This scenario should sound familiar for fans of the Minnesota Twins: the team gets off to a poor start before going on an improbable winning streak, only to level off entering July.
That’s how the 2024 campaign unfolded, but the Twins didn’t wait until August to enter a complete tailspin, falling off before the All-Star break and trade deadline in 2025.
As baseball approaches the peak of the trade season, Minnesota finds itself in an awkward position with a 37-42 record, largely due to terrible starting pitching which has crippled the pitching staff in more ways than one and mismanagement of the batting order, resulting in the wrong guys stepping up to the plate in big spots.
Having lost 10 of their last 12 games dating back to June 13, much of the blame on the Twins’ skid can be placed on the starting rotation failing to throw effective innings and getting pulled early. That’s been the case since Pablo Lopez hit the injured list for the second time this season due to a shoulder issue.
Following Lopez’ injury, along with Zebby Matthews hitting the IL not long after, the Twins have had to rely on struggling depth arms David Festa and Simeon Woods-Richardson to eat innings, a task insurmountable given their inability to throw strikes consistently.
That issue has trickled down to rotation stalwarts Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, who have struggled getting outs in a timely manner. Too often, a Twins starting pitcher has barely made it out of the fourth inning with a pitch count north of 70, resulting in an already overused bullpen being summoned to get more outs in a game.
The bullpen hasn’t completely melted down from being overworked thanks to 29-year-old utility infielder Jonah Bride moonlighting as a reliever, since he’s pitched four times in the month of June exclusively in the Twins’ blowout losses. His number of batters faced on the mound (37) is almost higher than his truly shameful OPS+ of 41.
However, the Twins’ hitting core hasn’t given this team many chances to win since the end of their 15-game winning streak. Hitting with runners on-base continues to be a struggle despite what the numbers say (Minnesota is hitting .258 with runners on versus .231 with the bases empty).
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The team’s problems rest with the way manager Rocco Baldelli constructs a lineup and utilizes his players off the bench. In a change of pace from past years, Baldelli will let his left-handed batters stay in to face left-handed pitchers in key spots during the games, only removing them to put speed on the basepaths in the event they get aboard.
Unfortunately, the lack of a go-to pinch hitter has backfired. Matt Wallner has slowly turned into the Twins’ left-handed version of Miguel Sano at the plate, almost guaranteeing a strikeout every time he steps up to hit, while Kody Clemens is back to being that journeyman hitter with occasional impact following a torrid start.
The Twins still try to drive the ball out of the park, completely negating the running game and almost never showing aggressiveness to take an extra 90 feet on the bases. The only times Minnesota has shown any bit of aggressiveness are the three times Baldelli’s been thrown out of games in 2025.
It’s clear the team needs reinforcements, but those should’ve been addressed last offseason. The Twins appear to be in a position to sell at the trade deadline, only for team president Derek Falvey to say otherwise.
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The American League playoff picture at the present is a jumbled mess, with the Twins needing to leapfrog five other teams in the standings to find themselves in the last wild card position. However, they’re only 3 1/2 games out of the last spot and have three months to make that climb.
As a consequence of the crowded race, nearly all the American League ball clubs are in position to buy if they want to, which might price the Twins out of bidding wars to acquire the bats on the Colorado Rockies or the pitchers on the Pirates, who are shopping players around to interested teams.
Minnesota has made small moves the past two seasons, continually going to the well of internal help. Maybe that arrives when Royce Lewis and Luke Keaschell come back from injury, but the Twins can really use their help right now.
Then again, everything would’ve been much easier had the Pohlad family closed the sale of the franchise to a prospective buyer. Coupled with the fact Baldelli is likely to stick around for at least another season, there’s plenty of reasons why this is a disgruntled Twins fan column.
At least Byron Buxton is likely heading to the All-Star Game.
Blake Durham is a Sports Reporter for the Mitchell Republic, having joined in October of 2023. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in December of 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Durham can be found covering a variety of prep and collegiate sports in the area.