Week in Review: Reality Sets In

The Weekly Nutshell:
For a brief period, Twins fans got slight respite from the constant melancholy that now defines our existence as followers of this team. In the 10 days after their roster was stripped down and the front office declared contention off the table for the foreseeable future, the Twins at least played some solid ball and offered glimmers of hope that they might put forth a product worth watching in the final two months of the season. This past week, that illusion came crashing down.

Going up against a pair quality opponents in the Yankees and Tigers, Minnesota looked very much like a team with no juice, minimal talent, and nothing to play for. They were handled with ease in the Bronx, as usual, before returning home and getting mostly drubbed by Detroit in front of the few local fans still turning out. 

But the pain of two series losses paled in comparison to the anguish generated by news that the Pohlad family is pulling the Twins franchise off the market and maintaining principal ownership, ending a lengthy sale exploration odyssey and erasing any optimism that new leadership will come and change the course of this moribund organization. It all comes together to create a very bleak and uninspiring situation. So let's break it down!

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 8/11 through Sun, 8/17
***
Record Last Week: 2-5 (Overall: 58-66)
Run Differential Last Week: -13 (Overall: -37)
Standing: 4th Place in AL Central (14 GB) 

Game 118 | NYY 6, MIN 2: Buxton Homers in Return, But Team Goes Down Quietly

Twins hitters: 3 H, 11 K, 0 BB

Game 119 | NYY 9, MIN 1: Rodon Carves Up Feeble Twins Lineup, Pitchers Pummeled

Adams, Hatch: 6.2 IP, 8 ER, 11 BB

Game 120 | MIN 4, NYY 1: Ryan Locks In, Stops a Lengthy Skid Against Yankees

Ryan: 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 K

Game 121 | DET 4, MIN 3 (11): Twins Come Up Empty Multiple Times in Extra Innings

Twins 3 through 5 hitters: 1-13, 6 K

Game 122 | DET 7, MIN 0: Detroit Dominates From Start to Finish in Shutout Victory

Twins hitters: 2 hits, 0-9 RISP

Game 123 | DET 8, MIN 5: Decimated Bullpen Runs Into the Mud in Middle Innings

Adams and Kriske: 2.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 BB

Game 124 | MIN 8, DET 1: Paddack Once Again Cures What Ails Twins Offense

Lee: 1-4, grand slam

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NEWS & NOTES

The week started on a positive note, with Byron Buxton being activated from the injured list following a three-week absence due to ribcage inflammation, pushing Carson McCusker back to Triple-A. Buxton homered in his first game back. The next day, Matt Wallner rejoined the roster after a much shorter absence on the paternity list, with catcher Jhonny Pereda returning to the minors.

Alan Roden, the only trade acquisition to see MLB action in the immediate aftermath of the deadline, was briefly sidelined with a jammed thumb that he reinjured on Thursday, leading to a ligament strain that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. Roden was placed on 10-day injured list and then moved to the 60-day IL, making way for fellow deadline acquisition James Outman on the active roster and left-hander Génesis Cabrera — freshly signed off the street to a minor-league contract — on the 40-man roster. Travis Adams was also optioned to the Saints in the roster juggle.

A couple of key starters who have been out of action are on the comeback trail. Simeon Woods Richardson has been dealing with a stomach issue — according to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune, a parasite that needed to be surgically removed from his digestive tract — but he's feeling better now and was sent on a rehab assignment to St. Paul. Woods Richardson started against Omaha on Friday and tossed two scoreless frames with four strikeouts. Meanwhile, Pablo López threw in a simulated game at Target Field as he builds back from his shoulder injury, with a rehab stint likely the next step. If all goes well, López should return to make a handful of starts in September, but sadly it'll likely be more about showcasing his health to potential trade suitors than helping this lost Twins team in any meaningful way.

