2023 Minnesota Twins Predictions: The Wins and the AL Central

[Seth Stohs]

Over the past week or so, we sent out a 2023 Twins predictions survey to all of the Twins Daily writers. A similar survey was posted in the Twins Daily forums and promoted on Twitter. Here is part one of the results. How many Wins will the Twins have, and where will they place in the AL Central?

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

24 Twins Daily writers responded to our survey, while approximately 110 Twins Daily readers or Twitter followers responded. The majority of the questions were related to the Twins 2023 season. How many wins will the Twins have this season? Will they have any Silver Slugger or Gold Glove Award winners? Who will be their top hitters and pitchers?

We asked other questions but will get to those in Part 2 later today and other topics we will write about throughout the season. 

So, in Part 1 of our 2023 predictions, we want you to leave a Comment where you answer the three questions below. How many Wins will the Twins have this season, and where will they finish in the division? 

Question 1: How many Wins will the Twins have in 2023?
For the Twins Daily writers, I asked what the Twins' record will be. Those that have followed me for the 20 years that I've been blogging about the Twins will probably be surprised to learn that of those 24 Twins Daily writers, the 82-80 record that I predicted for the Twins was the lowest of the group. In my opinion, I think that it will be very interesting to see how the fact that the Twins won't be playing 78 games against the AL Central anymore. I personally think that it will mean that the winner of the AL Central will not be much over .500. But... that's why they play the games, right? 

50% of Twins Daily writers said the Twins will win between 86 and 89 games in 2023. Surprisingly 37.5% (9) think the Twins will win 90 or more games this season. Just three had them winning between 82 and 85 games. 

Now, 110 Twins Daily readers responded to this question. Fifty-six of them predicted the Twins to win 86-89 games, one game over .500 if you will. Just 19% (21) of TD readers put the Twins at 90 or more wins. Just eight of the respondents think that the Twins will win 81 games or fewer. 

So, overall, the Twins Daily prediction is 87 wins for the 2023 Twins. 

Question 2: Where will the Twins finish in the American League Central?
While 75% of Twins Daily writers think the Twins will take back the division crown in 2023, 59% of the fan respondents think the Twins will win the division. 37 of the 110 respondents predicted the Twins to finish in second while eight thought they'd finish in third place. The other 25% of the Twins Daily writers have the Twins finishing in second place. 

Question 3: Which team will win the AL Central?
Interestingly, between questions two and three, one of the Twins Daily writers decided that the Twins would finish second instead of first. Seventeen had the Twins winning the division, five picked Cleveland, and two picked the White Sox. 

Fan respondents remained consistent. Sixty-five (of 110) predicted that the Twins would finish in first place and win the division. Thirty-eight think the Guardians will finish in second place, while the White Sox received just seven. 

To summarize, Twins fans and Twins Daily writers think their favorite team will win the division. Shocking, I know. Those two groups also found consensus, agreeing that the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals will not win the division in 2023. 

Your Turn
In the COMMENTS below, please tell us how many Wins the Twins will have in 2023 and where they will finish in the AL Central. Will they win the division? 

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[twinssporto]

Welcome to the 2023 MLB season Twins fans!

92 wins, AL Central winners, ALCS winners then on to the World Series.

[wsnydes]

85 wins, falling just a game or two behind Cleveland for the division.

That at least makes for a fun and entertaining season to the end.  Not the ultimate goal, but a good starting point.

[nclahammer]

91 wins and the AL Central Division title.    The playoff losing streak is halted, and a playoff series is won!

[Brett]

86 wins, finishing 2 games behind Cleveland.

[Karbo]

87 wins, tied for 1st.

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, twinssporto said:

Welcome to the 2023 MLB season Twins fans!

92 wins, AL Central winners, ALCS winners then on to the World Series.

Big Karnack fan!! Usually had it right!

[JD-TWINS]

Regarding the win total probably being lower this year due to the Twins not being able to play as many games v. AL Central lower level teams………doesn’t it wash with us getting to play the lower level teams from the 3 National League Divisions? …….from a mutual familiarity standpoint, I think we have a better shot beating the Reds over 6 games than we would v. Tigers for 6 additional games.

