Sports Illustrated - USA (2020 - Spring)

THE TWINS SHOCKED MLB not just by

winning 101 games and the AL Central,

but also by how they did it: shattering the

all-time record for home runs in a season

with 307. Yes, the baseball was made of

flubber last year, but, still, 300 home runs!

Eleven Twins had double-digit home run

totals, including 31 by catcher Mitch Garver,

who had hit seven in 348 at bats before

2019, and 41 from Nelson Cruz, 39.

What might have been even more

remarkable, though, was Minnesota’s staff,

which struck out a franchise-record 1,463

batters, helped in part by the addition of

Jake Odorizzi. The Twins have finally begun

developing relievers who can put hitters

away; lefty closer Taylor Rogers and righties

Trevor May and Tyler Duffey combined to

fan 32.1% of the batters they faced last year.

The dingers got the attention, and rightly

so, but the bigger change was the embrace

of modern approaches under new pitching

coach Wes Johnson.

The Twins bring back all of their best

pitchers from last year. New righthanders

Homer Bailey, who split ’19 between K.C. and

Oakland, and Jhoulys Chacín, who pitched

for Milwaukee and Boston, replace back-end

starters Martin Pérez and Kyle Gibson. They

will get help from GM Thad Levine’s big

move: signing third baseman Josh Donaldson

to a four-year, $92 million contract. He’s a

huge defensive upgrade over Miguel Sanó

and a huge offensive upgrade over Marwin

González. There are worries about how long

Donaldson, 34, can maintain this level of

play—he had a .900 OPS last year—but in the

short term he’s a great signing.

In the last year, Minnesota mashed

dingers, struck guys out, won a division title

and spent big money—all of these things

almost unimaginable to a fan in the Twin

Cities just four years ago. More of the same

is coming in ’20 and beyond.

The Twins set an MLB record with 3 0 7 home runs, then added Josh Donaldson, who hit 37 in

20 19. More important, their rotation remains strong and their shutdown bullpen returns intact.

OVER

UNDER 92.5

| ROYCE LEWIS | CF | The Twins’ success at the start of last

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2030 PREDICTION

MOVING UP

LUIS

ARRAEZ

123 OPS+ | 1.8 WAR

Last year

he rocketed

through the

Twins’ minor

before a May

batting .334

base job.

MOVING DOWN

MARWIN

GONZÁLEZ

94 OPS+ | 1.6 WAR

The utilityman

owned up to

his role in the

Astros’ sign-

stealing— his

’17 breakout

in Houston

(23 homers,

.907 OPS) now

seems like a

one-off.

TWINS

AL CENTRAL

BRAD MANGIN ( 2 )

The dingers got the attention last

year, but the bigger change was

the embrace of modern approaches

under new pitching coach Johnson.