The Minnesota Twins Maintain Leadership In AL Central

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Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli just can’t seem to get many breaks in terms of playing with a full deck of players. The club’s pitching depth was challenged when starters Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda along with reliever Caleb Thielbar hit the Injured List

Mahle was the pitcher of record in the 11-1 win at Miami on May 3 but that fifth start of 2023 for him was his last of the season He immediately headed to the IL for Tommy John surgery Maeda making a comeback (albeit rocky) this season from his own Tommy John surgery that kept him out for all of 2022. He was 0-4 in four starts with an ERA of 9.00 when a triceps injury sent him to the IL on April 29.

The rotation replacements came from Triple-A St Paul with Bailey Ober (for Maeda) and Louie Varland (for Mahle) Thielbar, meanwhile, missed 29 games with an oblique strain before returning to

BLUE JAYS VS. TWINS

JUNE 9. 10. 11, 2023

action on June 4 His numbers through his first 12 games of 2023 (ERA of 1.74 and WHIP of 0.97) indicated his importance in the bullpen.

Since the series at home against the Blue Jays, the Twins have seen other positive injury news with the return of outfielder Max Kepler along with infielders Jorge Polanco and Royce Lewis But then slugger Joey Gallo, who led the club with 11 home runs, headed to the IL on June 3 with a sore hamstring It should be noted that despite batting 188 with a club-high 62 strikeouts, Gallo and DH Byron Buxton were tied for second on the club with 23 runs batted in, one less than shortstop Carlos Correa

Gallo is also a two-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner so he will be missed for more than his power.

The Twins split their four-game home series against Cleveland last week despite winning the first two games. Baldelli was unable to use neither Correa (plantar fasciitis) nor

Buxton (sore ribs after exiting the series’ opener against the Guardians when he was hit by a pitch) over the final three games of the series

Correa and Buxton each possess a Platinum Glove and a Gold Glove However, this season in an effort to keep the oft-injured Buxton in the lineup, he became the full-time DH Without doubt when they’re on their games, Correa and Buxton are dynamic hitters. Buxton continues as a base-stealing threat and was 6-for-6 in steals through June 4 He was third on the Twins in that category behind outfielders Willi Castro (with a career-high 11) and Michael A Taylor (eight)

Lewis provided two absolutely uplifting stories last week The first overall selection in the 2017 MLB Draft sustained back-to-back ACL injuries to his right knee in 2021 and 2022 He finally made it to the Majors in 2022 and even became the second Twins batter to hit a grand slam on his first MLB home run. But his season ended on May 29 when he underwent ACL surgery for a second time in as many years

Activated on May 29, 2023 at Houston – the anniversary of his surgery from the previous year

Lewis was at third base for the Twins, feeling he was in for a big game. And it turned out that he was right. He went 2-for-5 with four runs batted in He had a three-run home run in the third inning plus a gametying single in the eighth The Twins won that game 75 when hot-hitting catcher Ryan Jeffers belted a two-run shot in the top of the 10th inning

Three nights later in his first game of the season at Target Field, Lewis tied it (6-6) against the Guardians with a two-run homer in the eighth Castro’s basesloaded sacrifice fly provided the walk-off 7-6 victory in the ninth

While the offence has had its moments with contributions from many due to injuries, the pitching has indeed been a strength despite facing its own adversity Through June 4, the Twins ranked second in the Majors to Houston in terms of fewest runs allowed (222) and in ERA (3 42) However, Minnesota pitchers were first in the Majors in strikeouts (575), WHIP (1 17) and opponents’ batting average (2 25)

The Blue Jays didn’t see Minnesota’s most consistent pitchers to this point in 2023 (Joe Ryan, 7-3, and Sonny Gray, 4-1) when they met at Target Field But, barring injuries or changes in schedule, the probable pitchers for this series will be Gray, Ryan and Varland (3-1)

Among qualified pitchers, Gray was the last pitcher to surrender a home run this season. It occurred last Saturday against Cleveland in his 12th start of the season. The following afternoon, Ryan pitched well in taking the 2-1 loss against the Guardians Ryan, who turned 26 last Monday, entered that game as the Twins all-time leader in strikeouts (257) and second-most wins (22) through his first 43 games

The role of closer belongs to Jhoan Duran who had eight saves in nine opportunities through June 4 He is a hard-throwing righty with plenty of evidence to back that up On May 24 against San Francisco, he threw pitches of 104 0, 104 4 and 104 6 miles per hour, all personal and Twins records Then on June 2 against Cleveland, he hit 104.5 and 104.6 on the radar gun. Through June 4, he was the only MLB pitcher this season to have hit 104-or-more miles per hour

The Twins headed for Tampa Bay and their three-game series against the Rays with a record of 31-29 They were the only team in the AL Central with a plus differential in runs scored (+45) There’s still a long way to go but with a healthy roster and a few breaks they believe they can win their first AL Central title since 2020 l