A Look Back--July

[stringer bell]

The Twins moved solidly into playoff contention with a 15-9 record in the month of July.. This is despite only outscoring the opposition by four runs (102-98). They produced two memorable walkoff wins, got improved productions from their bullpen and improved their defense moving people to new fielding positions. 

Here is a look at July hitting:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/_/name/min/split/43

Nobody was off the charts in July. Larnach, Clemens, Keaschall. Jeffers and Martin all came in with OPS numbers greater than .800. Lee, Buxton, Caratini were all below .650. The Twins were outhomered and allowed 21 stolen bases in 22 attempts. They still lead the AL in runs scored, although Chicago is averaging more runs per game.

July pitching:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/team/stats/_/type/pitching/name/min/split/43/table/pitching/sort/ERA/dir/asc

Good performance from the now-key bullpen arms. Ryan and Matthews had some rough outings. Kody Funderburk had a really strong month. It would be an injustice to send him down. Morris has been a real find and Bailey Ober continues to find a way. 

[Riverbrian]

Nice breakdown.

Thank You

[USAFChief]

Speaking of July, somehow rallying to get to 3-4 on that road trip coming out of the AS break was huge. Huge. Right now the key to the season, IYAM.

 

Edited August 1 by USAFChief

[stringer bell]

The toughest part of the post-All Star run to determine if they were contenders was the seven game road trip out if the break and finishing 3-4 was acceptable, particularly beating Cleveland twice. The current road trip is also a bit daunting, but they’ve held their own and are buying.