The narrative has changed

The Twins are hitting at a torrid pace right now, and are able to pair it with some solid pitching in order to be the second hottest team in baseball. Not bad, and certainly not something we are used to seeing around here. Good hitting and good pitching?! At the same time? Wild. Never mind that the hottest team is their perennial nemesis the New York Yankees. 

Before this season started, there were questions about the rotation. Many, many questions. They were too young, to patchwork to be successful, and playoff odds didn't look terribly favorable thanks to the low regard for the arms on the staff. Then, they came out and dominated the first couple weeks of the year, even as the offense was limp. 

The past few weeks have been revelatory. After the sluggish offensive start, the promised offensive surge has arrived. Carlos Correa is hitting. Max Kepler is hitting. Trevor Larnach is hitting. Byron Buxton never stopped hitting. And the starting pitchers never stopped pitching.

Now, a month into the season, it seems more likely that the Twins have something with their pitching staff, rather than it being a fluke (Dylan Bundy's recent appearances aside). Now that he offense has started to play at a pace that many people expected them to, everyone has started to see what a formidable threat the Minnesota Twins are this season. 

It's not just fans and pundits that have reevaluated their perception of the Twins this season. There is something deeper there that has given the sterile circuitry in the Baseball Reference computers a new perspective as well. No team has seen their playoff odds rise as much as the Twins in the past week, It's up 20% in the last 7 days, and up over 25% in the last 8. 

Undoubtedly, the extended slow start of White Sox helps, but more importantly for those computers is that the rotation has sustained success. The offense was always coming, but that pitching is here has changed the narrative. 

At the beginning of the season, the Twins were a mystery. After a month of play, expectations have been elevated. If they continue to execute, the Twins are a playoff team. Fans, writers and even the metrics are becoming increasingly convinced of that.