The Minnesota Twins: Can One Ace Equal a Central Division Crown?
Last year the Minnesota Twins were expected to win the American League Central but instead they watched as the Chicago White Sox snatched the division title from them and also won the World Series. They also watched as Cleveland surpassed them and challenged for the wild card. So the question is: can ace Johan Santana bring this team back to the top of this division?
In talking about the Minnesota Twins pitching staff the conversation must always start with ace Johan Santana who has won the Cy Young Award. Last year he had another great season and probably should have won the CY Young Award instead of Bartolo Colon. While he only had 16 wins and 7 losses, he posted a magnificent 2.87 ERA with 238 strikeouts. He is by far one of the most feared pitchers in all of baseball. The only reason he had 16 wins instead of 20 was because his team had trouble scoring runs for him. Santana has a fastball with a lot of movement in the mid 90s and a great slider. He is also famous for his circle changeup in the mid 70s that fools even the best of hitters. On some nights he is almost unhittable and he had just a great season last year. I’d like to say he could have 20 wins this year but I just don’t see it happening. Even if young catcher Joe Maur is healthy this year, their offense will be no better as corner outfielder Jaque Jones went to the Chicago Cubs.
Their next pitcher is Brad Radke who the Twins signed to a contract extension last off-season. He simply had an awful season last year going 9-12. His ERA was really high with a 4.04 ERA. While Radke is not known as a power pitcher with 117 strikeouts last year, he is known for having a low ERA near 3. Radke’s best pitcher is his changeup which gets hitters to fly out. He also walks few hitters which mean that hitters make more contact. This also leads to giving up more homers. If the Twins are to have any chance Radke needs to have a winning record at the very least.
Their horrendous pitching continued with pitcher Kyle Lohse who went 9-13 last year. He had a 4.18 ERA last year and few strikeouts, only 86. Last year Lohse’s problems were due to giving up walks and the long ball which led to giving up more runs. He has a decent curve and slider but cannot overpower hitters. He loses focus a lot and needs to see vast improvement and at least a .500 or better record for the Twins to compete.
Fourth is Carlos Silva who actually had a winning record for the Twins going 9-8 last year? He posted a 3.44 ERA which is still pretty good. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, having only 71 K’s but he does have good location and can get hitters to ground out when he is in a tough spot.
Their fifth pitcher is really an unknown and will probably vary as the season goes on. One young pitcher who they will try in the fifth spot in the rotation is the young Scott Baket who is only 24 years old. He pitched 53 innings last year and went 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA. He has good stuff and a good fastball and looks to have a bright future in baseball.
Their closer is All Star Joe Nathan who is one of the best in the league. He posted good numbers last year having 43 saves and a 2.7 ERA. He has a good fastball in the mid 90s with excellent control. He gets a good deal of strikeouts and is very good. The rest of the bullpen is above average but no one else commands the respect that Nathan gets every time he steps onto the mound.
Can the Twins win the division? Probably Not. While anything is possible, the White Sox have only gotten better this off-season and with one more year of maturity under their belt, the Cleveland Indians will challenge for the wild card and division as well like they did last year. Minnesota Twins really needed to make a trade or sign a big free agent in the off-season and they failed to do that. This will cost them dearly as they will fall out of contention in the playoff hunt.
