A Buck Short

 

The Twins right now are a tale of two teams. The rotation is one of the strongest in all of baseball right now. The lineup is essentially bare.

I think part of why the Twins are still in first is that the rotation just hasn't been allowing opposing runs. I worried when Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle got hurt, but having Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez Bailey Ober and Louie Varland all doing well at the same time is a really nice perk. Obviously people have been talking about Sonny Gray as a Cy Young possibility and an incredible run, but that doesn't mean that Lopez and Ryan aren't also really dominant this year. Ryan's 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Lopez has 75 Ks and a 1.100 WHIP. Even the monstrous Ober has been excellent since coming up, going 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA. Only Lopez has allowed more than 20 earned runs so far this year, and none of them have more hits than strikeouts. 

It's a great pitching staff that becomes even better when you factor in relief options like Jorge Lopez, Jhoan Duran, Brock Stewart and Cole Sands. A lot of extremely dominant pitchers on this team, and it doesn't exactly shock me that they're been so adept at shutting down the rest of the AL Central.

But...right now, the remains of the Opening Day lineup that are still active are just Byron Buxton, Christian Vazquez, Donovan Solano, Michael Taylor and Joey Gallo. Larnach, Kepler, Polanco and Gordon are all hurt, and now it's looking like Carlos Correa will be joining them on the IL. In addition, Jose Miranda is down in the minors again. The reinforcements are rolling in, as Alex Kirilloff, Eduoard Julien and the returning Kyle Farmer, and at least Farmer is turning in some good stuff, with a .288 average and 14 RBIs.

Really, the only original tentpole holding up this team as the injuries roll in is, unsurprisingly, Byron Buxton. The only thing that has been able to stop Buxton recently has been his own injuries in the past through years; at any other point he's been one of the best players in baseball. The Twins have been using Buxton as a DH, which is preventing against another immediate injury, but he's still hit 10 homers and 23 RBIs. Buxton and Gallo have been routinely successful sources of power, even if their defense isn't really worth the price of admission right now.

I'm not saying Buxton alone can carry this team, but his continued excellence and leading by example will save this team from completely cratering under the injuries. We'll see if the pitching, and Buxton, stays afloat going forward.

Coming Tomorrow- He has an MVP, but can he still deliver seasons worthy of that former glory?