The serenity to accept that which cannot be changed

 It's important to accept those things that we cannot change. The things that are beyond our control. This season, the Twins are 4 games better than they were last year, which is a pretty big shock when you also consider that at the same point last year, they were a game ahead of the AL Central, and this year, they are 8 games behind the Cleveland Guardians. The Twins have at last caught the Royals for second, but sheesh, that is a foreboding hill to climb, catching Cleveland. 

Last year, the Twins were also able to kick it into a higher gear as the season wore on This season, the Twins are successful despite Pablo Lopez's anemic performance. Last year, his worth evidenced itself in the latter half of the season, including pitching to a 2.00 ERA in August. If there is that kind of improvement this year, then that is especially fantastic. 

Part of the worry in 2024 versus 2023, though, even as the team is improved a bit is that one player that hasn't is Lopez himself. Even compared to his sluggish start in 2023, Lopez was dominant last year against right handed hitters, and is merely average against same handed hitters in 2024. There is something to be said for expecting Lopez to be better in the second half, but it's unlikely that he will be nearly as good as he was in the second half last season. 

The season has been a series of ups and downs for the Twins, but one thing in particular has gone very wrong for the Twins. The Cleveland Guardians are playing very well. As much as the Twins can hope for Lopez to return to his 2023 form, it is much more reasonable to start to hope the Guardians slow down, or the suddenly resurgent Twins offense keeps it up. 

As I noted at the beginning, hoping for the Guardians to start to fall apart is all that the Twins can do. There are a few games left on the calendar between the two teams that the Twins will need to win, but beyond that, it's just hope. Hope that the seemingly more challenging schedule proves to indeed be more challenging for Cleveland. Cleveland is thought to have the most difficult schedule the rest of the way. Twins fans can also hope that the the Guardians anemic offense of 2023 was their true self, and not the blistering offensive performers that they have been this year. Come on, regression!

One thing the Twins can do is keep hitting. Their offense was their bugaboo in the beginning of the season, but then it started to gel. The return of Royce Lewis was an obvious kick in the pants, but so too was the arrival o Jose Miranda. Max Kepler and Carlos Correa were next, followed by Carlos Santana and Willi Castro. Now, Byron Buxton is one of the hottest hitters in the game, and games just seem a lot easier to win now. 

If they can keep hitting, they can keep winning. And that might not be enough to take the Central.

Decision Season is almost here

With the summer beginning to warm up, so to do the opinions. It's only early June, but still, everyone is trying to formally assess their team, because decisions are being made. It's really just baked into the season, and not a fault of overzealous fans and sports writers, but even though we are getting into the summer heat only now in the northern US, we are also in All Star Voting season, and beginning to look ahead to the trade deadline.

The initial discussion is a pretty easy solution for the Twins. There are really only two players to consider for the all star game this year - Ryan Jeffers, who may not make it because Salvador Perez and Adley Rutschman will get spots, and Joe Ryan, who would be the third Twins starting pitcher to make the all star game in the last two years, which is fairly incredible. After that, the next best option is Griffin Jax, which is probably a good lesson in why the Twins don't feel like they are having a good season, even as they are better than their 2023 selves. Carlos Correa is simply too unpopular, and Royce Lewis has only been involved in just over a dozen games.

This is a tough thing for the Twins, though. It's really hard to figure how good the Twins actually are on an individual level. This isn't a "small sample size" thing either. Minnesota as a baseball playing environment fundamentally changes as the year goes on. Outdoor games through May are a pretty inhibitive offensive environment, and it get's a heck of a lot better when summer rolls around. But it's decision time now!

Especially after last year, and despite the positive results, it's important for the fans and the team to know that there is support. Sure, the Twins might not be able to really ratchet up payroll (though I believe they will at the deadline) but they could still make moves that improve the team for the home stretch. Of late, the offense seems to be a bit better calibrated (so long as the Twins aren't playing the Yankees) and the pitching has been rougher around the edges. Do you look at the longer season sample, or this last burst of action when making a move?

I've long insisted that I don't think the Twins thought they would be challenged this year, and as a result, overplayed the television situation. Now that they find themselves in a stickier spot than they expected. The team is better than they were at this point last year, but they have also had better luck in the health department. While the atmospheric issues are going to become more favorable for the offense, the internal talent is going to remain about the same.

