Now 37-42 on the 2025 season, Minnesota’s struggles are no secret. Their pitching has gone from devastating… to disaster. In 156 innings pitched during this 18-game losing stretch, Twins pitchers have allowed 8 runs per game on 27 total homers, touting a brutal 7.67 ERA and 5.00 FIP.

Minnesota Twins pitchers hold unprecedented staff meeting

You can’t win very many baseball games when your staff is pitching like that. So Tuesday, before suffering their fifth-straight loss, the Minnesota Twins held a come-to-Jesus style meeting for their pitchers that included starters, relievers, catchers and coaches.

According to what Chris Paddack told Audra Martin (Twins.TV), this type of meeting was rather unprecedented. The only other time he’s been a part of anything similar is immediately after the All-Star break, when the starters usually gather as a way to reset for the second half of the regular season.

The pitching staff had a reset meeting after yesterday's game pic.twitter.com/644gyDS3cN

— Twins.TV (@twinstv) June 25, 2025

“There was a pitching staff meeting held yesterday. Chris Paddack said, really, the only other time they’ve ever had a group meeting in the middle of the season is after the All-Star break, as a way to reset and get ready for the second half. But yesterday’s meeting wasn’t only the starters, but it was relievers, coaches and catchers as well. And everyone I talked to today said it was time very well spent.”

Audra Martin – Twins.TV (clip above)

Who initiated the pitchers meeting and what was the point?

The goal of Tuesday’s staff meeting, per starter Bailey Ober, was accountability and providing support for one another. I get the feeling he’s one of the pitchers on staff that needed whatever morale boost yesterday’s therapy session provided.

It sounds like it was Minnesota Twins coaches who initiated the in-person group chat. Rocco Baldelli told Twins.TV that the main goal was to refocus pitchers on controlling the things that they can control, and not getting worked up about the things that they can’t.

“The meeting was something that really stemmed from the following idea — There are things you can control and that you should attack, and there are things that you have less control over. Not that those things aren’t going to be on your mind, but focus on the things that you can clearly control and do those things exceptionally well, and start there.”

Rocco Baldelli – Twins.TV (clip above)

Related: High Chance Minnesota Twins Trade Coveted Flamethrower?

One thing is for sure, whether it is Tuesday’s rare staff meeting or something else, the Minnesota Twins desperately need their pitchers to go back being competent, and they need it to happen fast.

If something doesn’t change fast, then it won’t matter when Pablo Lopez returns… because his team’s playoff hopes will be long dead by then.

Tuesday, they entered their game vs the Washington Nationals on the verge of falling back to .500, after losing seven straight, a streak that called for a ‘players only’ meeting the night before.

Minnesota Twins players only meeting saves the rally sausage

Success is never guaranteed after these ‘come to Jesus’ meetings, but this time around it acted as the rain dance Minnesota needed, producing an 11-0 victory that ended an exhaustive offensive drought.

Whatever was said in that players-only meeting might've worked.#MNTwins #MLB pic.twitter.com/6RXJq2EaOG

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 22, 2024

Byron Buxton hit two bombs, Jose Miranda had three RBI, Carlos Santana had two hits, Willi Castro had two RBI and scored two runs. The offense was clicking on all cylinders, which has been a rare occurrence, of late.

Rocco Baldelli likely thought his club had turned a page when they beat up on the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Boston Red Sox en route to 12 straight wins. Unfortunately the truest version of kryptonite came to Target Field in the form of the New York Yankees, and Minnesota hasn’t won since.

Dropping three to the Bronx Bombers was followed by a sweep at the hands of the division leading Cleveland Guardians. Then, after losing their first of this series vs Washington, the players only meeting happened. Rally sausage saved.

I can confirm the rally sausage did make the trip from Target Field to Nationals Park today. Ironically, Byron Buxton has been the Sausage spokesperson for several years and enjoys himself some summer sausage.

