The Jays head on the road as a playoff team for the first time since April, tied with Tampa for the third Wild Card. They are going to Minnesota for a three game series against the Twins. The Twins currently hold the first Wild Card position, coming off a series win over the Athletics.
I reached out to Benjamin Jones, the site manager for Twinkie Town and he was kind enough to answer some questions about the Twins.
The ALC has really turned into the elite of the AL this season so far. What do you see as the key factors for the Twins to separate themselves from the pack and try and catch the Tigers?
First of all, I don’t think the AL Central is all that talented. The Tigers are very good, the Twins have a lot of talent, but I am non-believer in both the Guardians and the Royals. The Royals have a good, if overperforming, pitching staff and a single good hitter in Bobby Witt Jr. Jac Caglianone can’t rescue that lineup. The Guardians, meanwhile, have perennial MVP-candidate Jose Ramirez and likely All-Star Steven Kwan, a couple league-average bats, and four of the worst-hitting regulars in the league. They still carry the reputation of an elite pitching development team, but their pitching is sneakily bad outside of their elite back-end bullpen. BUT I digress…
The Twins can and will catch the Tigers if they do one thing: hit. They are 30-4 when scoring 4+ runs, which is not that high of a bar to clear but one they have struggled with until recently. They recently got Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, and Matt Wallner back from the IL which has helped tremendously, but they really need Royce Lewis to wake up. Years of chronic injuries have slowed him down and made him look stiff in the box, but they’re missing one more mid-order bat to bring some thump. Even after losing staff ace Pablo Lopez this week, the starting staff is elite and they might have the best bullpen in baseball. Their closing trio of Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louie Varland have dominant stuff and can almost guarantee the opposing team doesn’t score late. They just need the offense to complement the pitching.
Do Twins fans think Kody Clemens is real or is it just a hot month at the right time for him and the team?
Clemens’ breakout was a big reason for the Twins’ league-best 13-game win streak earlier this season, but it definitely feels more like a blip than the new normal. He’s cooled off over the last two weeks and his playing time has dwindled right alongside it. He’ll still start against righties, but that’s more to do with getting guys like Buxton, Correa, Lewis, and Wallner off their feet for stretches.
Former Jays prospect Simeon Woods-Richardson seems to have pitched himself back down to the minors. What seems to be behind his struggles this year?
You hit something I’ve written and talked about extensively, so apologies for my long winded answer here! The secret is that SWR has never been very good. None of his pitches grade out particularly well or separate from each other enough. For most of his career, Sim had a very over-the-top delivery that was, frankly, just weird. In the minors, that meant he would grade very high in various Stuff+ models because those are programmed to favor pitchers doing things outside of the norm. Unfortunately, facing AAA and MLB hitters, his weird delivery just meant he got hammered every time out.
Heading into 2024, he and the Twins made some major changes to that delivery, dropping his arm angle from a preposterous 71 degrees down to a more typical, but still high, 47 degrees. He was able to gain some velocity, but he doesn’t have the repertoire for how he wants to pitch. He flew through the minors on high strikeout and walk rates, but he doesn’t have good enough stuff to consistently strike out big league hitters and still walks guys as if he does. When he is in the zone, SWR is a perfectly serviceable fourth or fifth starter, he just hasn’t been in the zone consistently enough.
Woods Richardson’s ERA is higher this year, but it was artificially low in 2024. Everything under the hood suggested he was pitching way above his head and getting very lucky. In 2025, his luck ran out. The Twins also had the good problem of two pitching prospects in David Festa and Zebby Matthews who were overpowering AAA hitters. SWR got the first crack at the rotation thanks to his decent 2024, but his demotion was inevitable with Festa and Zebby biting at his heels. Pitching injuries are inevitable, so he’ll undoubtedly get another shot later this season.
Which prospect are Twins fans most excited for that might debut this year?
The Twins have three consensus Top 50 hitting prospects in Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Luke Keaschall. Jenkins is 20 years old and only at AA and has missed the entire season with an ankle injury. Rodriguez is perpetually injured and has limited playing time at AAA, making it unlikely he’ll debut this season.
I’ll cheat then and say Keaschall, who technically already debuted but played a grand total of seven games before getting injured himself. Keaschall got the call in April when the Twins’ offense was really struggling and half of the starting lineup was injured. He was their best hitter for those seven games before he broke his forearm after getting hit by a pitch. In good news, the fracture was non-displaced, meaning he should still return around the All-Star Break, so I’ll call his extended debut the one fans are most looking forward to.
Who is your favourite member of the team to watch right now?
I mean, it has to be Byron Buxton. He had his first healthy offseason in nearly a decade and it shows. He’s started nearly every game he’s been on the active roster, a rarity for Buck even in his best years, and has had a well rounded year with a strong bat, elite defense, and stealing bases. Even at 31 and after all the injuries, Buxton still has 100th-percentile sprint speed and is among the best defenders in center. I’ll also give a shoutout to Matt Wallner who is fresh off an IL stint and a threat to hit a ball 500 feet every time he’s at the plate. He’s quietly been one of the best hitters in baseball over the past three seasons, ranking ninth in wOBA among players with at least 220 PAs in that period.
Finally, just a fun little exercise, if you could choose any player who debuted with the Twins at any point in their history and drop them into this team at their rookie position and with their rookie year numbers, who would it be?
This is a very fun question! As I’ve been harping on, it feels like the Twins are a bat or two short right now. That can be fixed by Royce Lewis showing signs of life and Luke Keaschall’s return, but let’s make it a sure thing and bring back recent Hall of Fame inductee Tony Oliva. Oliva was primarily a right fielder, currently covered by Matt Wallner, but Wallner isn’t the strongest defender so he and Oliva could split time between there and DH. They could probably use a first baseman more, but my priority is just getting the best hitter possible in the middle of this lineup. Oliva won AL Rookie of the Year while hitting .323/.359/.557 with 32 home runs and leading all of baseball in both hits (217) and doubles (43). That’s what the Twins need more than anything else.
Thanks Ben!