The Twins bet on Kyle Farmer and Willi Castro to be the utility man, with Farmer struggling mightily, and Castro becoming the life of the party once again. There were concerns about first base initially, but Alex Kirilloff was sent down and Jose Miranda is getting quality run. Carlos Santana has also turned into the reliable offensive presence the team hoped for when they signed him. I think offensively, the greatest need is to supplant Farmer (or Manuel Margot, I guess) and get better from the right side of the plate. 

It would always be nice to add more pitching, but deadline trades in that department have been an unmitigated disaster for this front office. What was the best deadline trade the Twins made a for a pitcher? Was it Sergio Romo? I think it might be. The Twins could use another pitcher, especially if Pablo Lopez doesn't go on a heater to end the year like he did last year, but, and this isn't a money thing, I don't see the Twins making a significant pitching move at the deadline this year. We'll see Randy Dobnak back in the big leagues before that happens. 

The problem at the center of all these decisions remains the same. It's hard to say what this Twins team is yet. We've only seen them in a couple of summer like games. Will the offense click on it's own, and will the Twins believe that it can keep it up when it starts cooling off outside in October? It's hard to decide right now, but you better believe people are looking for decisions.

The looming City Connect uniform is being revealed in 5 days

 In a league as staid as Major League Baseball, new uniform reveals are still a big deal. Changes are infrequent, and there are so many games that new jerseys are going to be seen regularly. There is buzz about the Twins City Connect, debuting on the 10th of June. While part of me hopes they are bringing back their  Turn Ahead the Clock  uniforms from the 90s, I also know that this won't be the case. So I have ideas.

First, I would make the whole thing out of Minnesota Plaid. You know, Paul Bunyan, red and black. Still can't picture it?

You might be saying "Ryan, the Twins clearly teased a water theme".  Of course they did, which leads to the second element. What says "going to the lake" more than a life jacket? And not the good ones with the clasps on the front that were purchased sometime after the Nixon administration. I'm talking about the ratty old ones you have on the pontoon at the cabin.

Get the orange around the collar and down the front of your red and black jersey. I don't know how you can get more connected to the city than that. 

The Twins need Royce Lewis, but how?

It's hard to believe, but the Twins are actually 2.5 games better than the 2023 Twins were on May 30th, 2023. There are a couple of big difference, of course. The rest of the AL Central came to play this year, and Minnesota presently finds themselves in 3rd place. Also, the Twins have been on an extraordinary roller coaster ride throughout the season. 

The pitching has been steady, for what it's worth. Through every spin of the rotation, any pitcher, particularly Joe Ryan, is liable to give 6-7 quality innings, and the bullpen started extremely strong, and has cooled since then. The most volatile part of the Twins production, though is the offense.

It doesn't help that Royce Lewis was injured in the first game of the season, or that Carlo Correa missed a tract of time in the early part of the year either. Those two are viewed as the steadiest hands in the lineup. The Twins seemed to get a boost from Correa's return. One must surmise the same may happen with Lewis when he comes back.

So the Twins, despite a good stretch of baseball, are looking forward to having him come back and patch one of the holes in the lineup. Great! 

Well, maybe not so great. OK, so it is great, but it isn't going to be easy. For all the talk about an inconsistent lineup, the most consistent hitter has been Jose Miranda, Lewis' replacement. Fortunately, both Miranda and Lewis or positionally versatile and can be slotted nearly anywhere in the infield. 

I'm not even going to dig into the stats for Carlos Correa, because he is obviously not going anywhere. Utility hitter Willi Castro has been the third most valuable player for the Twins in the month of May, for some reason.

That leaves 4 hitters in the infield that might lose their spot when Lewis is ready to go. The young players that still have options, Alex Kirilloff and Edouard Julien buoyed the team for the first part of the team, but have since fallen on hard times. In the last couple of weeks, though, Kirilloff has started to come out of his funk. Julien plays a position that Lewis isn't known for. Do you let Kirilloff continue to swing his way out of his troubles, trusting him to be a major leaguer at this point, or do you want one of your top prospects to play out of position?

Those aren't the only two options, of course. There are a couple of veterans that might see their time with the Twins come to a close. Carlos Santana is the 10th oldest player in Major League Baseball (at a youthful 37) and was miserable to start. In the month of May, he was the 5th most valuable Twin, about where his productivity was expected to land. That leaves Kyle Farmer, an extremely popular player in the clubhouse. His popularity, the glue he provides to the team, were factors in the Twins spending what they did to retain him. He hasn't become unpopular, but his productivity has fallen off. Will the Twins want to sacrifice the investment they put into him?

There isn't an easy choice, but the nature of baseball is that there is always something unexpected around the corner. An injury would completely change the decision making process. For now, it's kust a tough decition.