[John Belinski]

It all depends on how Rocco manages the games. It he doesn't improve how he handles pitchers and if he doesn't have his hitters move runners over and if he doesn't have a winning record in 1 run games then the Twins will not be in the playoffs. If he improves as manager then Twins will be in playoffs and if he doesn't improve then he should be replaced.

[MN_ExPat]

3 hours ago, John Belinski said:

if he doesn't have his hitters move runners over

Not to nitpick, but... that's like me telling my (college baseball player) son to "just throw strikes" 🤷‍♂️.  It's a huge oversimplification, as I'm pretty sure a professional baseball player knows his job is to hit the ball and move the runners over.

Just so you know though... I don't say this as an attack or an attempt to be snarky.  Only that there is waaay more to it than just that simple statement and that the player has to execute said directives at the end of the day, not the manager.

[South Dakota Tom]

6 hours ago, twinssporto said:

Welcome to the 2023 MLB season Twins fans!

92 wins, AL Central winners, ALCS winners then on to the World Series.

My favorite Karnak - Johnny/Karnak says “Catch 22” and tears open the envelope to reveal the question:  “What would the Dodgers do if you hit them 100 fly balls?” (Must have been their down years)….

[adorduan]

81-81. Buxton gets hurt again and plays only 75 games.

[DocBauer]

First, I just want to state I'm not "worried" about the more balanced schedule. As a fan, I'm excited to play more teams, all due deference to the ALC. But not only are many/most teams fluid year to year in quality and ultimate W-L records, but every division in each league always has bottom dwellers in any given season. Mathematically, highs and lows, the Twins will be adding an overall collection of .500 opponents. The key is to beat the lesser teams consistently, and adequately against the better teams. But isn't that true every year?

Brief hits:

1] I really like the rotation and the depth. Ober is absolutely part of this rotation, and I really like him and his potential. He's just in reserve right now. And when was the last time the Twins had top prospects like Varland and SWR, and eventually Balazovic, as the 7-9 SP to help and fill in? 

2] I really like the first 6 in the pen a lot. Lopez is going to be just fine, and doesn't have to pitch like his HOF numbers to begin 2022 to be very good. I understand that the last spot or two in the pen will be fluid. And that's not a bad thing. But I'm still hoping there is a legitimate "crunch" there in a month or so where Henriquez, Winder, and Sands, perhaps others, can almost be interchangeable. And I'd feel a hell of a lot better if Pagan actually PROVES he can be a legitimate 2 IP middle man that doesn’t cough up leads. 

3] I love the depth and versatility of the roster. And I don't just mean the ML 26 man. To have guys like Julien, Lewis, Wallner, and a re-emerging Kirilloff sitting at St Paul is a tremendous luxury. And there might be a surprise or two that can potentially contribute such as Castro, Garlick and possibly Helman.

4] The offense is my greatest concern. Not everyone has to be great. Again, the depth is there. Can Gallo return to form? Can Kepler be at least solid? Can Polanco be Polanco a few weeks from now? Miranda, Larnach, AK, Julien, and Lewis are all part of the present, and future. How good is everyone, and the rest of the roster? The potential is absolutely there.

I think the team is built for around 88 wins right now. The offense clicks the way it COULD, I can see 92 wins.

I think the Twins win the ALC.

It's a battle between Chicago and Cleveland for 2nd place. Each team has different strengths and weaknesses. Can Cleveland produce enough offense and remain one of the healthiest teams yet again? Can Chicago get healthy, and do they have enough depth?

TWINS WIN.

[ashbury]

I'm on board with several others who have already posted. 93 wins, division title, at least one playoff series win.

Barring injuries.

[Twinsrtheworst]

93 wins in my opinion, as well as a series playoff win. There just seemed to be more urgency at spring training this year than in years past..hard to quantify I know.  Exciting season for sure!

[Nickasaski]

91 Wins

First Place

Sweep their first round playoff series!!