cHawk

That’s really interesting

He’s 2-7 at the plate in his first two games in the MLB. I haven’t been watching the games on TV, so I wouldn’t know how he’s looked in the field.

The pitching staff did great but where is the offense?

A win is a win, whether you like it or not.

We are about a month of the way through the 2022 MLB Season. Some teams have overperformed expectations thus far, some have underperformed expectations thus far, and other teams have performed as expected. I want to rank the 15 American League teams based on their performance in the first month of the season. I will be considering not only the teams' Win-Loss records but also the way the individual parts of the teams have performed. Let's dive into it, shall we? (Yes, I will be doing a National League Edition too, probably tomorrow or Sunday) 15. Detroit Tigers (8-16) The Tigers have been awful in the first month of the season. Offensively, they rank 29th in Runs Scored, 27th in Team OPS, and T-24th in Team wRC+. Their pitching staff has been decent, ranking 10th in Team ERA, T-10th in Team WHIP, and 13th in Team Pitching ERA-. However, the decent performance of the pitching staff has not been able to make up for the godawful performance of the offense. 14. Kansas City Royals (8-15) The Royals have stunk in the first month of the season. Offensively, they rank 30th in Runs Scored, T-28th in Team OPS, and T-28th in Team wRC+. Their pitching staff hasn't been any better, ranking 27th in Team ERA, 26th in Team WHIP, 28th in Team ERA-, and 28th in K%. 13. Baltimore Orioles (10-16) This Orioles team which was expected to be bad has been bad. Offensively they rank 26th in Runs Scored, 21st in Team OPS, and 25th in Team wRC+. On the pitching side they rank 19th in Team ERA, T-24th in Team WHIP, and 27th in K%. 12. Oakland Athletics (10-15) The A's have been terrible offensively in the first month of the season, ranking 22nd in Runs Scored, 29th in Team OPS, and 26th in Team wRC+. Their pitching staff hasn't been any better, ranking 25th in Team ERA, T-18th in Team WHIP, and 25th in Team ERA-. 11. Texas Rangers (10-14) The Rangers, despite some of their aggressive offseason moves, have not been a good team. Offensively, they rank 17th in Runs Scored, 23rd in Team OPS, and 22nd in Team wRC+. While their offense hasn't been great, their pitching staff has been dreadful, ranking 25th in Team ERA, T-22nd in Team WHIP, and 26th in Team ERA-. 10. Boston Red Sox (10-16) The Red Sox had one of MLB's most explosive offenses in 2021. This group, however, has greatly disappointed thus far in 2022, ranking 24th in Runs Scored, 26th in Team OPS, and 29th in Team wRC+. On the pitching side they've been better but still not good, ranking 18th in Team ERA, 13th in Team WHIP, and 17th in Team ERA-. 