HIGHLIGHTS

At least we still have Joe Ryan. For now. Ryan was one of the lone highlights for the Twins this past week, leading the charge in Minnesota's only victory in New York. He held a potent Yankees lineup to one run over 6 ⅔ innings, with the offense doing just enough to avoid blowing another fine effort from the righty, who improved to 12-5 on the season. 

Bailey Ober's latest start also qualifies as a positive. His final numbers (3 ER in 5.1 IP) were unspectacular and Ober only had four strikeouts, with fastball velocity continuing to hang around 90 MPH. But he did induce 14 swinging strikes, his highest total since early May. The right-hander has been mediocre in three starts since coming off the injured list (4.41 ERA, 4.40 FIP), but that's a big step forward from the form we saw in a disastrous month of June. 

He's pitched into the sixth inning in each of those three starts, and made them all winnable games for the Twins, so Ober once again looks like a usable starting pitcher. But it's a far cry from the frontline performer we saw prior to his drop-off this summer. Whether he's capable of getting back to that level or this is now just what he is — more of a hittable back-end soft-tosser — will have a big impact on the Twins' plans going forward ... including what they could potentially get in return for him this offseason.

There weren't many offensive bright spots over this 2-5 stretch but Brooks Lee made himself an exceptional with a power outburst in the latter portion. Entering the Detroit series, Lee was slashing .167/.220/.263 with two doubles and three home runs in his past 35 games. The lack of power was beyond concerning for a guy with no patience at the plate and no foot speed to leg out weak contact. 

Across four games against Detroit, Lee hit for the cycle with an extra double, capping off his slugging display with a grand slam that put Sunday's game out of reach. He drove in seven runs over the weekend, sparking a lineup that has otherwise severely struggled to get going. 

I still view these as baby steps for Lee, who has a long way to go in order to overcome the skepticism surrounding his skill set and his MLB production through 150 games. But I wrote last week about how vitally important his development is to the Twins' outlook at the shortstop position in 2026 at a minimum, so we'll take all the positive signs we can get. Hopefully the flurry of power is something he can build on rather than another blip on the radar.

LOWLIGHTS

This was an ugly, ugly week for the Minnesota Twins offense. Prior to breaking out for eight runs against Chris Paddack on Sunday, they were hitting .151 with a .480 OPS with 15 runs scored in six games. The Twins somehow managed to produce just six extra-base hits in 26 innings within the favorable confines of Yankee Stadium. They got shut out and two-hit on Friday night against the veteran husk of Charlie Morton. This is brutal stuff. 

Aside from Lee's series against the Tigers, there really was not an exceptional offensive showing to be found across the entire Twins roster. Buxton homered to start and end the week but was quiet in between. Royce Lewis fell deeper and deeper into the throes of his latest slump, starting the week 2-for-19 before finally homering on Sunday for the first time in nearly a month. Ryan Jeffers had two singles and one RBI in his 19 at-bats. Trevor Larnach and Wallner made no noticeable noise. Even Luke Keaschall finally cooled off, going 6-for-26 (.231) with no extra-base hits. 

The reality of what this team is should be setting in for everyone now. And unfortunately it's really difficult to have faith in a better future for the Twins offense. The holdovers who are supposed to steer the lineup back into a contending state are doing little to inspire confidence, as are the coaches and leaders charged with guiding their development. I'm a believer in Keaschall and to a large extent Wallner, but who else? Buxton's great but he's 31 and it can't be taken for granted he'll be this healthy or productive in 2026, much less 2027. 

The most baffling part of the front office's approach at the trade deadline is that they did very little to address what is clearly the most broken and stifling part of their team: the offense. Roden was the only hitter they acquired who actually joined the big-league club and he could not have looked worse, slashing .158/.200/.263 with 13 strikeouts and zero walks in 40 plate appearances. This is not some young kid overwhelmed by the MLB opportunity — he's 25 and has almost 900 plate appearances in the high minors, plus 113 PA as a Blue Jay before the trade. This was a dreadful first impression and that is all we'll get to see of him.

