Nick Nelson

After finishing the month of April ranked near the bottom of the American League in most categories, the Twins’ offense has undergone a stunning turnaround in May, in which they led the league in scoring through Monday. Prior to Tuesday's loss to the White Sox, the Twins had averaged 6.2 runs per game this month and had crossed the plate five or more times in eight of their past nine games. A sleeping beast awakened, indeed. Can this unit continue to excel and help keep the team hovering around .500?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That will largely be dependent on how young contributors like Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Arcia, Brian Dozier and Chris Parmelee progress, but even more so it may be dictated by the two veterans at the heart of the order. Justin Morneau pulled into a tie for sixth place in the American League with four RBI on Monday night, but his high ranking has more to do with opportunity than effectiveness. Morneau has started 35 of the Twins’ 36 games – 32 of them in the cleanup spot – and has routinely batted behind Joe Mauer (.426 OBP) and Josh Willingham (.377 OBP). Entering play Wednesday, Morneau had batted with more runners on base than any player in the majors save Prince Fielder, and while he’s done well in those situations, batting .326 with runners in scoring position (including 7-for-8 with the bases loaded), you also get the sense, based on his track record, that he’s been leaving plenty on the table. Morneau has uncharacteristically been limited to two home runs this season, including just one with runners on base. Although he appears healthy, he is slugging .424, which is 65 points below his career mark. Morneau is on pace for nearly 130 RBI this season even with a mere semblance of his usual power. Imagine what that number could look like if he were flashing more pop. We may actually be starting to see that now, as the 32-year-old has been hitting the ball with increasing authority recently, having tallied five doubles (and not coincidentally 10 RBI) in his past seven games. The man hitting in front of Morneau is another interesting case. After driving in 110 runs last year, Willingham is on pace for 72 this year. Like with Morneau, this can be attributed to decreased power – Willingham hasn’t homered in May and is well off last year’s pace despite a team-leading total of five – but the bigger culprit is a simple lack of hitting. It’s not that Willingham has been an offensive liability; he’s contributing to Morneau’s opportunities by getting on base at a .377 clip, thanks to a career-high walk rate. But walks don’t drive in runs and the slugging outfielder is batting just .204. In 39 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, he has collected only six hits. The Twins are relying on these two boppers to provide the brunt of the power in their lineup and produce runs. Morneau is trending up in that department and Willingham, despite his recent slump, has proven more than capable. If the heart of the lineup can start beating more steadily, this offense should be able to keep its rhythm.

Kyle Gibson is anxious to finally reach the big leagues, and he's currently making a strong case in Triple-A with a 3.32 ERA and 1.16 WHIP through seven starts. His most recent outing was his most impressive: a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts, two walks and four hits. Gibson is on an innings limit this year and has already logged 40 innings in Rochester, increasing the urgency to call him up soon so he can spend time adjusting to the majors, thus preparing himself for a full, successful season in 2014. But space is limited in the Twins' rotation and Gibson is not the only one vying for a spot. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Unlike Gibson, Cole De Vries was actually in line to land in the major-league rotation this spring before suffering a forearm injury that set him back about a month. De Vries made his second rehab start in New Britain on Friday night, allowing two runs over five innings and prompting Rob Antony to say De Vries is "getting close." Then there's Samuel Deduno. After starring in the World Baseball Classic, he also had his chance to make the Twins sabotaged by injury. He's now back and pitching in Rochester, where he has a 0.87 ERA through two starts. Deduno's control has been characteristically bad, as he's issued eight walks (against nine strikeouts) in his 10 1/3 innings of work, but he's shown the ability to succeed in spite of the walks before, and the Twins owe him a look based on the results he's gotten. All three of these hurlers deserve a chance with the Twins, who rank 26th in the majors with a 5.04 starting pitchers' ERA. That's not even mentioning prospects Alex Meyer and Trevor May, who are excelling in Double-A. But where will the club find room? Scott Diamond and Kevin Correia are entrenched. Mike Pelfrey seems safe after showing signs of improvement in his past few starts. Vance Worley might be getting into dangerous territory as his bad results -- and bad luck -- have persisted through eight starts. Pedro Hernandez is probably one more dud away from getting bumped, so it's unsurprising that the left-hander declined to go on the bereavement list after the death of his cousin last week. His career is on the line right now. The presence of legitimate options in the minors creates a dynamic that has been lacking in Minnesota's rotation over the past couple years. Pitchers are feeling pressure to get the job done because there are players ready to take their jobs, for good. Turnover in this unit will be looked at mostly as a positive. We've grown accustomed to injuries and performance issues leaving the starting corps decimated; when was the last time that finding enough room for all their starters was a challenge for the Twins?

