Let me preface this by saying: I have always been extremely hard on the Twins. Several years of first round exits in the playoffs have left me bitter, assuming that they will end up leaving their bats at home and losing to the Yankees somewhere down the road.
However.
This team looks different to me. Playing their first year in a beautiful, new stadium, the Twins have straight up dominated most of the opponents they have faced since the All Star break, which is, coincidentally, the most important part of the season. The pitching has been stellar, and the Twins as a team have not given up more than five runs in a game since September 2nd, when they lost to the Detroit Tigers in extra innings. Carl Pavano, Francisco, Liriano, and Brian Duensing have given a the Twins a great set of pitchers for the postseason, and even Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey have come back from bumps in the road. Pavano has been the ace of the staff, staying late into games and allowing the Twins to rest their relief pitchers. Blackburn looked to be a lost cause midway through the season, but has came back several great outings, throwing a shutout against the Cleveland Indians in his last start. The midseason acquisition of Matt Capps, which I more than frowned on at the time, has given the Twins a consistent presence in the bullpen and allowed the team to move former closer Jon Rauch to a set-up role, where he, along with Jesse Crain, have given the Twins above-average relief pitching. The Twins should feel extremely confident about their pitching staff heading into the postseason.
The Twins' hitters haven't blown opponents off the scoreboard, but they have given the pitchers enough runs to allow them to win games. The Twins would normally be missing the presence of oft-injured slugger, but 40 year-old Jim Thome has all but erased all anxiety over losing the fragile first basemen. Thome has come in the clutch more than once for the Twins with several game winning home runs and should be considered the offensive MVP of the team, even with only playing every other game or so. Catcher Joe Mauer has also provided ample support, albeit with a lot less homers than last year. Even without the home runs, Mauer, who is still batting .324, has stayed healthy for most of the season and shown fans why the Twins gave him a nine-digit extension before the start of the year. It seems like Mauer rarely goes a game without getting one or two singles. Outfielder Delmon Young looked to be a legitimate AL MVP candidate earlier this year, although he has slowed down considerably. He has still reached a career high in home runs and RBIs and finally given the Twins some optimism after performing below expectations in his first two seasons here in Minnesota. While Denard Span has also slowed down this year, other hitters such as Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel have sufficiently supported Twins' pitchers this season. Orlando Hudson has done a nice job holding down second base and has provided a decent bat hitting second in the order. One would think the Twins' hitters would have struggled without a former MVP and fan favorite in their lineup, but night in and night out they have given their pitchers enough runs to put a W on the board and another game over division rival Chicago White Sox.
If you have not watched the Minnesota Twins all season, start now. This team has dominated any opponent it has faced recently, and they could stay on this hot streak for a long time. I have a feeling this team will finally do big things this postseason, and that there will be more than one celebration on Target Field this year.
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