You have to look deep down the MLB standings to find the hottest team in the majors right now. The 4th placed team in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins, are finally looking like the team that we all expected to see when the season began in April. After starting 17-36 and having the worst record in Major League Baseball for much of the season, Minnesota has the best record in June at 14-3. So when and how did it all happen?
Minnesota’s run has centered around an 8-2 record against AL Central competition. After a loss to the Tigers on June 1, Minny’s run began with a 4 game sweep of the Royals in Kansas City. Then, the Twins went to division leader Cleveland and took 2 of 3 games including an extra innings game in the series finale. After impressively taking 3 of 4 against the West leading Rangers, Minny then swept the Chi Sox in an abbreviated 2 game set. The winning streak continued with a 3 game sweep of the reeling Padres.
And maybe that is one factor of the Twinkies’ fantastic month. They’ve caught teams at very good times. KC was 3-8 in their previous 11 games before being swept by the Twins. The Indians had lost 4 in a row before meeting Minny. The Chi Sox had been up and down like their entire season, and San Diego was 3-7 in their previous 10. Only Texas could have been classified as playing good baseball when they met this month. But give Minnesota credit for taking advantage of slumping teams when they were in a slump themselves that covered April and May.
The key to the revival of the Twins is simple…
Pitching, pitching, pitching.
And specifically, their starting rotation. Overall, their pitching staff still ranks 26th in MLB with a 4.17 ERA. In June though, they are #1 in MLB with a microscopic 2.01 ERA. Allowing only 42 runs in 17 games is a great way to turn your season around. Brian Duensing and Carl Pavano both picked up their first wins since April. In fact, Pavano has been particularly impressive, going 7+ innings in his last six starts. In 3 games in June, his ERA is 1.44. Staff ace Francisco Liriano has continued his fine form after a disastrous April striking out 24 in 20 IP this month. Did I mention that pitching has keyed Minnesota’s turnaround? Filling out the rotation, Scott Baker has won his last 3 starts (including his last two with Game Scores of 80 & 83) and Nick Blackburn has won his last 5 decisions going back to May. In total, the Twins have allowed 2 runs or less in 12 of their 17 games in the month of June. No matter how badly the offense is struggling, those kind of pitching stats will keep you in games and help you win games.
On the hitting side, Minnesota has struggled all season with injuries and ineffectiveness all season, and the team is still battling getting their best team on the field. Justin Morneau, Jim Thome, and Denard Span are all currently on the 15 Day DL and 3B Danny Valencia is now day-to-day with an arm strain. Some good injury news for the Twins has been found in the return of the face of the franchise Joe Mauer, who finally came back at the start of the San Diego series. Former closer Joe Nathan is also on his way back as well. The Twins must depend on their amazing month from the mound while their star players return to the lineup.
Can the Twins continue their winning ways through one injury crisis after another and return to their accustomed position at the top of the AL Central? It will be a lot to ask from Twins fans to hope for their starting staff to continue the kind of pitching they have seen so far in June. While their pitching may drop off in the days and weeks ahead, it will be balanced out by the returns of Morneau, Thome, and Span. Can they ultimately get back in the AL Central race and go worst to first?
Absolutely.
Consider this fact – when June began the Minnesota Twins sat 16.5 games out of first place They currently sit 7.5 games behind the Indians. It doesn’t take a math major (trust me, I was one) to figure out that Minnesota has sliced that deficit by an incredible 9 games in 21 days. With the Cleveland Indians coming back to Earth and mediocrity coming over the AL Central… why not the Twins? They clearly have the most talented roster in the division, they have been playing the best baseball in the month of June, and they haven’t even been playing with a full deck the entire season. There’s still a long way to go to get back to the top of the division, but we’ve only played 43% of the 2011 MLB season. It would certainly be one of the most incredible turnarounds in the last decade, but the Twins have the roster, the talent, the division, and the attitude to go worst to first. Cleveland and Detroit better not look behind them, because they’ll see a scary sight in their rearview mirror.