I don't want to overreact to such a sample sample, but the burden of proof is sort of on Roden and the Twins to prove he can be anything. He wasn't hitting before the trade. He was widely viewed as something of a tweener, not a top draft pick and never a top prospect. Now we're supposed to trust that this coaching staff, under which we've watched countless such players fizzle out, is equipped to unlock whatever they see in him. The same goes for Outman, who replaced Roden on the roster and initially looked like the same unproductive strikeout machine who lost favor in Los Angeles. You're saying the Minnesota Twins are going to figure out what the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn't?? It's a very tough sell.

The entire future of this franchise is a tough sell, in the wake of news that the Pohlads are digging in their heels and sticking around despite their level of unpopularity reaching new heights. The family's announcement on Thursday came with a tone-deaf open letter, as well as vague allusions to new minority partners who will be gaining equity in the franchise. None of this gives fans any reason for optimism that better days are ahead. I have about as much faith in the Pohlads to make business decisions with the fanbase's best interests in mind as I do in the Twins staff to turn around a wayward hitter. 

TRENDING STORYLINE

I'm very perplexed as to what exactly the Twins plan to do with their bullpen for next year. Stewart, with his iffy bill of health and all, was under control and he has proven to be a high-caliber late-inning arm when on the mound. The Twins traded him and three other such relievers, leaving the cupboard essentially bare. 

They desperately need Cole Sands to reassert himself as a dependable option, because he's the only established guy they've got now. In that sense it was nice to see him close out his week with a dominant outing, striking out the side in the seventh on Sunday. But what else is there even to work with? Who are we even watching with hopeful eyes over this final stretch of the schedule to see if there are the makings of anything there? 

On Sunday, pitching the innings surrounding Sands were minor-league journeymen Michael Tonkin, Cabrera and Erasmo Ramírez. One day earlier it was Adams, Brooks Kriske, Kody Funderburk, Tonkin and Justin Topa navigating an ugly mess of a game. José Ureña has been getting plenty of tread as well. 

None of these guys, except for Sands and perhaps Adams, have any business even being mentioned in Minnesota's pitching plans for next year. Sands has been bad this year and Adams, while showing glimpses of promise, has a 7.71 ERA and is now back in the minors. Are we going to even see anyone audition for a relief role on the 2026 team, or will the Twins stay the course of merely throwing guys out there to consume innings and get through the games, with no reason for any viewer to really care about how they perform?

I guess we'll have to assume the latter until further notice. Conventional wisdom is that the Twins have harvested enough talented arms that several of them are bound to pan into capable relievers. And maybe there's validity to that. But you can't just expect a bunch of guys, with no real experience pitching in short high-leverage stints, to show up in spring training next year and immediately click into those roles. I get that it happened with Jhoan Durán but he's the exception, not the rule.

Even for teams that are adept at it, building a bullpen takes time, patience and a lot of luck. The Twins are going to have very little in the way of a starting point for next year's unit and it's increasingly looking like they will have almost no starting point. If you take a moment to think about this organization's historical bullpen-building efforts outside of the five success stories they just traded away, that's a proposition you'll find more scary than exciting. 

LOOKING AHEAD

For whatever it's worth, the schedule is about to ease up. Two last-place teams are on the docket, with the Athletics first coming to town to wrap up a seven-game home stand before the Twins travel to Chicago for a showdown against the White Sox. These should sadly be some pretty evenly matched affairs.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 19: ATHLETICS @ TWINS — LHP Jacob Lopez v. RHP Joe Ryan
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20: ATHLETICS @ TWINS — RHP J.T. Ginn v. RHP Bailey Ober
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21: ATHLETICS @ TWINS — RHP Jack Perkins v. TBD
FRIDAY, AUGUST 22: TWINS @ WHITE SOX — RHP Zebby Matthews v. RHP Sean Burke
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23: TWINS @ WHITE SOX —  TBD v. RHP Davis Martin
SUNDAY, AUGUST 24: TWINS @ WHITE SOX — RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Yoendrys Gomez