Like a car engine struggling on an icy day, the Twins' lineup had a tough time revving up during the chilly month of April. Ambitious thoughts about the potential for an offensive core powered by numerous potent bats went wayward as the runs trickled in at a disappointing pace. The Twins finished the season's first month ranking near the bottom of the league in OPS and runs scored. This, at least for me, was somewhat jarring, because from my standpoint they didn't appear to be overmatched. Hitters throughout the lineup were taking good at-bats, several key players were excelling and, most importantly, everyone was healthy. But overall the offensive unit just wasn't clicking. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here in May, the tide seems to be turning. And this transformation has taken place in the most unlikely of ball parks. Entering this week's four-game series against the Twins, the Red Sox were 20-11, including 11-5 at Fenway Park. In their own yard, Boston had held opponents to an average of 3.8 runs per game. With the league's hottest rotation leading the way, the Sox had jumped out to an early lead in the rugged American League East. The Twins hardly looked intimidated. In the opener, they jumped on April's AL Pitcher of the Month, Clay Buchholz, hanging four runs on him in six innings. This marked the first time this year the right-hander has allowed more than two runs in a start or completed fewer than seven frames. After ultimately coming up short in that game, the Twins won the next three for an impressive series victory. In the four-game set the offense scored 31 runs. Suddenly, the team's numbers look quite a bit more respectable. The Twins now sit seventh in the AL in runs per game, with a 4.58 mark that places them above the league average. The team OPS has cracked the .700 mark at .702, about 20 points higher than when they opened the series. Will this upward trend continue? It's hard to see why not. Joe Mauer continues to look like Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham is doing his thing and Trevor Plouffe is beginning to drive in runs at a steadier pace. Justin Morneau is the remaining wild card in the middle of the lineup, but he's one player who appears poised to turn the corner and start crushing it at any time. Elsewhere, we're seeing increasing signs of life. Pedro Florimon has been surprisingly competent at the plate and hasn't slowed down yet. Ryan Doumit has broken out of his early-season slump and is hitting .308/.345/.577 in May. Oswaldo Arcia, who turned 22 on Thursday, is transforming into an impact hitter before our eyes. Sure, there are still underperformers – Aaron Hicks hasn't had a multi-hit game, Chris Parmelee holds a .611 OPS and Brian Dozier hasn't shown much consistency at the plate – but in each case these are young, developing players with seemingly nowhere to go but up. My biggest reason for excitement regarding this season was that the Twins figured to be, if not competitive, at least quite entertaining to watch. So far, they have been both, even with the offense largely falling short of its potential. Are they now taking steps toward meeting that potential? Too soon to say, but the lineup made a resounding statement in Boston this week and now returns to Target Field for a nine-game homestand.

You've probably heard the story by now. On the very day that Vance Worley was told by Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. that he'd been traded from the Phillies to the Minnesota Twins, the 25-year-old pitcher had been planning to pick up an engagement ring from the jeweler so that he could propose to his girlfriend. Worley, who had just signed a lease for a new house in South Jersey nearby Philly, suddenly had his entire life uprooted. He would be leaving the only organization he'd ever known and heading to the American League Central, where instead of pitchers, the opposing lineups are rounded out by powerful designated hitters like Victor Martinez, Adam Dunn, Billy Butler and Mark Reynolds. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Tough break for a control pitcher with fringy stuff. And as it turns out, Worley's misfortune was just beginning. Maybe while he was packing his belongings for the move to the Midwest, he dropped a mirror and shattered it. Maybe he walked under a ladder, or a black cat crossed his path. Whatever the reason, the right-hander has been snakebitten thus far for the Twins, experiencing tumult unlike anything he's seen in his career. When he entered the fold, Worley instantly became the Twins' most accomplished starting pitcher, as reflected by his assignment to start on Opening Day. In parts of three seasons with the Phillies, he had compiled an 18-13 record and 3.50 ERA and in 2011 he finished third for Rookie of the Year. Yet the early results in Minnesota have been roundly disappointing. Through seven starts, Worley is 0-4 with a 6.95 ERA. In 33 2/3 innings, he has given up a league-leading 55 hits, contributing to a ghastly 1.90 WHIP. After each poor start, Worley sounds like a guy who's more flabbergasted than frustrated. "The ball was coming out, doing what I wanted it do," he said after coughing up six runs in Detroit last week. "They just came out swinging." While it might be easy to see a lack of accountability in the pitcher's remarks, it's also not hard to see some truth. He really is doing many of the same things that made him a successful pitcher in Philly. His velocity is the same, he's throwing strikes and his pitches are moving. He is by all accounts healthy and feeling good. His ground ball rate, at 50.4 percent, is actually far higher than his norm. Still the hits keep coming. Worley has been saddled with a batting average on balls in play of .407, which is the highest in the major leagues and 90 points above his previous career mark. That is a sign of dreadful luck. Sure, it doesn't help that the Twins aren't an especially great defensive club, and Worley has given up his fair share of hard hits, but nothing can explain such an exorbitant number. He's getting killed by bleeders and bloopers. In addition, Worley's HR/FB rate of 13.9 percent is the highest on the Twins staff and the highest of his career. He's stranding only 61.4 percent of his ample base runners – the lowest mark of his career and the lowest of any Twins' starter save for Mike Pelfrey. Certainly Worley needs to make some adjustments. Whether it's scouting-related or the nature of AL lineups, hitters have been more aggressive against him this year and he needs to find a way to leverage that rather than letting it beat him. But he hasn't pitched anywhere near as badly as his numbers suggest and over time, if he keeps executing his game plan, he is going to get better results. There's simply no way this run of poor luck can sustain, unless he did incur some type of voodoo curse over the offseason. That isn't to say Worley is going to turn into a legitimate No. 1 starter any time soon, or even that he'll be able to match his NL success. His 12.7 percent K-rate leaves much to be desired and falls well short of his 20 percent mark in the senior circuit. Nevertheless, I think his 4.18 xFIP is a much better indicator of what we can expect from him going forward than his current bloated ERA.