26 July 2024
The Twins have just taken two of three from baseball’s best team and here come Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda, expected to join the team for a six-game road trip that begins this weekend in Detroit.
Brock Stewart is back in the Twins’ bullpen for the first time since May 1, and Justin Topa is set to pitch in St. Paul on Friday to take what the team hopes are the final steps before joining the bullpen for the first time since being acquired in the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle.
Suddenly, there is reason to believe this team might have postseason legs. And when we say suddenly, we mean suddenly.
The Twins returned from the All-Star break last weekend fending off the narrative that they couldn’t consistently beat baseball’s best teams, something they’ll have to do to A) overtake Cleveland in the American League Central and B) advance to their first World Series since 1991.
It didn’t help matters when Minnesota immediately lost two to NL Central-leading Milwaukee, falling to 2-19 against the six teams with better records, four of them division leaders. With MLB-leading Philadelphia headed here for a three-game series, that number was offered around the clubhouse and received with what amounted to a group shrug, perhaps best summed up by catcher Ryan Jeffers after the Twins beat the Phillies 7-2 on Monday night.
“I knew we weren’t playing great against (those teams),” he said, “but I don’t think anyone in here gave a (rip).”
After Minnesota rallied to walk-off the Phillies on Wednesday for their first series victory against one of MLB’s heavyweights, Twins fans might be more inclined to think that way, too.
Because the Twins have been to the playoffs 10 times since 2002, this is the time of year fans generally wonder whether their team has the mettle to reach the heights of the 1987 and 1991 teams — and whether the front office will make a significant addition at the trade deadline by 5 p.m. CDT Tuesday.
Those questions are joined at the em dash there but not necessarily at the hip. In a real way, personnel gurus Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are charged with making up for ownership’s decision to cut payroll, rather than add it, after the Twins broke the team’s 21-year run without a playoff series win, but they seem to have already built a contender.
With little exception, the Twins have been playing good baseball this season, which is why they’re 11 games over .500 and held the second AL wild card spot on Thursday. And they’re getting better.
The reason the Twins beat the Phillies twice this week is that they just outplayed them twice: pitched better, had better at-bats, never gave in. As Max Kepler said after driving in the winning run in the ninth Wednesday, they grinded.
“I wouldn’t say it was pretty at times, but we never really gave up and played hard on both sides of the ball — even if it really didn’t fall the way we wanted it to in the specific moments where the game kind of changed,” he said. “But we grinded. We’re grinding with what we have.”
Stewart, the Twins’ most effective right-handed reliever the past two seasons, has been back for one game. Lewis (right adductor strain) will return soon after being out since July 2 — He also missed 58 games earlier this season with a quadriceps injury — while Miranda (low back strain) has been out since July 10. Carlos Correa, on the injured list with plantar fasciitis, probably won’t travel this trip but isn’t expected to be out long.
Brooks Lee is an improvement on what the Twins were getting from Kyle Farmer, and Jorge Alcala seems finally to be settling into a leverage role. Simeon Woods Richardson and Bailey Ober look better with each start, and Topa, if he pitches the way he did last season in Seattle, is the kind of reliever teams hope to get at the deadline.
“A lot of guys are down on the injured list, and we’re still competing, which is special with a group this young right now,” Kepler said. “To go through the stuff we’re going through against these top-tier teams, it’s special.”
When reminded that the Twins are about to get key players back from injury for the stretch run, Kepler said, “Makes you think about when everyone’s healthy and back, it’s going to be scary.”
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