Twins' 2024 a lesson in 'what could have been'

MINNEAPOLIS -- One of the biggest letdown seasons in Twins history was punctuated at the end by one of the biggest collapses in club history.

The sky-high expectations created by the snapping of an 18-game postseason losing streak by the 2023 team, coupled with the hopes of a continued breakout from Royce Lewis and another step forward from Pablo López and the bulk of a roster returning from that glory, were ultimately squashed by the roster and the players both simply running out of steam.

A year after the Twins were the only team in the American League Central to finish above .500, three teams from the division are headed to the postseason this season -- and the Twins are not among them. They found no finishing kick, even with a healthy(-ish) Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Lewis all on the roster at the end.

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"It's been the hardest stretch of my professional career, because I know this team is better than that,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said.

Defining moment: The 13-inning loss to Miami
Everything about the manner in which this team failed to execute down the stretch was laid bare in its ugly 8-6 loss in 13 innings to the Marlins on Thursday, when the club went 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, didn’t score the automatic runner in the 11th or 12th innings and had execution mishaps that included three tough outs on the bases.

All that in what was effectively a must-win game for the Twins -- who were formally eliminated one night later.

"I think the culmination of it all was the late portion of the Marlins game the other night, the final game of the series, and watching so many things happen in one game that were inexplicable,” Falvey said. “No other way to put it. For the players in that room, I think they'd own it, too, we were embarrassing in those moments."

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What we learned: Absolutely nothing is guaranteed
No one could have expected that the team that quite literally had the best record in baseball for a 103-game stretch from April to August would flop to a 12-27 finish in its final 39 games -- but then again, no one could have expected such extreme regression from Lewis, Alex Kirilloff and Edouard Julien, either.

It’s not just the struggles themselves; it’s the manner in which young players the Twins thought would be long-term core pieces had issues throughout the season that might have them questioning what they thought was perhaps more of a given for the years to come, too.

Best development: Buxton’s new benchmark
Not only did Buxton bounce back to hitting .279 with an .859 OPS and 18 homers, but it’s also the number in the “games played” column that stands out. That’s 102, the most games played by Buxton in a season since 2017, fulfilling a goal he set for himself ahead of the season to hit triple digits as a meaningful benchmark for his health.

Area for improvement: Endurance
Lewis admitted that he ran out of gas toward the end of the season -- as did Simeon Woods Richardson, who anchored the rotation for much of the campaign but saw his velocity and performance dip as both reached career highs in workload.

Young players will almost certainly be counted upon deep into next season, and manager Rocco Baldelli noted that many will need to spend this offseason working to better prepare themselves for the 162-game season.

On the Rise: David Festa
Festa stepped up when needed with results that were mixed, but showed signs of the potential that could make him a rotation mainstay for years to come. Following his recall on July 24, the 24-year-old pitched to a 3.81 ERA in 54 1/3 innings, with 69 strikeouts and 22 walks.

Critically, he also limited homers -- he allowed two across his final eight starts -- and while the surface stats weren’t pretty in aggregate, there was plenty under the hood that gave the Twins lots to be happy about.

Team MVP: Carlos Santana
This was a tough one, without many good options due to either injury or second-half performance -- but what a find Santana ended up being on a one-year, $5.25 million deal, as he led the team in homers (23), RBIs (71) and walks (65), while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base and, most significantly, appearing in 150 games as a needed reliable presence.