9. Seattle Mariners (12-14) The Mariners have been league average offensively. Their offense ranks T-15th in Runs Scored, 16th in Team OPS, and T-6th in Team wRC+. Their pitching staff has been average to slightly above, ranking T-12th in Team ERA, 16th in Team WHIP, and 18th in Team ERA-. 8. Chicago White Sox (11-13) The White Sox have been arguably the most disappointing team in the league thus far in the season. Offensively, they rank T-27th in Runs Scored, 24th in Team OPS, and 23rd in Team wRC+. On the pitching side, they've been about league average, ranking 16th in Team ERA, 24th in Team WHIP, 15th in Team ERA-, and 4th in K%. 7. Cleveland Guardians (12-13) Unlike many Guardians teams of the recent years, the offense has been the highlight for these Guardians. Offensively, they rank 8th in Runs Scored, 6th in Team OPS, and T-4th in Team wRC+. Also unlike many Guardians teams of the recent years, the pitching staff has been the lowlight for these Guardians. Their pitching staff ranks 21st in Team ERA, (surprisingly) 10th in Team WHIP, 23rd in ERA-, and 18th in K%. 6. Toronto Blue Jays (16-11) Toronto has been the definition of mediocre. They've been average offensively, ranking 9th in Team OPS, 18th in Runs Scored, and 14th in Team wRC+. Their pitching staff has also been average, ranking T-17th in Team ERA, 13th in Team WHIP, and T-16th in Team ERA-. 5. Minnesota Twins (15-11) The Twins' pitching staff has been surprisingly good in the first month of the season, ranking 8th in Team ERA, 8th in Team WHIP, and 9th in Team K%. Offensively they've been above average, ranking 13th in Runs Scored, 10th in Team OPS, and 6th in Team wRC+. 4. Houston Astros (15-11) The Astros' pitching staff has been superb through the first month of the season, ranking 5th in Team ERA, 5th in Team WHIP, and T-6th in Team ERA-. Their offense, however, has not been as good, ranking T-20th in Runs Scored, T-19th in Team OPS, and 15th in Team wRC+. 3. Los Angeles Angels (17-10) The Angels have been excellent offensively, ranking T-1st in Runs Scored, 3rd in Team OPS, 2nd in Team wRC+, and 8th in Team Offensive WAR. Pitching has been an issue for Angels teams of the recent years, but thus far their pitching staff has been above average, ranking 14th in Team ERA, 4th in Team WHIP, 14th in Team ERA-, and 13th in Team Pitching WAR. 2. Tampa Bay Rays (16-10) The Rays have been led by their pitching staff which ranks 6th in Team ERA, 3rd in Team WHIP, and 5th in Team K%. Offensively they aren't as strong but still are respectable, ranking 11th in Team OPS, 11th in Runs Scored, T-4th in Team wRC+, and T-4th in Team Offensive WAR. 1. New York Yankees (18-7) This Yankees team has been firing on all cylinders thus far. Offensively, they rank 2nd in Team OPS, 6th in Runs Scored, T-1st in Home Runs, T-1st in Team wRC+, and 2nd in Team Offensive WAR. On the pitching side, they rank 2nd in Team ERA, 2nd in Team ERA-, 7th in Team WHIP, 6th in K%, and 2nd in Team Pitching WAR. Those are my rankings. What are your rankings? Share them below!

