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This isn’t a blip and the Twins are actually this bad
Sunday’s Say Hey, Baseball thinks that the Twins may be stuck in this hole for the majority of the season. Plus, George Springer tries to do athletic stuff while in a dinosaur costume.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
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The Atlanta Braves are currently 12-30, and they’re just as bad as the projections said they would be, if not a little worse. However, they’re currently on a big time two-game winning streak, and that has lifted them out of baseball’s basement. As of right now, the worst team in baseball is the Minnesota Twins, who are sitting 20 games below .500 at 11-31. While the Braves’ struggles may have been predictable, it’s still a bit of a shock to see that the Twins are actually as bad as they are.
Even though the Twins weren’t exactly a juggernaut of a team last year, they were still pretty solid in finishing 2015 with an 83-79 record, and they actually hung around in the American League Wild Card race for much longer than expected. That helped them end the season on a high note, and projections gave them at least a small chance of possibly making a legit Wild Card run in 2016. Instead, we’re now a week away from Memorial Day weekend and the Twins are currently mired in a major hole.
Minnesota’s offense has been poor (they’re hitting .234/.298/.375 with 83 wRC+), their pitching has been underwhelming (especially the bullpen, which is currently holding an ERA of 4.85 and an FIP of 4.74), and advanced fielding metrics have them ranked near the bottom of baseball in that department. Plus, promising prospects like Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios have stumbled out of the gate to start their careers. They’ve got plenty of time to turn it around and will be afforded patience, so the hope in Minnesota isn’t completely gone. Still, it seems as if their early season struggles aren’t just a blip -- they may actually be as bad as they’ve looked.
- Another team that’s been underwhelming has been the Houston Astros. However, it may not be time to panic just yet.
- With that being said, George Springer is trying to keep things light by trying to catch footballs while dressed like a dinosaur. That’s a real thing that actually happened.
- Matt Shoemaker pitched an excellent game for the Angels and that’s all that the people at Halos Heaven want you to remember about their game last night.
- The Phillies went into this weekend just a half-game behind the Nationals at the top of the NL East. Now, they’ve lost a series to the Braves. Yikes.
- Jason Heyward looked to be seriously injured after making a spectacular catch on Friday against the Giants, but fortunately, he’s only day-to-day with a contusion.
- Kevin Kiermaier isn’t as fortunate, as it turns out he has a broken left hand after trying to catch a ball on Saturday.
- Jackie Bradley Jr.‘s hitting streak is now at 26 games, which is one game away from matching Manny Ramirez’s 27-game hit streak from 10 years ago.
- In the least shocking news of the day, the Oakland Coliseum’s visitor’s dugout had major plumbing issues that needed to be tended to.
- We’re getting closer and closer to draft day, which means that it’s time to start taking serious looks at mock drafts.
- A fan at Marlins Park wanted a foul ball so badly that he was willing to hop two fences and play a little parkour to get it.
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