Week in Review: Rallying Back to Relevance

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Weekly Nutshell:
As they stumbled through the first month of the season, the Twins had their occasional moments of positivity and progress, but those fleeting bursts of momentum never seemed to sustain. Finally, it is now happening here in May. After winning a couple of close games to take the series in Fenway last weekend, Minnesota returned home and played phenomenal baseball in a 6-0 week that saw them sweep the Orioles and Giants while moving above the .500 mark for the first time all season. The Twins are 15-6 at Target Field and among MLB teams, only the Royals have more wins at their home ballpark. (Now that's how you get the fans back.)

From the slow start to the streaky sprint back to relevance, this season is so far bearing plenty of resemblance to the last. But one area where the 2025 Twins are looking to differentiate is by proving they can succeed against bad teams and good teams alike. While their sweeping of a beleaguered Baltimore club certainly fits into the former category, Minnesota's eight-game winning streak also includes five wins against quality opponents in the Red Sox and Giants.

When you pitch extremely well and you score enough runs, you're going to win a lot of games, no matter who you're playing. We're seeing it.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/5 through Sun, 5/11
***
Record Last Week: 6-0 (Overall: 21-20)
Run Differential Last Week: +18 (Overall: +19)
Standing: 4th Place in AL Central (5.0 GB) 

Last Week's Game Results:

Game 36 | MIN 9, BAL 1: Offense Clicks Against Shoddy Orioles Staff

• Buxton, Correa: 5-8, 2 HR, 7 RBI 

Game 37 | MIN 5, BAL 2: Twins Take Series Behind Bullpen, Bombs

• Buxton, Bader: 2 HR, 5 RBIs

Game 38 | MIN 5, BAL 2: Lee's Clutch Hit Lifts Twins to Sweep Over O's

• Lee: Go-ahead 2-R double in 8th inning

Game 39 | MIN 3, SF 1: Paddack Near-Perfect in Sixth Straight Victory

• Paddack: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 K

Game 40 | MIN 2, SF 1: Larnach's Homer Is Enough for Ryan, Bullpen

• Twins pitching: 9 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 K

Game 41 | MIN 7, SF 6 (10): Clutch Moments Dictate Another Tightrope Win

• Keirsey Jr.: Walk-off single in 10th

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NEWS & NOTES

The Twins opened the week by welcoming back a couple of key reinforcements from the injured list: Willi Castro, out since mid-April with on oblique injury, and Royce Lewis, out since mid-March with a hamstring injury. The two were back in the lineup for Tuesday's series opener against Baltimore, starting at DH and second base respectively.

Optioned to Triple-A to make room for Lewis and Castro were Mickey Gasper and Edouard Julien. While Gasper was a straightforward choice, the decision to send Julien down tells us a couple things: First, the Twins are finding Jonah Bride and Kody Clemens useful enough as (essentially) early-season waiver claims, and second, they are really down on Julien. Which is understandable given the run he has had. 

Back down at Triple-A, Julien went 3-for-23 with eight strikeouts in his first week at St. Paul. Gasper was much more successful, going 11-for-23 with four home runs to lift his Triple-A OPS this year to 1.574. Meanwhile, José Miranda was activated from the IL by the Saints over the weekend. He went 0-for-6 in his first two games back.

HIGHLIGHTS

The vision for making this 2025 Minnesota Twins team a true contender was mainly predicated upon on a pitching staff good enough to carry the freight. We've been seeing exactly that. Although the offense has come to life, and that's been refreshing, the arms are leading this race: Minnesota is receiving high-quality performances from starters day after day, and the bullpen has shaken free of its situational troubles to solidify itself as an overpowering force at Rocco Baldelli's disposal.

