4 Reasons The Twins Can Contend In 2016
Opening Day in Major League Baseball is one of the best days for sports fans. For the hardcore baseball fans, it's like Christmas morning.
For at least one day, every team is equal in the standings and is thinking about the potential to be playing October baseball. A lot can and often does change over the first few weeks of the season. Teams suffer key injuries, players go through slumps and streaks, whether they are winning or losing, happen.
The Twins made big strides last year, coming off four straight seasons with at least 90 losses. In Paul Molitor's first year, the Twins finished 83-79 and had a chance for a playoff spot heading into the final series of the regular season.
Now that Spring Training is over, here are four reasons the Twins can be contenders this summer.
Ervin Santana Gets His First Full Year
The Twins were set to call Ervin Santana their ace last year, only to have him be suspended for the first half of the season after a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. In 17 starts during the second half, Santana went 7-5 with a 4.00 earned run average and 82 strikeouts in 108 innings pitched. He got better as the season got deeper and games got more meaningful. In his last seven starts, Santana was 5-1 with a 1.62 earned run average.
In five Spring Training starts this year, he went 2-0 with a 1.77 earned run average and had 18 strikeouts. While Spring Training performances are largely meaningless, signs point to Santana stepping up and helping the Twins be contenders this year.
Twins Add Power Bat With Byung-Ho Park
The Twins spent the offseason looking to add another big bat in their lineup, and they might have gotten it with Korean slugger Byung-Ho Park. He'll have his ups and downs in his first big league season, but Park finished Spring Training tied for second on the team with 13 RBI. He batted .259 in 58 at-bats with three doubles, three home runs but did have 17 strikeouts.
His bat will not only give the Twins more power in the lineup, it should protect other hitters in the order who otherwise might not see good pitches to hit. He'll play spot defensive duty when needed, but Park having a big year at the plate could do wonders for the Twins' offense this season.
Buxton, Sano Start 2016 In Big Leagues
Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano are two of the top prospects in baseball and both got a taste of the big leagues last year. Overall their seasons in 2015 couldn't have been more different. Buxton battled through a few injuries and played in 46 games, hitting just .209. The Twins need his speed on the bases to score runs, and he had issues with strikeouts last year. His defense and range in the outfield speaks for itself, but being on the bases will give opponents all sorts of troubles.
Sano played in 80 games and emerged as one of the team's top power hitters by season's end. Largely as a designated hitter, he batted .269 with 18 homers and had 52 RBI in 279 at-bats. He also will look to improve at the plate after 119 strikeouts last year and he has a new challenge with being placed in right field with Park starting the year at designated hitter. The hope for Sano is that he continues to be a threat at the plate and is good enough defensively in the outfield that it doesn't cost the Twins runs or games. Until he gets a few chances in a meaningful game and gets confidence, his defense is one of the big question marks heading into the season. But with Park largely at DH, the Twins need to have him play defense to keep his bat in the lineup.
Healthy Bullpen Can Finish Games
When the Twins relief pitchers were healthy last year, they were effective. Glen Perkins was an All-Star and one of the best closers in the game before battling injuries for most of the second half. And of course, the longer a starting pitcher can go in a game helps the bullpen out even more. If the Twins can have their starters at least get into the sixth inning, they then have the option to use Trevor May and Kevin Jepsen in the late innings before going to Perkins for saves. A baseball team is only as good as its pitching staff, so having a healthy bullpen for the duration of 162 games can go a long way to not only playing meaningful September baseball, but making a run in October.
Many experts have the Twins finishing third in the American League Central Division, behind the World Series winning Royals and the Cleveland Indians. The Twins hope they can take the next step to contend after playing meaningful games into the last series of 2015.
