Other than the lack of runs the past week and fears about the state of the bullpen, the Twins have also curiously struggled right out of the gates this spring.
And it happened again on Sunday after starter Taj Bradley dug a quick hole by allowing three runs. It wasn’t the first time for the Twins to face an early deficit.
To wit:
- A 6-run first inning on Feb. 24.
- A 3-run first inning on Feb. 26.
- A 5-run first inning on Feb. 27
- A 5-run first inning on March 3.
- An 8-run first inning on March 9.
Luckily for Bradley, the Twins, after a period of six games in which they averaged two runs per game, finally found some offense — Luke Keaschall and Byron Buxton homered — and Minnesota rallied for a 7-3 win.
The bats bailed out Bailey Ober on Monday, too, who was so-so as he allowed four runs on 10 hits across four-plus innings with three walks and three strikeouts on 81 pitches.
The talk about Ober this spring has been the fact that his fastball isn’t really fast at all and has averaged right around 90 miles per hour. A slower fastball won’t set up his change-up pitch nearly as well, which might explain the 10 hits over 13 outs.
Still, the Twins banged out 13 hits for the 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
Extra innings…
–The Twins have one more game this spring on Tuesday vs. the Red Sox again. Mick Abel gets the ball.
–And then it gets very, very real because Game 1 of the 2026 season for the Twins begins Thursday in Baltimore. Last season the Twins started 0-4.
–How will they finish this season? I’ve seen some predictions that pick the Twins as high as third in the AL Central, which I think a lot of fans would welcome at this point. MLB.com writer Will Leitch picks them to finish dead last in the division.
“The only real controversial pick here is putting the White Sox above the Twins, a pick that’s less about the Twins being bad and more about being intrigued by the White Sox, who may finally be building something that has some legs,” he writes. “They’re not losing 100 games this year, I’ll say that.”
–Worse than the White Sox? Now that will make it a tough year.