Over the course of their current eight-game winning streak, Twins pitchers have posted a 2.22 ERA with just four home runs allowed. Among the past week's many highlights on the mound:

• Pablo López struck out 11 over five innings of one-run ball to set a tone in the sweep over Baltimore. He induced 17 swings and misses in the start, his highest total since September 10th of last year. López was a little less sharp in his second start on Sunday (6 IP, 4 ER) but he still gave the team a good chance to win, which they did in extra innings.
• Bailey Ober stepped in unexpectedly on Thursday, after Joe Ryan's illness forced him to delay his planned start. Ober held Baltimore to one earned run over five frames to lead the charge in a sweep-clinching victory over the hapless O's. He now has a 1.98 ERA since his first start of the season. 
• Ryan returned from said illness on Saturday and did his usual thing, with just two hits and one run allowed over six ultra-efficient innings. On the year, he has a more than 10-to-1 K/BB ratio, and his 2.74 ERA ranks as 13th-best in the American League.
• Most impressively, Chris Paddack delivered his strongest effort of the year on Friday, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning and ultimately lasting into the eighth with one run allowed. Facing a very capable lineup, Paddack looked excellent, and his deep outing also served to alleviate a relief corps that threw 12 scoreless innings over the previous three days.

On that note: As good as the starting pitching has been, the rotation has been outshined by a bullpen that is really beginning to meet the hype. Twins relievers allowed one single run over 21 innings, giving up only 14 hits and four walks while striking out 25. The Minnesota bullpen was 4-for-4 on save opportunities (three for Jhoan Durán, one for Danny Coulombe) and locked down every narrow lead without fail. 

I've harped on this frequently, but it's kind of an amazing stat: Dating back to last August, the Twins had lost 32 consecutive games in which they scored three or fewer runs, up until they won them back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. The bullpen played an integral role in making that happen, and hopefully they can keep it going because it's how this team will be able to stay in a winning groove. They've got to overcome in low-scoring affairs.

 

On the offensive side, the lineup shows signs of beginning to click from top to bottom. The Twins have improved their situational hitting and are finding ways to come up big when it counts. Their run-scoring still hasn't necessarily been explosive for the most part, but the bats are doing what they need to in support of this outstanding pitching staff.

Yet again Byron Buxton was the star of the show. With each passing week the center fielder seems to look more comfortable, more locked in at the plate, more sure of himself while running. Buxton catalyzed victories on Tuesday and Wednesday with seven RBIs; on the week he hit for the cycle with an extra home run, while also tallying his eighth steal. He has reliably been in center field every day.

 

Trevor Larnach, now regularly appearing in the two-hole against right-handed pitching, is finding his groove as a key difference-maker. He was 8-for-25, mixing in a couple of big home runs. Larnach has an .837 OPS with six homers and 16 RBIs in 23 games since Matt Wallner went down with his hamstring injury in mid-April, and that is what we call rising to the occasion.

Finally it should be noted that all three of the front office's major offseason acquisitions have been nothing short of brilliant up to this point, and they all featured in the past week. Coulombe picked up his first save and struck out eight over four shutout innings. He still has yet to allow a run through 18 appearances. Harrison Bader went 5-for-11 with three walks and another home run. He's been simply unbelievable. Ty France chipped in seven hits and has been providing big returns on his $1 million deal. 

They were given very little to work with, but at this point it's looking like the front office turned lemons into lemonade in free agency, and the impact has been crucial in the first quarter of the season.

LOWLIGHTS

Over the years, we've grown very accustomed to Royce Lewis returning from the injured list and immediately lighting the world on fire. It's never seemed to really matter how much time he missed or how he looked on his rehab assignments; once he was back on the big-league stage, Royce was gonna Royce. He was just a freak like that.

This latest re-entry has been a different story. Lewis went hitless through his first 15 at-bats before finally picking up a couple of singles on Sunday, and he looks noticeably out of whack at the plate. His swing is a mechanical mess, with his upper and lower halves on two different pages. Lewis doesn't look comfortable reading or reacting to pitches, and physically his tentativeness is plain to see. He's more or less jogging the bases and already we've seen him grab at his left hamstring area at least once in the batter's box.

 

All of what we are seeing unfortunately jibes with reports that came over from St. Paul, where Lewis went 3-for-23 with six strikeouts and no walks on his rehab, with his form looking rough. Upon being activated, Lewis admitted to reporters that he "might not even be at 100 percent," and that matches up to what we've seen.

