With most of the attention on the Minnesota Wild lately and their playoff run, I figured we’d switch it up and talk a little baseball. To be completely honest I’m a hockey player born and raised but I love nearly all sports including baseball and the Minnesota Twins. 

I really started following the Twins closely back in the days of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, and Michael Cuddyer. I won’t lie, all four of these players were my favorites back then, I’d have to say Mauer and Hunter were probably tied for my actual favorite. They were so good and always seemed to play with a smile on their face. 

We’re talking the early to mid 2000’s and I can’t forget Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano, probably two of the best pitchers the Twins had back in that time before injuries took their toll. I loved watching their games and how they seemed to just flow so well as a team. 

I started to lose interest as the team continued to struggle as they have been known to do over the years. Nothing against them at all, I still love them because they’re my hometown team and I’ll always cheer for them. 

I can’t rag on them too much however because the Wild have been known to do the same thing over the years. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping this year will change all that, once this story is printed, we should know if the curse of the first round has been broken. 

Unfortunately for the Twins this season seems to be following in the footsteps of previous ones. As of Tuesday evening, they were 19-29. Things may be looking up however with them just coming off a win over the Baltimore Orioles, it was their third win in a row. 

The Twins have had a few bright spots as well, especially in designated hitter Nelson Cruz who has 10 home runs, 42 hits and 24 runs batted in so far this year in 145 at bats and 42 games. He’s just six home runs behind the leader for home runs in the MLB, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Twins centerfielder Byron Buxton is just one home run behind Cruz despite only playing in just over half the games this season compared to Cruz. Switching from hitting to pitching, the Twins have a couple bright spots there as well. 

Pitching is a little harder to narrow down because there are a lot more pitchers that can be switched in and out. The Twins have used all 21 of their rostered pitchers and so far, Jose Berrios has been the one with the most wins. He’s got a 5-2 record in 10 games and 56.1 innings pitched. Behind Berrios are a number of pitchers who all have recorded two wins. 

As I said before the Twins have been struggling this season to get wins but don’t give up hope. They’re not even halfway through their 162-game season so they have plenty of time to gain some wins. With last season being just 60, the teams didn’t get a chance to really get going compared to a regular season but this year they have that chance. 

They do have the added challenge of dealing with a worldwide pandemic but they seem to be making the best of a tough situation and just trying to play some baseball. The Twins have over 100 games left to turn their season around. If they can continue the current winning streak, they were on as of Tuesday night they could have a chance. 

In the last 10 games they have had a winning record as well, going 6-4. Writing this brought me back to the days I used to watch and gives me an itch to watch a baseball game. It could be the fact that it’s also gotten quite a bit warmer around here lately which is typical baseball weather. I’ll have to try to catch a game and hopefully it’ll be a win that starts a streak all the way to the playoffs. I may sound pretty hopeful but hey I’m a diehard Minnesota fan at heart and I can hope!