We're almost halfway through the season and the Twins have legitimate contenders for both AL MVP and Cy Young. I wouldn't consider Buxton or Ryan frontrunners but they are certainly both in the top 5.

Very good week of baseball for the Twins. Their offense has been stunningly effective. We're almost at the halfway point of the season and they are within 4 games of first place, which I think anyone would've signed up for. My weekly recap is live at @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Been a weird season for Brooks Lee because you see these big hits and these semi-regular home runs and it seems like he's turning a corner offensively ... but then he ranks 151st out of 157 qualified hitters in xwOBA.

On May 3rd, Joe Ryan walked off the mound in the 1st inning with an apparent elbow injury. Shockingly, he returned for his next start, and has since struck out 30.3% of opposing hitters. Among AL starters, only Reid Detmers and Logan Gilbert have a higher K-rate in that span.

Mick Abel looked great in second AAA rehab start, should be back on Sunday Alan Roden is 3-4 with a HR and BB Walker Jenkins homered for the Kernels Twins winning 10-2 behind lineup explosion and get-right start for Zebby Been a good night

"Had Buxton's body cooperated, we might be talking about a player building a Hall of Fame résumé instead of one still trying to make up for lost time." twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

I wrote today about Byron Buxton: my joy in watching him thrive, my frustration with his lack of support, and my conflicted feelings about his future. New @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

I wrote today about Byron Buxton: my joy in watching him thrive, my frustration with his lack of support, and my conflicted feelings about his future. New @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

The past week was a big one for Byron Buxton and the offense, but a forgettable one for most of the pitching staff. Get up to speed in the Week in Review: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

The Twins got blown out 11-0 on Thursday, then had maybe their most impressive win of the season on Friday. There were hideous pitching performances and heroic hitting moments. A week of ups and downs that wasn't short on entertainment. My recap at @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Twins showed a lot of fight over the past week. Some entertaining and enjoyable baseball to watch. Buxton unbelievable, Lewis back? But hard to overcome 46 runs allowed in 6 games. 7 below .500 as the season's halfway point approaches ...

It seems sadistic that we have to be subjected to Justin Lawrence pitching in the 7th of a tie game and Orlando Arcia batting 6th on a team with Byron Buxton playing like an MVP and Joe Ryan pitching like an ace.

The Twins bullpen First 40 games: -0.4 WAR (28th in MLB), 5.60 ERA (29th) -1.08 WPA (27th) Next 15 games: 1.3 WAR (1st), 2.11 ERA (2nd), 2.46 WPA (1st) Next 16 games: -0.3 WAR (25th), 6.97 ERA (28th), -2.08 WPA (29th)

It's hard to find positivity around the Twins right now. Some of the more encouraging early-season stories (Martin, Bradley, Ober, etc) have taken a turn for the worse as the team trends downward. From me today at @twinsdaily.com: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

On this date last year the Twins were 36-31 and on track as a playoff contender. Then they lost 11 of the next 12, never got back to .500, and firesale'd. This year's Twins will be 31-39 after this blowout loss is in the books.

From Lewis to Lee to Keaschall, the top prospects who the Twins counted on to power their rebuilt infield have let them down. Now it’s on Kaelen Culpepper to turn the tides. No pressure kid. My latest at @twinsdaily.com looks at the burden Culpepper will bear with his arrival seemingly imminent.

It's been widely assumed Roch Cholowsky will go #1 in July's MLB Draft. He probably still will. But Georgia catcher Vahn Lackey is making a hard charge with his sensational season. @jdcameron.bsky.social on possible implications for the Twins who pick at #3: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Catch up on the past 7 days of Twins baseball with the @twinsdaily.com Week in Review: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Week in Review is live at @twinsdaily.com! Read the full column or watch/listen to me and @sweetloumn.bsky.social breaking it all down in just over 30 mins. Article: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/... Pod: podcasts.apple.com/jm/podcast/w... Stream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF_b...

The whole "we're gonna run the bases aggressively and create advantages" thing has basically gone out the window for the Twins, which makes sense because their personnel always made it a pipe dream. In their past 4 series, Twins are 1-for-9 on SB. Opponents are 12-for-14.

Going up against the White Sox and Pirates, two teams that should theoretically be in their same class, Twins got flat-out trounced over the past week. They played better defense, ran the bases better, and outscored MIN by 25 runs in 7 games. A damning finish to May.

Going live in five with @sweetloumn.bsky.social discuss a lovely week of Twins baseball that will surely leave us brimming with optimism. Join and share your thoughts: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF_b...

Just a couple days ago @tftwins.bsky.social talked about Mike Paredes as potentially next in line for the Twins pitching staff. "I would call him up, now."

Austin Martin in his last 20 games: .230/.278/.338 (.616 OPS) with 4 BB in 79 PA. Walk-driven OBP is drying up as pitchers show less and less hesitance in attacking the zone. Meanwhile, Twins are so unenthused about his defense in CF that they'd rather start Kody Clemens there.

