Twinning by Losing

 

When Rob Manfred extended the playoffs last year, I think he did so in the thought that competitive teams that didn't quite make the previous mark would be able to find momentum and build their World Series case then rather than during the regular season, and in a sense he was giving teams that wouldn't previously have the chance a shot at October glory, which is generous before you really think about what it does to the deserving cases of division-leading teams. 

I do wonder if he thought of the inverse of this--what of the division leader that only won because the other teams in the division were awful and they're only just okay? I guess we're about to find out, as the Twins are still looking like the favorite to win the division despite being only 4 games above .500.

It's a team that should be better than it is. Byron Buxton should have stayed healthy, Kyle Farmer should have avoided that head injury, Max Kepler should have been hitting this well from the start, Vazquez and Correa really should be playing like they're being paid. Even the starting pitching has gone downward a bit since Joe Ryan's injury. Sonny Gray, as nice as he's throwing, has leveled his record to 6-6 and his ERA to 3.15. Gray, Lopez and Ober are doing alright, but not as well as they were prior to the ASG break. And with the open spot, they're letting Dallas Keuchel start games, and while he did go 6 innings without giving up a hit last start, his ability to strike people out is gone. He is at the mercy of his fielders to get the easy outs, and not all of these fielders are great. Plus, Keuchel could return to his old meddling next, we're not sure. It's just a wonder he was able to get out of a game without getting lit up.

And of all the big bats on this team, it shouldn't be down to someone like Ryan Jeffers, who was supposed to be the backup catcher this year, to do all the work. Jeffers has gotten progressively hotter in the last two months, and now has 56 hits, 25 RBIs and 9 home runs in 72 games. Vazquez has 26 RBIs in 80 games. Somehow, the guy they paid all that money for isn't doing as well as the homegrown guy lower on the depth chart. Which is just another funny detail of this Twins team. Y'know, they have Jorge Polanco as their guy, he gets hurt and now Edouard Julien is making him practically obsolete, hitting .290 with 22 RBIs and 10 homers in 75 games. At the same time, a finally-healthy Royce Lewis is hitting .316 with 17 RBIs and 4 homers in 34 games, and making a serious run at 3rd base. 

This Twins team is sort of doing what it's supposed to, but not in any of the ways it really should be. They're probably still a playoff team, and could probably get a lot done, but...I am puzzled by what a playoff version of these Twins will look like, and if they'll have any success whatsoever. It'll definitely be interesting, because something could happen, and they could actually win a playoff series for the first time in a while, but...is that even possible with them currently being this meh?

Coming Tonight: Yet another defense-heavy rookie for a team that's now becoming as good as they were always supposed to be.