If the Twins decided they might as well have him work out the kinks at the big-league level versus the minors, hopefully running into a homer or two along the way, I'm okay with that. The greater concern is that what we are seeing isn't symptomatic simply of missed time and rust, but rather that something is more deeply amiss with the 25-year-old, who now has four extra-base hits (all doubles) in 117 plate appearances since his last home run on September 1st of 2024.  

This past week, with their pitchers leading the way and a few hitters elsewhere stepping up, the Twins were able to rattle off wins despite Lewis's lack of presence, but if they're going to hit their stride over the course of this season, they will need him to remember who he is. The same kinda goes for Willi Castro, technically Minnesota's reigning team MVP, who has yet to show any semblance of his 2024 impact. Castro was 4-for-20 in his first week back with no extra-base hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. Overall on the season he's been sub-replacement level with poor defense and a .613 OPS.

TRENDING STORYLINE

Keep on winning! Basically the entire AL Central has been scorching hot, which has prevented the Twins from making up much ground at all during this 14-5 run, but they can only control what they can control as they attempt to battle back into the mix. As of now, the division boasts four of the eight AL teams with 21 or more wins, but I'm just glad to be able to call the Twins one of them. Summer is about to get underway in earnest, and the Minnesota Twins are back in business.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Twins will get another shot at the same Baltimore Orioles team that they flattened at Target Field, this time on the road. They'll hope for a similar result in Camden following Monday's off day. From there the Twins head to Milwaukee for a border battle against the beatable Brewers. 

TUESDAY, MAY 13: TWINS @ ORIOLES — RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. LHP Cade Povich
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14: TWINS @ ORIOLES — RHP Bailey Ober v. RHP Dean Kremer
THURSDAY, MAY 15: TWINS @ ORIOLES — RHP Chris Paddack v. RHP Tomoyuki Sugano
FRIDAY, MAY 16: TWINS @ BREWERS — RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Tobias Myers
SATURDAY, MAY 17: TWINS @ BREWERS — RHP Pablo Lopez v. TBD
SUNDAY, MAY 18: TWINS @ BREWERS — RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. RHP Freddy Peralta

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[TheLeviathan]

Give the manager and the hitting coach credit:

They're getting way more out of this lineup than they should by rights.

Also, give the pitching coach credit:

We wouldn't be here without our arms carrying the team right now.

[Clare]

Wow!  That clip of Lewis clutching his hamstring on a swinging strike is brutal.  This does not look good.

[Brandon]

Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians are two teams I believe are getting results above their talent level.  I expect them to return to the mean.  Detroit well I can’t tell but their team seems to be firing on all cylinders.  

[DJL44]

I would have bet against this week happening

[Parfigliano]

Best week of TC baseball in a long long time.

[Aerodeliria]

Clean baseball and good pitching win tight games--not one or the other but both. I don't care if the Twins only score one run. If their opponents can only muster a goose-egg, that's a win. That come-from-behind win in Boston was a real season changer, wasn't it?

Bader has been a real find. I didn't mind his signing because I expected that he would be a significant upgrade on defense. The hitting has been a big and pleasant surprise. I did think signing France was a huge mistake. I'm happy to eat crow for the whole season.

[h2oface]

Lewis is nowhere close to being ready. If they don’t pull him back and give him more time, he could face a 50 game or less season. I hope they IL him again until he can play full speed. If the team can get to the playoffs, they will need his …. potential. 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

This is easily the strongest, deepest pitching staff the Twins have fielded since 1970.

[mikelink45]

I think I felt the air currents change as a collective sigh of relief swept over Twins territory. 

[Linus]

Let’s enjoy the Dr Jekyll (or is it Mr Hyde?) period of the Twins offense and hope it lasts as long as possible. Will be interesting to see if another drought lies ahead or if the offense settles into a consistent mode.  Ive never understood guys getting their rehab cut short when they aren’t performing at AAA. But here we are again with Lewis searching for his swing and full health while we are trying to win ballgames. Hat tip to the pitching staff. High expectations and they are meeting them. 

