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We're 86 games into the season, meaning the 2026 regular season is officially over halfway through. The Twins currently have a record of 41-45, in what has been a fairly eventful year. It hasn't necessarily all been good, but we've had a little bit of everything. There have been breakout performances, disappointing seasons, injuries, blown leads, and enough frustration to make this first half feel a lot longer than 86 games. With that in mind, here are my five biggest takeaways from the first half of the 2026 season.
The first is that Byron Buxton is a legitimate superstar. I think a lot of Twins fans have known just how good Buxton is whenever he's healthy, but it finally feels like the rest of the league is catching on, too. He's currently hitting .276 with 25 home runs and seven stolen bases. Those 25 homers are tied for second-most in baseball, while his .581 slugging percentage ranks third in the league. He's also doing it with some of the highest-quality contact in the sport. His barrel rate has climbed all the way to 19% of his batted balls, which tells you he's consistently making loud, optimal contact. We've always known the talent has been there. The only thing that's ever really held him back has been staying on the field—and occasionally, the inconsistency that has to result from not being able to play every day. Health permitting, this has a chance to be the best season of Buxton's career. He's been worth every bit of the praise he's received, and without him, this Twins team would find itself in an even tougher spot than it already is.
Takeaway number two is that the bullpen is exactly what we thought it was going to be. After last summer's fire sale at the trade deadline, when the Twins traded away several of their key relievers, there were a lot of questions surrounding what this bullpen would look like entering 2026. Unfortunately, those concerns have proven to be justified.
The Twins currently rank dead last in bullpen ERA (5.50) and 29th in WHIP (1.57), and that unit has been responsible for several late-game collapses throughout the first half. Yoendrys Gómez has been a really nice addition since arriving in early May, but outside of him, there really haven't been many reliable options. It's hard not to be frustrated watching this group struggle because honestly, this was one of the more predictable problems the Twins were going to have entering the season. The front office chose to move a large chunk of its bullpen depth last July, and rebuilding an entire relief corps in one offseason was always going to be difficult. The greatest source of frustration, perhaps, is that they don't seem to have tried very hard.
The third takeaway is that the Twins' starting rotation is still very much a work in progress. Outside of Joe Ryan, there just hasn't been much consistency. Taj Bradley has looked phenomenal at times, but then he'll turn around and give up three home runs in his next start. The same can be said for Zebby Matthews.
Connor Prielipp has really struggled over the last month and a half, but had exactly the kind of start you'd have hoped for on Sunday. Bailey Ober's enigmatic velocity loss is unlikely to be cured by the weeks he's spent on the injured list with elbow inflammation, but he might at least bring the team some stability when he returns next month. Mick Abel and Kendry Rojas have both shown flashes of why the Twins are excited about them, but both have also battled injuries and inconsistency; Abel might miss the rest of the year after arthroscopic elbow surgery. When you look at the rotation as a whole, it feels like a group full of middle-to-back-end starters, with only one true frontline arm in Ryan.
To be fair, it's also a very young rotation, so growing pains were always going to happen. Still, how this group performs during the second half is going to be one of the biggest storylines to watch over the rest of the season.
Takeaway number four—and this one may be hard for some fans to accept—is that the hitters the Twins were hoping would take the next step really haven't done so. Luke Keaschall has been playing much better lately, but he's still hitting just .245. Royce Lewis is sitting down at .214. Matt Wallner is back in Triple-A.
Ryan Jeffers had a really nice offensive season before getting hurt, Brooks Lee has continued to swing the bat well, and obviously, Buxton has been everything you could ask for. But outside of those guys, the lineup hasn't consistently gotten enough production from some of its younger core hitters.
The Twins' offense, as a whole, actually hasn't been bad. There have been plenty of games where they've put together quality at-bats and have a bunch of runs to show for it. But there's also another level this lineup could reach if players like Keaschall and Lewis began performing closer to what the organization envisioned. Especially with Jeffers currently sidelined, the offense could really use another impact bat stepping up over the second half.
And finally, takeaway number five is that defense simply has not been one of the Twins' strengths. Lee is currently tied with Jakob Marsee of the Marlins for the lowest Defensive Runs Saved total in baseball at -10. Tristan Gray isn't far behind at -8, and several other regular starters also find themselves sitting in the negatives.
As a team, the Twins rank inside the bottom five in Major League Baseball in Defensive Efficiency. Defense really hurt this club throughout the first half. There have been far too many extended innings, too many extra outs, and too many blown leads that can be traced back to spotty defensive play. When you combine inconsistent defense with inconsistent pitching, it's really not that surprising the Twins find themselves sitting several games below .500.
There's still plenty of baseball left to play, and there's certainly enough talent on this roster to make things interesting if they put together a strong second half. But through 86 games, it's been a pretty frustrating season overall. It certainly hasn't been all bad. Buxton has looked like an MVP-caliber player, and there are still reasons to be optimistic moving forward.
At the same time, though, the bullpen has struggled exactly as expected, the rotation remains a question mark outside of Joe Ryan, several key hitters haven't taken the leap many hoped they would, and the defense has consistently hurt this team. Those are my five biggest takeaways from the first half of the 2026 season for the Minnesota Twins.
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