Here is my mini write up on the Twins Offense:
Here is how the offense ranks in the American League.
2020 Season (Sept Only)
#3 in AVG (#5)
#9 in OBP (#5)
#6 in SLG (#1)
#8 in OPS (#2)
#8 in wOBA (#3)
#10 in K% (#10)
#3 in HR (#1)
They're not nearly the sluggers they were in 2019, but, lucky us, they finished very well.
I looked at was their line up and holy **** they never have the same line up twice. It constantly changes.
Maybe they play the hot hand? Maybe it's purely on match-ups?
It should look something like this:
Kepler RF .774 OPS, 111 OPS+
Donaldson 3B .842 OPS, 131 OPS+
Cruz DH 1.004 OPS, 173 OPS+
Rosario LF .805 OPS, 118 OPS+
Sano 1B .762 OPS, 105 OPS+
Polanco SS .670 OPS, 85 OPS+
Buxton CF .844 OPS, 124 OPS+
Gonzales 2B .602 OPS, 66 OPS+
Jeffers C .791 OPS, 118 OPS+
A few notes:
- Not too dissimilar from Altuve, Graver fell off a cliff this year (.498 OPS 2020 - .995 OPS 2019)
- Buxton was at the top of the line up for most of the early part of the year when he was not good. He had a .681 OPS in the first 21 games but got moved down and has been red hot in Sept with a 1.022 OPS.
- Nelson Cruz is aging like a fine wine. He's probably having a top 5 season for a 39+-year-old over the last 50 years.
- Somehow the Twins have fewer steals than us. Shouldn't have to worry too much about them turning a single into a double with a swipe.
- Their home/road split is fairly even. They actually hit better on the road.
- There is a pretty significant difference vs LHP(.658)/RHP(.772 OPS). Hello, Framber starting game 2?
Overall, they have had a better offense than we do and have finished hotter than us, but it's not as big of a gap as you'd expect from the team who just hit 307 HRs last year to set the record.
Twins won the WS in 1991. Since then they've made the postseason just 9 times including 2020. Out of those 9 times, 8 ended in either the WC game or division series. Yankees sent them packing 6x.