There are only two weeks left in the season, and everyone is paying attention to the Minnesota Twins’ magic number. The number of games they have to win and clinch the division for another opportunity to end their longstanding playoff losing streak.
The Twins are only four games away from clinching the division. However, there are plenty of other team and individual stats the Twins are going for that are worthy of some magical consideration.
Royce Lewis, aka Mr. Grand Slam Himself
For starters, Royce Lewis and his grand slam power. What Lewis has accomplished, four grand slams in three weeks, has been an unthinkable phenomenon in the sport. But even the youngest superstars can still surprise the baseball world with feats that have never been accomplished, assuming he’s healthy enough to return in the regular season.
Lewis is the first and only player in MLB history to have five career grand slams before his 100th career game – let alone his 70th career game. Fritzie Connally with the 1985 Baltimore Orioles is the only other player in MLB history to come remotely close to the feat he has accomplished. Connally hit two grand slams with the Orioles in 58 career games. However, he only had one other home run in his entire career, which ended after that season.
Assuming he can get healthy, it’s not out of the question that Lewis may have the opportunity to hit one more before the 2023 regular season concludes. Eleven games is enough time for this chance to happen again. If it does, Lewis will set a rookie record that many people will describe as untouchable in the years to come.
Pablo López and K’s
Lewis isn’t the only player putting up impressive numbers. While Pablo López struggled in his last start against the Chicago White Sox, he’s still third in the majors and second in the American League with strikeouts this year. López currently has 221 strikeouts on the season and became only the third Twins pitcher with 200 plus K’s on the season since Johan Santana left the team.
Francisco Liriano (201 K’s in 2010) and José Berríos (202 K’s in 2018) are the other two Twins who have achieved this feat since Santana’s departure. López has eclipsed both of them. He likely has two starts remaining in the regular season and will extend his totals on the season.
Two hundred and forty is the big number in strikeout totals that López could aim to make history. Only Santana and Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven have had a season with 240 or more strikeouts since the Twins moved from Washington, D.C. Santana and Blyleven did it twice.
López should make his final two starts against the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies, who are fourth and third in team strikeouts this season. Facing two strikeout-prone lineups to end the year will give López a great shot at 19 strikeouts, making him the third Twin ever with 240 or more strikeouts in a season.
Willi Castro and Stolen Bases
This one may be more out of reach than the other two based on daily playing time, but Willi Castro is chasing a Twins stolen base record. He’s the first Twin with more than 25 stolen bases since Byron Buxton in 2017 when he swiped 29 in his healthiest season.
As Castro currently sits at 31, meaning he only needs five more to post the 10th time since 1961 that a Twin has 36 or more bases. Only one Twins player has surpassed this number of stolen bases once since the turn of the century. Ben Revere had 40 in 2012.
All of Minnesota’s other base-stealers came from before the Target Field era:
- Three high-quality seasons from Chuck Knoblauch (153 from 1995-97) and Rod Carew (3 40 plus stolen base seasons in the 70s).
- One 45-stolen-base season from Twins Hall of Famer Cesar Tovar.
- And a one-and-done 1998 season with the Twins from Otis Nixon with 37.
If Castro plays every remaining game either as a starter or pinch runner, he’ll have a good opportunity to get five more on the season to put himself 10th all-time in the single-season stolen base record in Twins franchise history.
Sonny Gray and the American League ERA Title
It’s a rare occurrence to see a Twins starter win the ERA title. It’s only happened three times since 1961. Allan Anderson was the first in 1988, a career season when he posted a 2.45 ERA across 202.1 innings pitched.
The other two times it happened were Santana’s Cy Young award seasons in 2004 (2.61 in 228 innings) and 2006 (2.77 in 233.2 innings). Earlier in the season, it looked as though Gray could have easily set a new Twins franchise record for the lowest ERA. But even as the season has dragged on and that number has risen higher, he still has a good opportunity to capture that crown for the team, as it sits at 2.84.
Gray sits only 0.03 points behind Gerrit Cole, who currently leads the American League with a 2.81 ERA. Both starters have at least two starts left on the season. However, Cole could possibly get a third start on the final day of the year with the New York Yankees out of the playoff race.
Cole is the American League’s leading Cy Young candidate right now, and maintaining the A.L. ERA crown could solidify some votes from BBWAA writers who are deciding between him and Gray.
From a matchup standpoint, Gray has the upper hand. He’s set to face the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies to end his year while Cole will have to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and Toronto Blue Jays’ playoff-caliber lineups. Even after Minnesota clinches a playoff spot, Gray vs. Cole will continue to be a fun battle between the Twins and Yankees to keep track of to end the year.
All of these record chases could be achievable for these players and the Twins in their final 11 games. It’s unlikely all will be achieved. But if even just one or two are, fans will have plenty to be proud of from these 2023 Twins, despite all the frustrations this season has brought them.
