Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins have been playing some of their best baseball all season since June 1. They took a 21-16 record into the All-Star break, which was the third best in the American League since then, only behind the Detroit Tigers (22-14) and Boston Red Sox (21-15).
Much of that can be attributed to the Twins lineup, which led the American League in runs scored this year with 471. Five hitters have driven the offense: Trevor Larnach, Josh Bell, Kody Clemens, Victor Caratini, and Byron Buxton.
Since June 1, all four hitters have an OPS of .832 or higher and are in the top 10 of other offensive categories (min. 100 plate appearances) in the American League.
Bell: .291/.349/.567, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 21 R, 7.5% walk rate, 19.2% strikeout rate
Buxton: .296/.340/.602, 8 HR, 18 RBI, 17 R, 5.7% walk rate, 20.8% strikeout rate
Clemens: .254/.295/.536, 10 HR, 28 RBI, 26 R, 6.0% walk rate, 21.5% strikeout rate
Caratini: .318/.402/.557, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 15 R, 10.8% walk rate, 16.7% strikeout rate
Larnach: .336/.403/.542, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 17 R, 9.2% walk rate, 12.5% strikeout rate
When a lineup is clicking as the Twins have lately, the numbers backing Minnesota’s drive back into the American League picture aren’t surprising to the coaches or players. And it all comes down to the opportunities everyone is getting.
“I think we more we kind of try to pass the baton to the next guy, and if you’re not going to do the damage and they pitch around you, let the next guy do it,” said Clemens. “And everyone in the lineup is more than capable of doing it. I feel like we’ve seen that over the past few months, so it’s been awesome. There’s nothing better than scoring a bunch of runs every game.”
“Overall, it’s just the consistency of the at-bats,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton.
“Early on, we had other guys that were carrying us. Buck has carried us, obviously, at a bunch of different times. But to see different parts of the lineup, I think Brooks has done it at times regardless if he’s been at the bottom of the order or the top of the order.”
Clemens’ numbers stand out a little more on the lower side than his teammates’ because he’s become the designated left-handed hitter to face lefties on the mound during this span. His numbers against lefties for the year aren’t the best, with a .212/.278/.364 slash line and 23.3% strikeout rate in 73 plate appearances against them.
Even though the results aren’t all that glamorous in this run, the reps Clemens is getting against them are building towards better success, which he expects to flourish more in the second half.
“You’ve got to stay in versus lefties,” said Clemens.
“I think sometimes I think it gets you right in certain aspects. But the thing is, the more reps you get off of them, the more consistent you’ll be. In years prior, when I wasn’t facing them, then I’d have, say a late game off a lefty or whatever, I’d feel a little bit less comfortable than I do now since I’ve been seeing them.”
However, he’s not the only Twins hitter getting opportunities against lefties. Bell is holding things down at DH after a cold start to the season, and Royce Lewis gets into the lineup almost every day at first base now. Luke Keaschall is roaming the outfield more frequently to bolster his versatility and keep Clemens in the lineup every day at second base.
“I think it is important when guys get opportunities to see how they go,” said Shelton. “We have not been very reactionary, too. We’ve given guys time, good or bad, to be able to decide like, all right, we’re either going to option you, or we’re going to give you more playing time.”
Finding ways to keep everyone’s hot bat in the lineup has led Shelton to rotate players to positions that he didn’t expect them to play earlier in the year. But it’s because the Twins have kept the hot hitters rolling by playing them every day that they are tied for the third AL Wild Card spot, three games back of the Central and just a game below .500.
Even with a four-day break before the Twins start the second half, their battery expects to maintain the consistency they’ve shown since June 1. It’s that consistency that’s made their manager proud of how the team turned their season around and got to where they want to be in mid-July.
“What I like is the consistency of the at-bats,” said Shelton. “Coming out of spring training, I did not know what the identity of our offense was going to be. But I think the identity of our offense is they grind through every single at-bat, and they play for 27 outs. It’s something we asked them for in spring training in total as a group to make sure we played a full game. Our offense totally embodies that.”
“I think hitting is contagious,” said Clemens. “Like whenever someone is doing it and having constant, consistently good at-bats, it kind of leads everyone else to feeling the same way. I don’t know if that’s just how baseball works sometimes; it’s contagious. But everyone has a good plan. We look at the pitcher prior to the game and get a good game plan, and we stick to it.”
