More fun with those hard-hitting Minnesota Twins. SIX GUYS WITH OVER 20 HOME RUNS. SEVEN GUYS WITH OVER 50 RBIs. And honestly I was expecting more batters with over 100 strikeouts (only two).
It's another one of those teams that's kinda injury-proof, too. Byron Buxton's out for a few days? Get Marwin to play some games in the outfield. He's hitting .262 with 100 hits and 14 homers. He'll be fine. This is also a team where the backup catcher is just as competent as the starting catcher, the backup infielders could honestly be starting and I wouldn't be worried, and the fun rookie is injured and nobody's especially counting the days til he comes back (unlike San Diego).
It's even rubbed off on the pitching. 3 guys, including Kyle Gibson, have 10+ wins. All five starters have over 100 strikeouts. Everyone has an ERA under 5. Even guys like Martin Perez and Michael Pineda, both of whom were afterthoughts at the beginning of the year, are doing pretty well, with Pineda having his...what, 12th comeback year? Berrios and Odorizzi get to fight over who gets the ace designation, but both are pretty great assets to have. And then you have Taylor Rogers as a strong closer, and Sergio Romo as an impressive bullpen guy. So from a distance, I don't have a ton of concerns.
But...this is a very broad team. They hit home runs, and their pitching doesn't have to stand out AS MUCH solely because they hit home runs. You put them against the best rosters in baseball (Houston, Bronx, even Tampa), and they might not get by on just boilerplate pitching. I'm worried that they may not go terribly far into the playoffs because of their lack of complexity. I could be very wrong, and I'd be perfectly fine if I was, but...I worry. I worry they lack real depth.
Still...they're awfully entertaining, aren't they? Isn't that what Manfred wants?
Coming Tonight: [loud sigh]...an ace from the team leading the NL Central.
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