Between the majors and minors, Matt Wallner has one home run in his past 154 plate appearances 😐

Point that gets missed in the MLB payroll parity discussion is that it’s not just about competitiveness. It’s about distribution of star players. People don’t just watch to see wins. They watch to see the biggest names in action – currently so concentrated in large markets.

I don't want to heap too much praise on a losing team that's hanging around in a very underwhelming American League, but, it's been impressive! How have the Twins managed to overcome their shortcomings and tribulations to reach this point? 👇 twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Joe Ryan currently has the 11th-lowest HR rate allowed in MLB (4 in 64.1 IP). Last year he was 8th-highest (26 in 171 IP). Underrated yet pivotal evolution in his game.

Joe Ryan pre-elbow scare: 3.72 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 25.5% K-rate, 3 HR allowed in 38.2 IP. Pretty good! Joe Ryan post-elbow scare: 1.75 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 30.6% K-rate, 1 HR allowed in 25.2 IP. 🔥🔥🔥

The main thing I wanted to see from the Twins this year was gradual improvement over the course of the season. Progress. The bullpen and infield defense going from atrocious to very good are examples that instill confidence.

The Twins came into this season with low expectations, then lost their #1 SP on the first day of spring. They've experienced plenty of other setbacks too. Through it all they're a game under .500 with 1/3rd of the schedule in the books. A breakdown: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Another outstanding performance from the Twins bullpen tonight: 3.1 IP, one unearned run on 3 hits and no walks. ERA down to 1.94 during the current 11-5 run. Taylor Rogers has turned things around massively in May. Yoendrys Gomez looks a real find.

Through 39 games, as of May 8th, the Twins bullpen had the second-worst ERA (5.81) and second-worst WPA (-2.53) in MLB. In 15 games since May 9th, they have rank fourth in bullpen ERA (2.05) and lead the majors in WPA.

We are 1/3rd of the way through this Twins season Team is on pace to go 78-84 Byron Buxton is on pace for 48 HR Bailey Ober is on pace for 18 wins

Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach are very different stylistically but production-wise they’ve been like the exact same player this year. Martin: 169 PA, 1.1 fWAR, 2 HR, .289/.396/.394 Larnach: 148 PA: 1.0 fWAR, 2 HR, .274/.392/.395

Yoshida's HR off Ober in the second was just the second allowed by Twins pitchers in their past six games, an impressive feat when one series is against the Astros and the other at Fenway Park. Twins pitchers have the 2nd-lowest HR rate allowed in the AL. Key to their success.

I wrote today at @twinsdaily.com about some of the less heralded role players who are making a case for roles with the team going forward: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Justin Topa gave up 3 runs in 0.2 IP on Monday night. The rest of the Twins bullpen has allowed one run over 19.1 IP against the Astros and Red Sox, helping the Twins win 4 of 5. I don’t even know what to say. Just phenomenal.

These games against the Astros and Red Sox this week have been a good reminder that while the Twins have their problems… so do other teams. Teams with much higher payrolls and expectations.

The Ryan Kreidler offensive odyssey continues. He's now got 3 HR in 31 PA with the Twins after totaling 2 in his first 211 MLB PAs with Detroit. Also was slashing .266/.389/.500 with 5 HR in 26G for the Saints. At what point do we start treating this as possibly somewhat real?

Victor Caratini just hit his first HR since April 13th, only his 3rd XBH hit of the season. Good timing. Twins are going to need him to step up in a big way with Jeffers down. Caratini's been borderline disastrous so far.

Fractured left hamate for Ryan Jeffers. Absolutely devastating news for the Twins and for him in his walk year. That is typically a slow-healing injury. He'll likely be out for at least a month.

Justin Topa ranks second in the major leagues in pitching appearances and has now been designated for assignment on May 19th. Apt reflection of the Twins' "throw stuff at the wall" bullpen strategy as a whole.

Such a bummer. But like with Wallner, the Twins had little choice. twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Twins Daily weekly recaps are live, covering a busy 7 days. Wallner down, Royce to follow? Ober magic. Twins trying to stay afloat and in need of some juice. You can find the written article on the site, or watch/listen to me and @sweetloumn.bsky.social breaking it down. Links below!

Lots to cover from the past week of Twins baseball. Get up to speed before a new series against the Astros: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...

Twins Daily weekly recaps are live, covering a busy 7 days. Wallner down, Royce to follow? Ober magic. Twins trying to stay afloat and in need of some juice. You can find the written article on the site, or watch/listen to me and @sweetloumn.bsky.social breaking it down. Links below!

I'll be streaming a weekly Twins recap with @sweetloumn.bsky.social in 30 minutes. Tune into the live show and share your thoughts! Much to discuss. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iklA...

Twins are stuck between a rock and a hard place with SWR, at least until Bradley or Abel get healthy. There’s really been nothing redeeming about his league-worst performance, but they simply have no rotation depth left to replace him.

Wrote today at @twinsdaily.com about how Bailey Ober's low-velo success is making me nostalgic for different era of baseball: twinsdaily.com/news-rumors/...