KANSAS CITY -- With a 3-2 loss to the Royals on Thursday, the Twins fell to a disappointing 4-9 record. The bad news is obvious: the team isn¡¯t clicking yet, and now they¡¯re down their Opening Day starter due to injury. The good news is that nobody in the American League Central is running away yet, and there¡¯s an opportunity to gain ground on the first-place Tigers starting Friday.
Here¡¯s a look at how the various units of the team are faring after two weeks.
Offense: Showing some signs, but not there yet
On both individual and team levels, there are little shoots of promise for Minnesota at the plate.
Ty France and Carlos Correa have finally started to get some results to match their quality of contact. Matt Wallner hit a home run on Wednesday, drew two walks on Thursday and, overall, has very nice numbers. On the team side, the Twins took good at-bats and forced deep counts throughout Wednesday¡¯s and Thursday¡¯s games.
But, well ¡ it¡¯s a results business. The Twins are tied for 10th in the American League in runs (44) and 13th in OPS (.596). They¡¯ve scored two or fewer runs seven times in 13 games and three in our their last four games.
¡°Early in the season, we weren¡¯t getting the runners on," catcher Ryan Jeffers said. "I think now we¡¯re getting runners on and turning the page a little bit there. Now, it¡¯s just adding some extra-base hits in there and executing with runners on base. It feels like we¡¯re missing some of those big hits in big situations.¡±
Rotation: Rounding into form ¡ with one very big caveat
Bailey Ober tossed six effective, efficient innings on Thursday. His first start, when he was recovering from a nasty virus, looks like an aberration. That followed a strong showing from Joe Ryan on Wednesday. Simeon Woods Richardson seemed to find his footing after a shaky beginning on Monday.
That leaves Chris Paddack, who¡¯s definitely still searching, and that big caveat. Pablo L¨®pez will be placed on the injured list, though the hope is that he will only miss two starts.
It will be up to David Festa and likely Zebby Matthews to help the rotation get through L¨®pez¡¯s absence. As long as L¨®pez¡¯s absence is relatively brief, the rotation is one unit to feel good about.
¡°We always have high expectations of ourselves," Ober said. "We carry that throughout the week to the next guy that goes out there. We expect to have good games every time. Obviously, that doesn¡¯t always happen, but we¡¯re always looking forward to the next one to be good.¡±
Bullpen: Better than you might think, despite painful moments
Yes, the Twins' bullpen has taken two tough losses in the last five days, including Thursday when the usually rock-solid Cole Sands allowed two runs. But even after that, the Twins are second in the American League in bullpen ERA (2.64), third in WHIP (1.11) and fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.00).
On an inning-by-inning basis, they¡¯ve been effective. They¡¯ve also pitched the third-most innings (47 2/3) in the league, and perhaps related to that, their four losses are second most in the AL.
So, yes, on the one hand, four bullpen losses in 13 games is too many. If you can¡¯t look past that, no one could blame you. On the other, nearly every individual reliever has pitched well, and it¡¯s completely reasonable to feel good about where they are overall.
¡°I'll bet on Cole going out there and putting up a zero every time. I'll put my money on him getting the job done," manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Defense: Definitely a work in progress
It¡¯s here where you can point to injuries and really see how they¡¯re affecting this team. Without Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, the Twins are forced to play at least one infielder who is not a top-flight defender at all times, and sometimes more than one.
They¡¯re 10th in the American League in defensive efficiency, which is a measure of the total number of balls in play that are turned into outs. They¡¯ve gotten some outstanding individual defense -- Harrison Bader, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa have all looked like the excellent defenders they are. But as long as Lee and Lewis are out, they¡¯re compromised defensively.
¡°I think we¡¯ve had some games this year where we¡¯ve played exceptionally defensively," Baldelli said. "We¡¯ve had some games where we haven¡¯t.¡±