Impossible Germany

 

The Minnesota Twins just got back from Toronto, and boy are their unvaccinated excuses tired!

A few players didn't make the trip, including closer Emilio Pagan, relievers Trevor Megill and Caleb Thielbar, and, most notably, outfield mainstay Max Kepler. Without those four large pieces, the Twins still won 2 over the Jays, but that loss was a 3-12 loss where the team felt outclassed on a number of levels.

And now, with the team's departure from Canada, the absent players, especially Kepler, fight to act like none of this even happened.

The team is doing very well right now, has a 4.5 game leg up on Cleveland due to all the Cleveland rainouts, and is achieving success from the preestablished core in addition to the newcomers. But they're headed into a series against the Yankees followed by a series against the Rays, and while they could get through the Jays alright, the Yankees are an entirely different animal, and the Twins are without Carlos Correa, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray and Byron Buxton's better numbers.

The Twins just need to unify the core a little more. Kepler is having a great season, with 25 RBIs and 6 homers, but he needs to recover a lot of the goodwill he lost from missing those games in Toronto. Luis Arraez of all people has been the primary first baseman, but his power numbers aren't as successful as his contacts. The most WAR on the team is Trevor Larnach, but he's still not an everyday player. Jorge Polanco is having another nice season, but he's doing it while hitting .230. And these rookies coming up, like Jose Miranda and Mark Contreras, aren't hitting much at all.

I think what's ultimately kept this team afloat has been the rotation, and even without Ryan and Gray, this team can still put in Bailey Ober, Chris Archer and Devin Smeltzer and get results. Smeltzer, a guy from one town over from me who was brought up a few years back but mostly toiled in the minors, is finally proving why the Twins kept him onboard all this time, and has a 1.93 and 2 wins through 5 starts without being too reliant on strikeouts. This is a very old-school type of rotation, right down to the emphasis on veteran presence [even if Dylan Bundy is channeling last year's lack of control]. The efficiency of the pitching, and the bullpen, have kept this team in first despite the injuries.

I do think the Twins have enough to stay in first, at least for the rest of the month, but I do want them to be careful in series' with Cleveland and Chicago, especially as they begin to creep up.

Coming Tomorrow- The reigning Cy Young champ.