The Minnesota Twins have jumped out to a 7-2 start for the 9th
time in franchise history, and first since 2001. Facing arguably the toughest
portion of their schedule, they’ve certainly been up to the challenge. Now with
some basement dwellers on tap, this is a massively important week.
Rocco Baldelli’s club welcomes former bench coach Derek
Shelton to Target Field tonight for a two-game, home and home series. The
Pirates are just 2-7, don’t have much in the form of Major League talent, and
also aren’t ready to call up any impact prospects. The Twins getting four games
with a team expected to finish near the bottom of the NL Central is a nice
reward following the tough stretch.
From there, things don’t get too much tougher either. While
the road trip does continue to Kansas City, three games with the Royals is
something this very good ballclub should be licking their chops about. Mike
Matheny’s group may not finish below the Detroit Tigers, but both clubs should
be battling to be the worst in the AL Central.
While that’s seven games in a row where Minnesota should be
substantial favorites, the schedule also tilts in their direction when it comes
to the chief competition. Cleveland has a home and home series with the Reds
before traveling to face the White Sox and needing to cannibalize a division
rival. Chicago does the home and home thing with Milwaukee to start their week
off.
Just nine games in the Twins already have a 2.0 game lead,
but they also have a +22-run differential with the White Sox behind them at +5.
By the end of the week Minnesota could have something like a four or five game
lead, and in a season that the number represents over 8% of the total action,
that’s substantial.
You could make a very solid argument that the Twins toughest
part of the season is now behind them. They do have a difficult run in
September that spans just over a week and includes the Cardinals, Indians,
White Sox, and Cubs as opponents. While that period certainly will determine
the division, setting themselves up in such impressive starting position is a
very enviable spot to be in.
Only the New York Yankees have a better record than
Minnesota right now and just the Dodgers have a better run differential (+30).
Baldelli’s lineup hasn’t come close to thriving yet, and still a significant
part of the damage is being done in the first two innings. However, the Twins
haven’t lost when scoring first so jumping on the opposing starter early is
hardly a bad strategy.
We knew this season was going to be a sprint, and a good
start generally sets up the ability for some pace in the middle. Josh Donaldson
needs to get healthy and return. The lineup needs to get going. There are some
tweaks to be made, but this group is setting up for something special.
