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The Twins are a mess with fewer wins than the Braves
Wednesday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes the Twins’ terrible 2016, Matt Harvey no-showing the media, and the fascinating Yankees’ decisions to come.
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
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The Braves have been the target of most finger pointing and embarrassment in 2016 so far, but we should spread that around a bit. The Twins have one fewer win (11) than the Braves do, and their win percentage (.244) is lower, too: they’re currently on pace to lose 122 games, which would be the most in the modern era -- the 1962 Mets, an expansion team, lost 120. They shouldn’t be quite this bad, but the difference isn’t that far off: their expected record, using their run differential, has them with just 14 wins, which would still be the second-fewest in the majors, and would be tied for the worst with the Braves if we just used everyone’s expected records instead of their actual ones.
It’s May 25, and the Twins are already 15 games back of the division-leading White Sox. They’ve allowed nearly as many runs (243) as the Cubs have scored (247), and they’ve accomplished this by scoring the fewest runs in the American League -- 104 fewer than the league-leading Red Sox. Minnesota is scoring nearly 2.5 runs fewer per game than the Sox, and they do not have the pitching to make up for it.
Just last year, they finished 83-79, second in the AL Central and just a handful of games from a Wild Card spot. They were only outscored by four runs on the season, and it looked like another year of experience for the kids would have them near a playoff spot, if not actually in one. Instead, they lay dormant for most of the winter, Miguel Sano is in the midst of a sophomore slump, and they have both the worst lineup and pitching production in the AL. It’s going to be a long year in Minnesota, especially if the kids don’t start to come around in time to bring hope to 2017.
- Mike Napoli hit the 10th triple of his career, and capped off this momentous occasion by sliding with his face into third.
- Matt Harvey didn't talk to the press after Tuesday's game, so be careful out there on the internet today, y'all. The takes, they are hot.
- Harvey didn't talk to the press because he was responsible for three of the five homers the Mets gave up to the Nationals, each of which you can watch here. We're 10 starts in, and the former Cy Young contender has a 6.08 ERA.
- Someone should probably pull the plug on the Mike Pelfrey experiment in Detroit.
- The Yankees are at a crossroads, and it makes both them and the decisions they have to make fascinating.
- Joey Votto stomped all over a paper airplane that a fan threw onto the field. I don't know about you but Heel Turn Joey Votto is my jam.
- Would you like a minor-league mascot to perform your wedding ceremony?
- George Springer hit a foul ball into a deep fryer and thankfully no one was burned by super hot oil.
- Patrick Dubuque doesn't think on-base percentage is honest enough, and wants to make an honest stat out of it.
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