Twins Bomba Squad Record is Being Threatened

[Nate Palmer]

The Minnesota Twins 2019 team home run record is being threatened and a familiar face is helping lead the charge. 

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

For the Minnesota Twins, 2019 was one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory. While it ended with another postseason collapse, it was marked by a much different offense than Twins fans had recently become accustomed to. Coming off an era where the offense was most commonly referred to as a nibbling group of carnivorous fish, they seemingly overnight turned into Jaws and could take out opposing pitchers in one big bite. 

That led to the Twins claiming the single-season team home run record by hitting 307 home runs and gaining the moniker “The Bomba Squad.” In 2023, that record is under fire by none other than the National League-leading Atlanta Braves. 

On the way to the season of 307 home runs, the Twins had ten players who hit at least 10 home runs. Five of those players, Nelson Cruz (41), Max Kepler (36), Miguel Sano (34), Eddie Rosario (32), and Mitch Garver (31) had over 30 home runs on the season. C.J. Cron (25), Jonathan Schoop (23), and Jorge Polanco (22) made it over the 20 home run mark. 

As of this writing, the Braves are on pace to hit 309 home runs as a club. Matt Olson is leading the charge for the Braves by hitting 43 home runs to this point. That is already two more than the Twins leader Cruz had in 2019. Marcell Ozuna (31) and Austin Riley (32) are also above 30 home runs. Ronald Acuna Jr. (31) also just joined the 30 home run club Thursday night as he became the first player in MLB history to hit 30 home runs and steal 60 bases in the same season. Ozzie Albies (28) is just behind them. 

Something especially interesting is Eddie Rosario is now on the Braves squad and looking to grab the team home run title for a second time. While Rosario struggled initially after leaving the Twins, he has, like so many, found a productive home in Atlanta. He currently sits at 20 home runs and is hitting .262/.314/.487 with an .801 OPS. 

The Twins themselves are still a power-hitting club. Minnesota is still far behind Atlanta, sitting sixth in the MLB with 187 home runs. Max Kepler leads the way for the Twins with 21 home runs. Michael A. Taylor and Joey Gallo are at the 20 home run mark. In comparison, Kepler is a repeat of the 2019 team; the other leaders are of a much different makeup here in 2023. 

As Twins fans, we will focus most on the magic number to win the division. We can certainly glance occasionally to see if the Bomba Squad’s mark will hold or if the Braves take over the top spot. No matter what, we can hold onto the fact that “he was out.” 

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[mikelink45]

I like the fact that they also run, hit, and defend.  HRs are nice when they are built on top of a good foundation.

[Karbo]

Looks to me like Atlanta is the best team in the league.

[Riverbrian]

Hats off to Atlanta. 

I hope they don't break it. 

I'd like my team to hang on to the record. 

[Patzky]

We could always show up and push them off the base with the tag. :) We'll always have that, Gant take it away.

[Blyleven2011]

Records are made to be broken  ....

I sure like our record  because we beat the Yankees by 1 homer ...

If Atlanta beats our record the Twins will still have the record to claim for the most home runs by an American league team  ....

[Parfigliano]

Wish the Twins would approach the plate with a foundation emphasizing hitting (contact) like ATL as opposed to what they do now.

[BillyBallLives]

The ball was juiced in 2019, giving the Twins a huge advantage. The only way to compare which team is better (2019 Twins vs 2023 Braves) is to factor in how much they out performed the rest of the league. How do  we know Ruth was the greatest home run hitter of all time? Because he out homered his peers by such a large margin. If a player out performed his peer as Ruth did his, they'd have to hit over 200 homers. (Based on Ruth's best season, 60 in 1927.) In 1927 Ruth  out homered every team in MLB..

[old nurse]

Atlanta has done some amazing things. Acura, Ozuna, Olson, and Morton all on very team friendly contracts and the team appears to be healthy every season

[Twodogs]

Could you imagine if Atlanta had the juiced ball??

[rwilfong86]

The Twins will replace their homerun record with the strikeout record.

[MABB1959]

6 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Wish the Twins would approach the plate with a foundation emphasizing hitting (contact) like ATL as opposed to what they do now.

What do they do now?

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, MABB1959 said:

What do they do now?

Swing.  Swing.  Swing.  Try to pull everything no matter location of the pitch.

[Doctor Wu]

Atlanta simply has an amazing team this year. The power, plus pitching, and yes even defense. My guess is that they will easily beat our home run record. In retrospect it's hard to imagine how that Twins team hit so many home runs, juiced ball or not. Seems like a distant memory at this point in time. 

[dxpavelka]

On 9/2/2023 at 11:28 AM, BillyBallLives said:

The ball was juiced in 2019, giving the Twins a huge advantage. The only way to compare which team is better (2019 Twins vs 2023 Braves) is to factor in how much they out performed the rest of the league. How do  we know Ruth was the greatest home run hitter of all time? Because he out homered his peers by such a large margin. If a player out performed his peer as Ruth did his, they'd have to hit over 200 homers. (Based on Ruth's best season, 60 in 1927.) In 1927 Ruth  out homered every team in MLB..

an advantage that other teams didn't have?

[dxpavelka]

we didn't need him

[Nine of twelve]

On 9/2/2023 at 9:26 AM, Patzky said:

We could always show up and push them off the base with the tag. :) We'll always have that, Gant take it away.

I appreciate the humor but I almost never let this subject matter go without saying that Gant was not lifted off the base by Hrbek. After Gant lost his balance and was tagged out Hrbek did apply some lift but at that point the play and the inning had ended so it didn’t matter.

[joefish]

On 9/2/2023 at 2:46 PM, Parfigliano said:

Swing.  Swing.  Swing.  Try to pull everything no matter location of the pitch.

Three right field home runs a couple of days ago says something else.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Good luck to Atlanta!

 

Are they keeping up the pace?

273 in 141 games? (too lazy to do math)

 

Seems like they are, as they are closer to 2/game than the Twins record.

 

I blame the universal DH...

[sampleSizeOfOne]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:28 PM, BillyBallLives said:

In 1927 Ruth  out homered every team in MLB..

Well... Except for the team he played for, Naturally. (Well, unless he was traded mid season)