Don’t look now, but the hottest team in baseball is the Minnesota Twins. Beset by injuries, lack of any consistent offense, and a leaky bullpen, the team sputtered in the first month of the season. But now riding an eight-game winning streak, the rest of the American League Central Division is looking over their shoulders at the hard-charging Twins.
How did they turn it around? Their bats have come alive since a putrid April performance. Some of the MASH unit Twins are returning to the lineup. And the starting pitching has been lights out. Can they sustain it? My bet is that if they stay relatively healthy, they will compete aggressively for the division title.
Twins Bats Have Come Alive
After a wretched April, Minnesota’s bats have come alive, led by veteran center fielder Byron Buxton. For the month of May, Buck is batting .333 with three home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs scored. Welcome addition Harrison Bader is batting .462 with seven runs scored and three steals in the current month. After starting the season hitting .180, outfielder Trevor Larnach went through a 10-game run hitting .316 with four home runs, 10 RBIs, and posting a 1.024 OPS. Catcher Ryan Jeffers, while still only batting .222, has knocked in six runs in May.
And youngsters Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. were the hitting heroes yesterday in a 7-6 win over the San Francisco Giants. Lee hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to cut into the Giants lead. Lewis broke out of a 0-36 slump with his first hit of the season. And Keirsey drove in Lee with a single in the 10th inning for the first walk-off hit of his career. Shortstop Carlos Correa was given the day off today in an attempt to help him break his season-long funk.
Phenomenal Starting Pitching
To say that the strength of the Twins in 2025 is their starting pitching would be a gross understatement. After each had a rocky opening start to 2025, Pablo Lopez and Baily Ober have stepped it up and rung up some amazing numbers. Their ERAs are 1.96 and 2.10, respectively, and their WHIPS are terrific at 0.87 and 1.10. And Joe Ryan’s WHIP stands at 0.83, and he has struck out 54 batters in 46 innings, including 11 against the Los Angeles Angels on April 27.
And for those who expected Simeon Woods Richardson and Chris Paddack to give way to David Festa and Zebby Mathews, you’ll have to wait a little longer. Wood Richardson has been a reliable fourth rotation guy since the season began, and Paddack, after getting sent to the showers early in his first two starts of this year, has lowered his ERA to 4.76 and his WHIP to a respectable 1.29.
Defense and Bullpen Have Stepped
The Twins are blessed this season in having the best defensive outfield combo in the league. Gold Glover Bader was brought in to spell Buxton and to fill in occasionally at the corner outfield positions. But with the injury to Matt Wallner, Bader has stepped in as the everyday left fielder, and his play has been eye-popping. Not only is he hot offensively, but he and Buck combine for a highlight-reel play every game. They communicate well with each other in the field, and their coordination has been seamless.
And the Twins’ bullpen, after a patchy early stretch, is starting to demonstrate why it was considered the strength of the team heading into training camp. Griffin Jax has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in the past three seasons. However, he was rocked to start the season, losing two and blowing two saves while having his ERA skyrocket to 11. Thankfully, he has returned to his old self and is once again one of the best setup men in baseball.
Lefty Danny Coulombe has been nothing short of amazing. He has not had a run scored on him all season, and his WHIP is a minuscule .28. Despite limited save opportunities early, closer Jhoan Duran has regained the velocity on his fastball and has returned to being one of the most feared pitchers in the league. He sports a 0.75 ERA and 0.67 WHIP while striking out 15 batters in 12 innings pitched. And after a rough start, Cole Sands has returned to form and is once again consistently providing quality middle-inning relief to the Twins.
What’s Next
The Twins hope to extend their winning streak to nine games as they open up a three-game series against the struggling Baltimore Orioles tomorrow evening at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
