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The new sense of life that spring gives us Minnesotans hasn’t entirely made its way to the Twins clubhouse yet. Granted the weather has not been the most cooperative. After a 10-4 start to the year, the strong play has dropped off considerably going 1-6 in their last 7. There are multiple rough patches throughout a season for every team, that’s a given. However, what is concerning is what teams are handing out these losses to the Twins and how they are doing it. 

Two teams — Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals, who are expected to finish towards the bottom of their respective divisions and maybe even the league — have both taken the series from the Twins. And that comes after the final two games of the series in the Bronx in which we saw two lousy performances from the lineup. So, what can the Twins do to regain their stride?

The bats need to wake up. You can’t continue to rely on a pitching staff to give up only two runs a game and sneak by with a 3-2 win. That will come back to bite you sooner rather than later, which we already have seen. During this rough 7-game slide, the Twins rank second worst with a .197 team average while being tied for worst with a 28.4% K rate. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there still are some numbers to provide some hope. When the Twins find a way to make contact, which has been the problem, they are making solid contact. They are top 10 in the league carrying a 41.3 hard hit%. The bigger picture then is choosing the right pitches to swing at and finding a way to make contact; easier said than done. 

In a season where MLB has implemented new rules designed to score more runs and steal more bases, the Twins haven’t figured out how to put them to use. If the Twins want to score more runs they need to get runners in scoring positions. One way to do that, which other teams have already taken advantage of this year, is stealing bases. Through the first 21 games, the Twins have a stolen base count of…one. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to Twins fans as this team was dead last in that category last season as well. 

What stealing bases would also help mitigate is the double play balls that have plagued the team during this stretch. Jose Miranda is currently tied for second in the league with 5 GIDP. Not only does it eliminate runners but it sucks the life and hope out of getting anything started on offense.

If you aren’t gonna play small ball or steal bases then you better be hitting for power. And unfortunately, the Twins aren’t doing that either. They are near the bottom third of the league slugging a mere .379 to start the year. If it weren’t for free agent acquisition Joey Gallo the power numbers would look worse than they already are. Luckily, Gallo has been a bright spot in the lineup slashing .258/.361/.774 with 5 home runs.  

All this is not to say that the Twins can’t and won’t figure this out. It is early and they have players coming back from injury that are still easing into the swing of things — literally and figuratively. The weather will warm up and the ball will start to fly. But that’s still not an excuse for the play recently. You can break down all the stats you want, but ultimately, it comes down to energy and effort. And it’s quite noticeable that they are lacking in that department right now. That needs to be fixed and needs to be done right now, not next week. To implement a winning culture you need to have your leaders of the clubhouse showing up and treating every game in April like it’s September. These games still matter, and more importantly, they lay the foundation for the rest of the year. 

Right now, there is no enthusiasm to play the game of baseball for this team. That starts at the top. That starts with Rocco and trickles down to a 200-million-dollar player that was brought in to provide a championship culture. The Twins will figure it out, I don’t doubt that. But in the meantime, it’s been a struggle to watch a full 9-inning game with this team on the field. 

-Stats by FanGraphs and MLB