Lest I turn this into a Francisco Liriano column (which would, in turn, require me to turn it into a “Wow, I can’t believe the Giants traded Liriano and Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski” column), allow me to now explain why Justin Morneau is the guy that has ultimately turned things around for the Twinkies.
First, you have to understand how Minnesota baseball has worked for the past five years. Other than their brief fall from grace last year, the Twins have been the dominant team in the AL Central for this entire decade. They have won with pitching and defense and by bringing young players up through their farm system. Their one problem? They haven’t been able to get power from the middle of the order.
Last season – after a string of frustrating postseason exits – Minnesota entered spring training with an extra bit of optimism. Morneau was a young slugger that was home grown and ready to produce. He jacked 19 home runs after coming up in July of 2004 and seemed poised for a huge second season in the bigs. However, as detailed above, that plan didn’t exactly pan out.
Now? It’s a whole different story. Morneau is in the top 10 in the American League in batting average (.319, 9th), home runs (28, 7th), RBI (88, 3rd), and slugging percentage (.596, 7th) and has emerged as a legitimate MVP. However, his overall numbers don’t even begin to tell the story.
It seems like distant history now but the Twins were really struggling coming out of the gates. Because the AL Central was being billed as a Sox-Tribe clash before the season and because the Tigers have been so good, nobody really noticed that the Twins were brutal over the first two months, going 25-28 and scuffling along behind a punchless offense. Morneau was a primary offender, picking up where he left off in ’05 by hitting .253 with a slugging percentage under .500 over that period of time.
Once the calendar flipped to June (right about the time I passed on that trade), Morneau started raking the ball. Not surprisingly, the Twins started reeling off win after win. After a miserable first two months, Minnesota’s young left-handed power threat went crazy in June and July, hitting .387 with 18 home runs, 52 RBI, and a whopping .719 slugging percentage over that span. As for Minnesota, they ran up a 36-15 record during that time and got right back in the race.
Article comments
1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Adam,
I haven't been watching the Twinkies for about five years now, given that I live a third of a world away. But my wife, the loyal fan and St. Paul native, keeps pressing me for stats - so in the past I looked in the Jerusalem Post (when you live in Israel, that paper is a real downer, as is Haaretz) or the major league baseball site.
The way I've seen it, the Twinkies, no matter how good they looked in the "Central Division" (whatever that is - this is baseball, not basketball!) of the AL, never really rose above the middle of the American League. If you look at all of the teams in the AL, do the Twins rise above the middle of the AL, or are they still sitting there?
2 - Matthew T. Sussman
Ruvy,
ESPN's Power Rankings should give you a good idea of who's playing the best right now. They update it every Friday:
1- Yankees
2- Tigers
3- Twins
Though personally I'd switch 1 and 2.
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Thanks Matt,
I just went to the AL standings at the same site - and it turns out that with a .591 average, the Twins are in the 4th ranking out of 14. Not bad, but still solidly towards the center of the standings in the league. Usually they have been in 5th or 6th place in the past.
Still, it is nice to see the Twins garner a little attention outside of Minnesota and the Dakotas...