Week in Review: From Stumble to Surge

The Weekly Nutshell:
Well okay then! Through their first nine games of the season, the Twins much looked like the team most expected to see, opening with a 3-6 record that placed them at the bottom of the Central division. Looking ahead to matchups against Detroit and Toronto, the Twins were going to need to step it up to avoid sinking deeper here in April.

They did indeed step it up, and in a big way, seizing a rare four-game series sweep at home against the Tigers before heading to Toronto and taking two of three from the defending AL champs. The Twins hit for power, pitched well, and played much more cleanly than we saw in the first few series. They took advantage of lapses while their opponents struggled to do the same. Suddenly, they've won six of seven and eight of their past 11. Now we're having some fun.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 4/6 through Sun, 4/12
***
Record Last Week: 6-1 (Overall: 9-7)
Run Differential Last Week: +16 (Overall: +14)
Standing: 2nd Place in AL Central (0.5 GB) 

Latest Game Results

Game 10 | MIN 7, DET 3: Keaschall's First Homer Sparks Win in Frigid Temps

• Keaschall: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Game 11 | MIN 4, DET 2: Bradley Outduels Skubal in Dominant Performance

• Bradley: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K

Game 12 | MIN 8, DET 6: Twins Ambush Valdez, Hang On to Clinch Series Win

• Buxton: 3-4, BB

Game 13 | MIN 3, DET 1: Abel's Strong Start, Lee's Clutch Hit Secure Sweep

• Abel: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 6 K

Game 14 | TOR 10, MIN 4: Wheels Come Off for Woods Richardson and Banda

• Woods Richardson: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 K

Game 15 | MIN 7, TOR 4: Ryan Cruises and Larnach Delivers Three-Run Blast

• Ryan: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 5 K

Game 16 | MIN 8, TOR 2: Twins Jump All Over Scherzer, Take Road Series in Rout

• Gray, Lee: 5 RBIs

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NEWS & NOTES

The Twins made their first IL moves since the season began on Saturday, placing third baseman Royce Lewis and reliever Cody Laweryson on the shelf. Utilityman Ryan Kreidler and right-hander Andrew Morris were called up from Triple-A as replacements. Lewis tweaked his knee on a swing in Thursday's game, later diagnosed as a sprain, while Laweryson is dealing with a forearm strain.

Some fans expressed dismay to see Kreidler called up instead of, say, Kaelen Culpepper, but the reality is that Culpepper has only played about a dozen games at Triple-A. He's a very important prospect and his timeline should be dictated by development rather than the major-league team's needs, especially if those those needs are short-term in nature. That is hopefully the case for Lewis, who sounds likely to miss the minimum 10 days if things go to plan. 

Laweryson's timeline is less clear. Forearm strains are always concerning. The timing is tough because he was coming off a couple really strong appearances in the Detroit series, including his first career save on Monday. Morris, ranked by Twins Daily as the #12 prospect in the system, will provide length with the ability to pitch multiple innings. He did so in his MLB debut on Sunday, throwing two-innings of one-run ball while firing a fastball in the upper 90s.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Twins were failing to get anything done against left-handed starters ... up until they faced Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez — the $50 million duo atop Detroit's rotation — and knocked them around for 12 earned runs in 9 ⅓ innings, defeating them both on the way to a stunning sweep over the Tigers.

Some of Minnesota's righty bats finally came alive. Luke Keaschall hit his first homer of the season on Monday and added RBIs in the next two games. Byron Buxton broke out of his slump with a three-hit game on Wednesday, with Lewis also driving in a pair. 

Brooks Lee delivered a clutch go-ahead hit on Thursday, and channeled the momentum into two home runs and a two-run double in Toronto. He lifted his OPS from .417 at the start of the week to .694 by the end. A desperately needed awakening for Lee at the plate.

There were plenty of good signs from the offense, which averaged 5.9 runs per game on the week and now ranks second in the American League in scoring. But the rotation led the way against Detroit, with Minnesota's four starters combining to allow just five earned runs on 18 hits in 23 innings (1.95 ERA), with zero homers. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober were good, Mick Abel was very good, and Taj Bradley was once again great.

Bradley continues to look better and better each time out, and was flat-out dominant on Tuesday, holding the Tigers to one run in 6 ⅓ innings with 10 strikeouts and zero walks. After outperforming one of the best pitchers in the game on Tuesday, Bradley followed up by outperforming one of the best pitchers of this generation on Sunday, picking up another win against Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays. Bradley battled major control issues in this one, walking four and throwing just 62 of 106 pitches for strikes. But in a way it was maybe his most impressive start yet, because he worked out of self-created jams and found the zone when he needed to. It was a great indicator of how far he's come.