That’s great news.

Losing Correa sucks. BUT THAT’S SO ****ING AMAZING WE’VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT

That’s really a shame. I hope everyone who got hit with the virus makes a full recovery. I also hope that this doesn’t cost the Twins wins.

We couldn’t win a series against the ****ing Orioles. Truly pathetic.

****ing really man? How on earth is he the worst manager in team history? Jeepers.

To me there is something about this team that’s different from last year. The players seem to be having more fun.

A champion gets back up whenever something knocks him on his ass. Get em tomorrow.

Moderator Note: Politics are not for discussion in a baseball thread. You all know this.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Lewis the most. Good to see him carving it up at the plate in AAA.

This pitching staff has been fire the last 10 games

Yeah…I guess that’s fair. I was looking at all of the stats as a whole, but I’d say average to slightly below.

Yeah I agree, but I do think they help a bit. Fielding % is better IMO. What would suggest this? Other than their strikeout numbers they’re around average. In the context of their home run and walk numbers, they’re above average.

In the two stats I referenced (Errors and Fielding%) the Twins rank 11th and 12th, which is slightly above average.

Our Minnesota Twins start the 2022 MLB Season at 11-8 and are 1st Place in the American League Central Division. It’s a Small Sample Size, but the Twins have shown both areas of strength and areas of weakness in their first 19 games. Today, we’re going to analyze the following four items and label each as either a strength or a weakness: • Starting Pitching • Relief Pitching • Offense • Defense Starting Pitching: Strength One of the biggest surprises for the Twins thus far in 2022 has been the starting pitching. The Twins’ starting rotation was predicted by many to be an average to slightly above group. However, the numbers say this group has greatly exceeded expectations in the first 19 games. A few stats for you: Team SP ERA: 2.39 (2nd) Team SP Opp BA: .205 (5th) Team SP WAR: 1.9 (5th) Team SP WHIP: 1.01 (3rd) Team SP HR/9: 0.80 (8th) Team SP BB%: 6.1% (4th) Team SP K%: 22.5% (14th) Team SP WPA: 1.31 (4th) Team SP LOB%: 81.9% (2nd) It’s fair to say this group has greatly exceeded expectations through the first 19 games. Dylan Bundy, Chris Paddack, and rookie Joe Ryan have led the rotation, combining for 53.0 IP and 1.8 WAR (0.6 WAR each). Relief Pitching: Weakness The Twins’ relief staff was one of the main contributors the the team’s early collapse in 2021 (Mostly due to a reliever who shall not be named blowing several saves). While it hasn’t been as much of a burden on the team so far in 2022 as it was in 2021, it has been a problem and the numbers reflect that: Team RP ERA: 3.94 (21st) Team RP Opp BA: .241 (27th) Team RP WAR: -0.3 (28th) Team RP WHIP: 1.38 (27th) Team RP HR/9: 1.39 (28th) Team RP K%: 23.8% (16th) Team RP BB%: 10.8% (25th) Team RP WPA: 0.15 (18th) Team RP LOB%: 80% (5th) One of the main reasons that this group has struggled is that Tyler Duffey and Caleb Thielbar have struggled, despite being effective for the Twins in the past. Tyler Duffey has a team worst -0.76 WPA, and Caleb Thielbar has a -0.35 WPA. If this group is going to be league average, those two are going to need to figure it out. Offense: Middle of the Road This Twins offense had potential to be one of baseball’s most explosive units. In some ways it has. In other ways it hasn’t. Team Batting RS: 75 (17th) Team Batting BA: .225 (20th) Team Batting OBP: .314 (13th) Team Batting SLG: .369 (16th) Team Batting OPS: .683 (17th) Team Batting: wRC+: 107 (15th) Team Batting K%: 24.6% (25th) Team Batting BB%: 10.6% (4th) Team Batting HR: 20 (9th) Team Batting WAR: 2.1 (17th) Obviously this group has its strengths and weaknesses. It’s fair to say that it was expected that this offense would rank high in HRs. But what really sticks out to me about this group so far is the BB%. They ranked in the 15-20 range every year from 2019-2021, but they’ve jumped all the way to 4th in 2022. I don’t know what caused this large leap, but I do know that more walks lead to a better offense. And in case you didn’t hear, Byron Buxton is good at baseball. The biggest problem with this group by far has been the K%. They rank 25th in the MLB with a 24.6 K%. If you add all of the stats up, the Twins’ offense has been middle of the road. If the Twins want their offense to be Top 10 in MLB, they’ll need to lower the Team K% and increase the Team BA. As the weather gets warmer, that may very well happen. We’ll see. Defense: Middle of the Road From Jorge Polanco’s terrible defense at SS to Luis Arraez’s terrible defense at 3B, defense has been a problem for the Twins over the last couple of years. In theory, this defense should be pretty good. A speedy Buxton in CF combined with Carlos Correa at SS and Max Kepler in RF sounds awesome. So far in 2022, the Twins’ defense has a FP of 98.8% (11th) and has committed 4 Errors (12th). There isn’t a lot to say here. The Twins’ defense has been about average and hasn’t made any game-losing blunders thus far. To recap, the Twins’ starting rotation is the main reason for their winning streak. Their relief staff has coughed up multiple leads. Their offense and defense have been up and down. If the Twins want to be a contender in 2022, they will need to shore up their relief staff and lower their strikeout numbers. Their starting staff will also need to continue to perform well.

Minnesota is good. That is all.

Great win! Let’s bring out the brooms tomorrow!

I wasn’t able to watch the game last night, but the offense certainly struggled. Glad we got the W though. Props to Duffey, Pagan, and Ober.