[Vanimal46]

10 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I would have bet against this week happening

Same here. Especially not this soon after the team looked terrible. 

[Danchat]

Feels like the hitting and fielding got noticeably better after Julien was demoted. A lot of that is coincidence with some hitters finally heating up, but getting Miranda and Julien out of the infield has done wonders for our defense. Brooks Lee has been leagues better than he was last year.

[Patzky]

Hate to lose momentum but the forecast doesn't look good for playing  Tuesday or Wednesday in Baltimore. 

[LambchoP]

Need to get Lewis and Correa going at the plate. Buxton has been healthy and putting up good numbers, but he's too inconsistent to lead the team on his own. He'll hit 3 HRS in three days, but then Kin 6 of his next 7 at bats. As fun as he is to watch, he K's way too much without walking at all. His strikeout rate has to be around 40 percent now, against what, 2 walks all year?

[Peter]

perfect homestand!!! Over .500 for rest of season!!! Now it’s all about winning series and take back division championship!!!

[Doctor Gast]

Twins have drastically improved from the recent subtractions & our additions of Lewis & Castro. Our defense & chemistry have drastically improved, along with our pitching hitting on all cylinders, which has revolutionized our team. We are finally playing like a playoff team. Analytically, it doesn't make sense to have Lewis in the lineup (1-37?), but he adds so much more that analytics can't register. Talking about chemistry, the team was just as excited & happy as Keirsey when he got the walk-off. I never blamed this core for their problems. This is a glimpse of what they can do. They aren't completely complete, but they are winning. Go Twins! IMO, in the rotation now, nobody wants to be the 1st to come up with a clunker, so I expect continued excellence in pitching & winning streak.

[jmlease1]

Really good pitching performances from a deep staff coupled with effective defense and just enough offense is the formula for victory for this Twins team. If Royce can find himself and Wallner doesn't need another month to be Wallner again, this team could do some damage. And if Brooks Lee can get things going against LHP, we should start feeling pretty good about him: he's what we thought he would be defensively, and doing ok at the plate. I think there's more in there as a hitter, though.

Pretty great homestand. Sure, Balto is a mess right now, but SF was coming in hot. A fine week.

[Blyleven2011]

A great week of baseball , losers to winners ...

Winning changes everyone's perspective , at least this week no one is calling for paddack to go to the bullpen or trade him , nobody has mentioned firing Rocco ...

No Debbie downers or negative Nancy's for the most part  ...

Winning streaks are a cure for most anything  ...

[Riverbrian]

Every season for every team is a rollercoaster of some sorts. 

Some have steeper climbs and steeper drops but they all have an up and down to them. 

The Twins 2025 rollercoaster started with an immediate drop and now we have been in a nice climb.

There will be more ups and downs to come. Hopefully they can minimize those drops. 

We have completed one fourth of the season with three fourths to go. 

Over the first 25% of the season 41 games. Our pitching has been 5th overall in ERA. I have no complaints.

Over the first 25% of the season 41 games. Our offense ranks 22nd in OPS. 

The last 15 games the Twins have made up a lot of ground with a 10-4 record including our current 8 game winning streak. Over that stretch. Our ERA ranks 3rd. Our Team OPS has ranked 16th. Basically our pitching has held serve and our offense has risen from terrible to average and the result has been a nice run of wins.   

 

[Bad News TC Bears]

Can't dog 8 in a row!!!! Rocco even got ejected and threw his hat! I love the intensity and passion.... Nice to see contributions from different guys. Willi Castro making big plays in right field.... Larnach crushing the ball! Keep it going!!!!!!!!

[LastOnePicked]

12 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I would have bet against this week happening

I was pretty sure the week would happen. I just didn't think the Twins would win all of the games in it.

[bean5302]

9 hours ago, h2oface said:

Lewis is nowhere close to being ready. If they don’t pull him back and give him more time, he could face a 50 game or less season. I hope they IL him again until he can play full speed. If the team can get to the playoffs, they will need his …. potential. 