Minnesota's patchwork bullpen is getting it done for now. They held close leads in the Detroit series, with contributors emerging from every corner and a different reliever notching the save in each win. Laweryson got five big outs to close out Monday's game. Newcomer Garrett Acton picked up the win on Thursday, tossing two critical innings in relief of Abel to set up Lee's late-game heroics. Taylor Rogers, Eric Orze and Kody Fundeburk were all effective in their opportunities, and Derek Shelton seemed to be putting them in the right spots.

I'm not sure how long this grab-bag relief corps will be able to sustain its performance, but you've got to commend them for what they've been able to get done thus far.

A few other performances worth highlighting from an outstanding 6-1 week for the Twins:

• Ryan Jeffers was a run-producing machine, driving in seven across his four starts behind the plate while impacting games with his prolific and proficient pitch-challenging. He tallied three hits, including a homer, in the opener against Toronto, and is taking a lot of high-quality at-bats. 
• Trevor Larnach hasn't had a ton of opportunity to play due to the frequency of left-handed opposing starters, but he's definitely taking advantage of his spots. He launched a big three-run homer off lefty Eric Lauer to break Saturday's game open, and on the season he has seven walks compared to four strikeouts, reflecting masterful control of the zone. 
• Austin Martin is getting on base relentlessly, which is exactly what the Twins need him to do. He recorded five walks and four hits last week, boosting his batting average to .300 and his OBP to .500 in the young season, and his defense in the outfield has looked much-improved. On Friday he doubled for his first extra-base hit of the season; we'll take whatever glimpses of pop we can get. 
• Finally, Josh Bell continues to anchor the lineup with consistently fantastic production. He started in the middle of the order for all seven games and went 8-for-24 with a double, a homer, and five RBIs. Bell has been all that was advertised and then some. 

LOWLIGHTS

Simeon Woods Richardson pitched really well through his first two starts, but felt like a little bit of a ticking time bomb. His swing-and-miss rate was among the lowest in the league, and his stuff was grading out very poorly according to qualitative models. In Toronto, the bottom fell out.

Staked an early lead on home runs from Jeffers and Lee, Woods Richardson was hit hard in a four-run fourth that erased the team's advantage. He was replaced by Anthony Banda, another guy plagued by quality-of-stuff issues — his fastball is down nearly three full MPH from last year. Banda was touched up for three earned runs in 1 ⅔ on Friday, after yielding four earned runs while recording just two outs against Detroit on Wednesday. His ERA sits at 9.39 through eight appearances. Maybe we're seeing why the Dodgers were willing to let him go. 

While many hitters are coming around and finding success at the plate, James Outman is not among them. He's still searching for his first hit of the season after going 0-for-9 with six strikeouts last week. Outman has been overmatched and doesn't really appear to have much of a chance up there.

To some extent I can give him some lenience — he's playing somewhat rarely and it can be hard to find your timing or get into any groove with such sporadic opportunities. But that's the role. And while it's not a role that demands much offensively, the Twins need someone who can pose some kind of threat at the plate when he's in the lineup. Lou and I discussed some possible options and solutions in the livestream and podcast.

TRENDING STORYLINE

We'll see how the Twins handle the left side of their infield in the absence of Lewis. Kreidler and Tristan Gray have traded off starts based on matchups thus far, and that's probably a fair expectation going forward. I wondered if we might see Kreidler step in at shortstop with Lee sliding to third against lefties — probably a better defensive alignment — but so far Shelton has seen fit to keep Lee home at shortstop. Kreidler made a very slick play in his first start at the hot corner, showcasing what he brings to the table defensively.

Depending on how long Lewis is out, this could be a great opportunity for Gray to get some playing time and show what he can do. He's always been bit of a fringy player who's struggled to get consistent playing time in the majors, but he's got a really intriguing power tool and we've already seen that on display. He hit another big three-run homer on Sunday and has driven in 11 runs through eight games played, helping key the surprising early success of this offense.

Unfortunately, the nature of the upcoming schedule might make it hard for the lefty-swinging Gray to draw regular starts in the near future (see below), but with each eye-catching moment he's establishing himself as a legitimate top backup behind Lewis at third, which as we've seen is a pretty important role.

LOOKING AHEAD

The parade of left-handers continues, with four more the docket next week, starting with one of the game's best in Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet. The Twins seem to have turned a bit of a corner against southpaws this past week, so we'll see if they can channel that forward into their lefty-stacked matchups against Boston and Cincinnati at Target Field.

MONDAY, APRIL 13: RED SOX @ TWINS — LHP Garrett Crochet v. RHP Bailey Ober
TUESDAY, APRIL 14: RED SOX @ TWINS — RHP Sonny Gray v. RHP Mick Abel
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15: RED SOX @ TWINS — LHP Connelly Early v. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson
FRIDAY, APRIL 17: REDS @ TWINS — LHP Brandon Williamson v. RHP Joe Ryan
SATURDAY, APRIL 18: REDS @ TWINS — LHP Andrew Abbott v. RHP Taj Bradley
SUNDAY, APRIL 19: REDS @ TWINS — RHP Brady Singer v. RHP Bailey Ober