The Minnesota Twins found a way this season. They came out on top through the jumbled mess that was the American League Central. Using a young lineup paired with a seasoned rotation, Minnesota was able to fight its way through the crowd and come out in first place. But just like everything else in the AL Central, nothing the team did was perfect.
The good:
The youth and the veterans. The first overall pick in 2017 has finally arrived. Utilityman Royce Lewis has battled injuries for many years, including two torn ACLs, and wasn’t 100% in 2023, but he was the spark the Twins needed when he was on the field. Lewis hit .309 with 15 home runs in a paltry 217 at-bats. Four of those home runs were grand slams, a Twins single-season record. Three of those came in a span of eight days, another modern-day record. Lewis even came up big in the postseason, hitting four home runs in the two series. Another impressive youngster was closer Jhoan Duran. The flamethrowing righty consistently fires fastballs over 100 miles per hour, his fastest pitch registering as 105. Duran also has a special pitch, characterized as a mix between a splitter and a sinker, called a “splinker.” Generally, off-speed pitches such as splitters run in the mid-80s, sometimes up to 90 miles per hour. Duran, however, fired a 100-mile-per-hour “splinker” in May, and the pitch stays consistently in the upper 90s. Duran pitched to a 2.45 ERA in 59 appearances, logging 27 saves. On the veteran side of things, 33-year-old righty Sonny Gray had a solid bounceback season, going 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 outings. Gray was lost to free agency and is signed on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals for the next two years.
The bad:
Everything in between. Carlos Correa was a hot commodity this past offseason after declining his option with the Twins. He had agreed to deals with the Giants and the Mets but failed his physical both times. The saga ended with Correa returning to Minneapolis for another few years, and he struggled mightily in 2023. Correa scrounged together a .230 batting average and led the league in double plays grounded into. Offseason additions Michael A. Taylor and Joey Gallo both never got going, with Gallo finishing the year sporting an ugly .177 batting average. Right-handed starter Joe Ryan, who seemed to be the next great Twins pitcher, stumbled in the last couple months of the season, ending with a 4.5 ERA. Aside from Duran, there wasn’t an elite Twins reliever, with vet Emilio Pagan being the only one close with an ERA of 3. 2022 All-Star Jorge Lopez finished with an ERA over 5. The Twins simply could not finish games, and that was evident in the ALDS when they got swept by the Astros.
MVP:
Lewis. Royce Lewis was the breakout star Minnesota needed in 2023. While former stars such as outfielder Max Kepler begin to decline, Lewis has provided them with something to look forward to in the coming years of Twins baseball.
One word:
Gift-wrapped. In a weak AL Central, the Twins took what was in front of them and coasted to an easy division title but proved it was no fluke, taking down the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card on the back of Lewis. The Twins were solid, but once the AL Central begins reloading, things are going to get tougher.
