or will the rest of the division find their stride and start making things competitive?

Just Lucky?

Remember way back to April 22 when the Twins won in this bonkers game? I mean, how could we get so lucky? Surely this couldn’t happen again, right?

What’s that? The Twins pulled another win out that they had no business winning? Just as I was cursing Miguel Sano for surely losing the game with a boneheaded running blunder, we were treated to another WTF series of error comedies, which led to a walk-off win. And the Tigers weren’t done with their erroring ways for the series after that mad-cap tomfoolery. Thursday saw the Tigers make four errors to really drive home that my son’s (not so great) 12U team might be able to take them.

So I’m genuinely curious, my friends. Do you think that the Twins have what it takes to be a contending team deep into the playoffs this season? (With a healthy Buxton, I honestly think so but what do I know?). Or are they just playing bad teams right now? OR has it been dumb luck over the last week to just get us into a winning record? As we start to see some tougher teams soon, do you think they’ll keep a winning record over May? Let me know what you think!

xoxo,

Marea