2 homers for Buxton tonight. #MNTwins

— Dustin Morse (@morsecode) May 22, 2024

"We knew things had to change and we came out with the confidence and energy that we had in the past."

Byron Buxton launched a pair of home runs in tonight's win over the Nationals! #MNTwins #MLB pic.twitter.com/pj9vAdXA2g

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 22, 2024

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the 12-game winning streak was basically a reset for the season. Rather than being buried out of the gate, Minnesota found themselves back in the thick of a division race.

Even at 6.5 games back, the Twins still have another eight contests with Cleveland this season and the next one doesn’t come until August (when presumably they will have remembered how to play baseball again).

The Major League Baseball regular season is a journey, not a race. That’s hard to remember with a sports landscape pumping out the NBA playoffs and impending NFL schedule. We must maintain some level of patience.

Remember, it’s not until the middle of the summer that we really start to find out who is a playoff team, who is a World Series contender, and which teams will hold mid-season yard sales. But the same can be said about the Twins’ style of play.

Related: Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee Both Launch Rehab Assignments for Minnesota Twins

As Twins Daily’s Nick Nelson said on Twitter, Minnesota’s slow start, followed by a 12-game win streak, before hitting another 7-game losing skid, is truly mind-blowing. The lineup has been streaky (bad lately), and while the starting rotation has been solid, the same cannot be said for a Twins’ bullpen that should be one of the best in baseball.

Kyle Farmer made an error, but if Jay Jackson pitches another game for the #MNTwins they aren’t serious about employing a quality bullpen.

— Ted (@tlschwerz) May 19, 2024

Ultimately, this team needs to figure out a way for their process to drive more straightforward results. Being on this sort of a roller coaster track isn’t sustainable for 162 games. At some point, the cart is going to fall off the rail.

So, if the Minnesota Twins are going to build upon their postseason success from 2023, they’ll need to figure a way to more consistency, especially at the plate. That’s what good teams do. Ups and downs are going to happen, but let’s stay off the Wild Thing.

You can’t be tossing around a meat package one week, then hold closed door meetings the next. That’s not how baseball works.

Related: Bally Sports North May Stream Timberwolves, Twins and Wild on Amazon Prime

Closed Door, Players-Only Meeting Time

So after an embarrassing 6-0 blowout loss vs the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night, Wild players closed the locker room doors to media and coaches for what we believe is the first time since John Hynes took over as head coach. It most definitely is not the first time this season, though.

Hynes said this was a players only meeting. https://t.co/WmRXFOALIC

— Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) January 14, 2024

#mnwild room still closed. Feels like a players-only meeting kind of night.

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) January 14, 2024

The Wild have now lost eight of their last nine games and, after John Hynes got off to an 11-3 start when he took over as head coach, Minnesota’s season is back on the ropes. Kirill Kaprizov’s return couldn’t ignite any fires and Filip Gustavsson gave up 5 goals on 18 shots in his return between the pipes, before he was relieved by Fleury in the 2nd period.

After the game, John Hynes told media, “It was great to have [Kaprizov and Gustavsson] back in the lineup but our team performance wasn’t close to where it needed to be”, which may be the understatement of the season.

Are the Minnesota Wild as good as dead?

As of today, the Minnesota Wild (39 points) sit in 7th place in the Central Division and 13th (of 16) in the Western Conference. Last night’s loss vs Arizona dropped them 5 points behind the 12th place Coyotes, too. [Insert ‘Not great, Bob!’ GIF here].

Related: Wild Rookie Brock Faber Wants All the Minutes and No Credit

But there is some positive news, to close. A lot of teams get into the NHL playoffs, these days. So even after dropping four-straight games (and eight of their last nine), the Wild are only back 8 points in the race for the West’s final wildcard spot, which is currently held by Edmonton (47 points).

So if the Wild can “get their game in order”, as Hynes put it, the season is still salvageable. But if you’ve watched this team perform recently, it’s hard to see that ‘if’ turning into reality. But who knows, maybe a few more players-only closed door meetings can get them there.