The Twins have Created the Best Offense in All of Baseball

This past weekend, the Twins scored 27 runs in three games to start out the 2020 season 2-1. They were held to three runs in Saturday’s game against former AL Cy Young Award Winner, Dallas Keuchel, meaning they put up a total of 24 in the other two.

Nelson Cruz has led the pack and was named AL Player of the Week Monday, after his unbelievable three games to pace the Twins offense. People figured the Twins’ sticks would be good again this season, but are they proving to have the best offense in all of baseball?

Last year, the Twins hit 307 home runs to break the MLB single season home run mark by a single team. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough for GM Thad Levine and Derek Falvey. They went out and signed former AL MVP Josh Donaldson to a club-record contract.

Baldelli’s Bomba Squad leads the entire league through three games, with the 27 runs scored that we discussed earlier. They are also tied in with Chicago for most home runs in the league, with seven. Oh, and this all happened while Donaldson recorded just one hit in his first 10 at-bats in a Minnesota Twins uniform.

The #MNTwins scored 27 runs during a 3-game road series in which Josh Donaldson went 1-for-10 with an infield single.

— Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN) July 26, 2020

PLENTY OF DEPTH

Max Kepler got the start in the lead-off spot on Friday night and hit two home runs in his first two at-bats off of stud pitcher Lucas Giolito. Rocco Baldelli awarded Kepler with a spot in the eight-hole the following day, showcasing the depth they up and down their lineup.

Keuchel, who dominated the Twins (which won’t happen very often), had this to say about the Twins lineup:

Dallas Keuchel from Sat. about the #MNTwins: “That’s one of the best lineups that any of us will see this year. They won the division for a reason last year, & we’re going to have to go through them to win this thing. I have a lot of respect for a ton of those guys over there.”

— danhayesmlb (@DanHayesMLB) July 26, 2020

The Twins were helped by two guys who won’t be in the lineup every day in Jake Cave and Marwin Gonzalez. Cave, who will be a rotational outfielder when Byron Buxton returns to the lineup, hit a grand slam in the first inning Sunday. Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season later in the same game.

Besides the home runs and depth of the Twins lineup, another product of this offense is the quality of at-bats they put together:

The #MNTwins saw 491 pitches this weekend, an average of 164 per game. Kyle Hendricks threw 103 in his shutout vs. Milwaukee the other day. #WhiteSox #MLB

— danhayesmlb (@DanHayesMLB) July 26, 2020

Compare this to last season, where the Twins saw 149 pitches per game. The Donaldson factor is in full effect on this offense, which makes them even better.

While Donaldson was mostly a non-factor all weekend, Miguel Sano didn’t record a hit at all. He will hit the ball hard as he gets adjusted to major league pitching again. Sano showed up late to summer camp after testing positive for COVID-19. When Sano starts hitting the ball like he did last year, no one will want to face this Twins lineup.

PLENTY OF TIME TO GET EVEN BETTER

After falling to the Yankees in the postseason in 2019, the Twins sought to improve their roster.

Although it’s early, I think the Twins have the scariest lineup in baseball. It’s only going to get scarier when Donaldson and Sano start to mash. And don’t forget Byron Buxton, who will hopefully make his debut sometime this week against the Cardinals or Indians. There are plenty of Bombas to come.

Hunter Plante | Minnesota Sports Fan