Experience comes from experience

 This has been a bumpy week for the Twins, without a doubt. Some heart can be taken in the fact that they have been playing three NL teams that are vying for a playoff spot, but it was still a testament to a young rotation and an overworked bullpen. For better or worse, however, the Twins are still only 2.5 games out of first place and have an 88% chance of reaching the playoffs. 

Despite nearly everything that has gone wrong in the last few weeks, it appears as though the Twins are well on their way to the Playoffs. There is elevated concern now about Bailey Ober after his most recent start, the cataclysm against the Braves, despite his brilliance leading up to this game, which happened to be against a team that has had Minnesota's number for years, in an extremely unfavorable weather setting. 

Greater concern is given to tonight's starter, and two of his brethren. It looks more and more like Simeon Woods-Richardson, David Festa and Zebby Matthews, all rookies, will factor into the Post season roster, with SWR likely starting a potential game three, and Festa and Matthews perhaps pitching out of the bullpen.

People are concerned.

Of course, Woods-Richardson has been pretty good this season, working a 3.69 ERA as a starter before tonight. Where the concern lies is in his experience. Simeon Woods-Richardson, having this be his official rookie season, has never pitched in the postseason. Nor have Festa or Matthews. Ober pitched last season, making this his second turn in the playoffs. It didn't go well the first time, but after a strong regular season, hopes are high. 

For playoff aspirant teams, there is always a demand for battle hardened, playoff tested pitching. The Twins leaned on Pablo Lopez, who was pitching in HIS second postseason, and Sonny Gray who was inconsistent in the playoffs before he was with the Twins, and while with the Twins. Lopez's previous experience, during the 2020 silly season with the Marlins, was wildly different, as the Marlins were playing with house money at that point. His real playoff testing came against the Blue Jays and Astros last year.

And that's the positive spin of this pending post season. The Twins are clearly not going to be making big moves to bring in a front of the rotation starter, but they are going to be near the top of the AL Central for the next several years. You get playoff experience by experiencing he playoffs, and Woods-Richardson, Festa, Matthews and even Ober and Lopez are going to get some more experience. Maybe this won't be their year, but looking at the pieces in place, there will be more chances. 

Really, from this perspective, the only bad news is that Joe Ryan might not get to add the experience as well. And who knows, you play the game on the field, and not on paper. Maybe one of those rookies is going to be precocious, and push the Twins over the edge.