The beginning of the Twins’ season was unlike any other. Good play followed poor play and the cycle kept repeating itself, the highlight being a 12-game winning streak and the low light a seven-game losing streak.
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“I couldn’t take any more of that streaky stuff,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was more than a little bit. It was excessive.”
It sure was.
But the Twins eventually settled in, found some offensive consistency and started rattling off series wins. They finished the first half of the season with a 54-42 record, on pace to win 91 games and in line for a playoff berth.
Here are five questions facing the Twins as the second half of the season gets underway:
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Will the Twins make a move at the trade deadline?
The trade deadline is fast approaching — it will fall on July 30 at 5 p.m. CT this year — and the Twins currently are in position to be buyers. Holding a Wild Card spot at the moment, the big question will be how much the Twins want to push to supplement this roster.
After a slow start, the offense has been among the best in the majors. It seems as if contending teams could always use bullpen help at the deadline, but the Twins’ group could be getting major reinforcements soon in the form of injured relievers Brock Stewart and Justin Topa.
But the status of the starting rotation is more of a question.
The Twins have Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson and Chris Paddack currently in the rotation. But their starting pitching depth is thin. And the Twins will need to continue carefully monitoring Paddack’s workload in his first full season since 2019.
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Would they swing a trade for a starting pitcher? And how much would they have to part with to do so? They have a little over a week to figure that out.
How healthy will the Twins be?
The Twins limped into the all-star break, forced to play a catcher, Christian Vázquez, at third base last Saturday due to a string of injuries to their infielders.
After staying mostly healthy for much of the first half of the season, both Kyle Farmer (shoulder) and Jose Miranda (back) landed on the injured list and Carlos Correa (more on him below) was sidelined with a foot injury.
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Austin Martin was already on the injured list at the time, though his return could be quite soon. Fellow infielder Royce Lewis, whom the Twins said early in July they would re-evaluate after the all-star break, was too. Lewis is dealing with an adductor strain that the Twins expected would keep him out for a few weeks.
Stewart appears to be near a return — which could provide a big boost to the bullpen —rehabbing with the Triple-A Saints last week after missing two months with shoulder tendinitis, and Topa (knee) could be moving toward making his season debut.
The Twins haven’t said much publicly about Alex Kirilloff’s status since he landed on the IL a little more than a month ago, though it’s hard to see how he fits into the picture at the current moment when he is healthy.
How big of a problem will Carlos Correa’s foot be?
Carlos Correa was scratched from the lineup on Saturday and imaging revealed plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The all-star break came at a good time for him, and if he does take the field on Saturday, he would have had seven days to rest.
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But how serious is the injury?
The early word is that it is less serious than the plantar fasciitis he had in his left foot last season, but it still has to be a concern considering how much he was limited by his foot a season ago.
Correa said last Sunday if he could have done things differently last year, he would have taken more time off when the issue started to make sure that the pain doesn’t worsen.
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But how much time is enough time? And how much will plantar fasciitis affect and limit Correa, who has been the Twins’ team MVP to this point?
What will the Twins do with Brooks Lee when Royce Lewis returns?
It’s a good problem to have, certainly, but what will the Twins do with their No. 2 prospect when Lewis makes his return?
Lee was called up from Triple-A when Lewis landed on the injured list, and his performance in a small sample size has impressed those around him.
Though he’s primarily played third base since he got called up, and was drafted as a shortstop, he had an very notable day in the field last weekend at second base, making multiple nice plays, which drew praise from manager Rocco Baldelli.
If Lee continues to perform, the Twins could opt to shift him over to second, letting him play a little bit of third and possibly even short, as well. That could free up super utilityman Willi Castro to move around the field as needed.
Can the Twins catch Cleveland?
The Twins hit the all-star break 4½ games behind the division-leading Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central division and they will spend the second half of the season trying to track them down.
Despite the ground to make up, FanGraphs gave them a 38.1 percent chance to win the division (behind Cleveland’s 53.3 percent).
The Twins will play seven games in the second half against the Guardians — they went 0-5 against them in the first half — and will have an opportunity to gain some games on Cleveland then.
If they are unable to catch the Guardians, they are still well positioned to make the playoffs currently. As it sat at the break, they held the second Wild Card spot — matching them up for a series in New York against a historically-dreaded playoff foe: the Yankees.
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