Yep. Can't be reaching for that hammy like that. He's not ready, and everybody knows Royce will push through pain. Should be optioned back to AAA and give him at least a week off or suffer another 2 month loss after yet another major lower body injury causing more cascading issues.

I can't think of a player handled more poorly by an organization.

[LeatherAntenna]

14 hours ago, Clare said:

Wow!  That clip of Lewis clutching his hamstring on a swinging strike is brutal.  This does not look good.

I’ve seen him touch it twice, others have to have seen that as well.  I a not a swing expert by any means, but his mechanics look to me like he is trying to protect a hamstring or quad issue.  Does not look good.  I assume the coaches are asking him to tell them everything and whether he is or not is, well, it is up to him.  

[h2oface]

6 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

A great week of baseball , losers to winners ...

Winning changes everyone's perspective , at least this week no one is calling for paddack to go to the bullpen or trade him , nobody has mentioned firing Rocco ...

No Debbie downers or negative Nancy's for the most part  ...

Winning streaks are a cure for most anything  ...

That can’t be normalized. FIRE BALDELLI!

…… and seemingly being “positive” while stereotyping women as negative and downers? 😇

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

10 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

This is easily the strongest, deepest pitching staff the Twins have fielded since 1970.

I was going to say "since 2023" but… yeah... 🙂

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Keep running out the same lineups, the pitchers know their roles, good things will keep happening. Cleveland and KC are coming up later this month. 

Buxton has now started 13 straight games as CF. My guess is that is the longest game streak in his career. Wherever his mind is right now, keep it there! 

[stringer bell]

I watch the standings way too much, but the Twins are currently 1/2 game out of the last wild card. They are 5 behind Detroit and 2.5 behind the Guards and Royals. They haven't fared well on the road and against their divisional opponents. Those chances are coming and while I don't expect six wins on the road trip, winning half of the games would show they are continuing to play good ball. Winning series against the other Central teams can and will put them in the middle of the race.

It is interesting that the Twins have gone on a heater since Lewis and Castro have returned considering those two haven't contributed much since returning. Like almost everyone else, I see Lewis as not yet ready to contribute. I don't want to see him play the way he finished 2024. It would appear that the Rangers are having similar problems with Corey Seager. 

The roster is constructed so that the team has a guy who is a pinch runner and defensive replacement. If that can be done without harming other facets of the game, Keirsey is a perfect fit and right now the roster is allowing the manager to utilize him in that way. 

The pitching staff is very good, deeper than 2023, with good quality in both the rotation and bullpen. I'd like to see SWR and Paddack put together a couple of good starts working through six innings and I think the last guy in the bullpen will probably rotate through several guys. 

Despite the payroll of the Yankees and Red Sox, there aren't any super teams out there in the AL. If the Twins can maximize their talent and stay healthy, they should have a chance against anybody.

[h2oface]

12 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

.......The last 15 games the Twins have made up a lot of ground with a 10-4 record including our current 8 game winning streak. Over that stretch. Our ERA ranks 3rd. Our Team OPS has ranked 16th. Basically our pitching has held serve and our offense has risen from terrible to average and the result has been a nice run of wins.   

Well that is some fuzzy math, and 15 games ago, the Twins were 10-16, 5.5 games behind Detroit, and 15 games later (11-4) they are 21-20 ....... still 5.5 games behind Detroit...... but I get what you are saying. 😇 15 games is real close to a 10-4 record, and it sure seems as if they should have made up a lot of ground.

[h2oface]

4 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

I was going to say "since 2023" but… yeah... 🙂

"Easily" is sure a matter of opinion, and with only 25% of the season on record, not really a thing yet. 2006 wasn't bad.... especially when Santana AND Liriano were peaking before Liriano tragically went down.... Johan Santana, Liriano, Radke, Nathan, Guerrier, Crain, Neshek, Reyes....... that team should have won a championship with the MVP, Batting Champ, and Cy Young winners. If only Liriano had not lost his arm......