The Twins finished the month of April with a 13-14 record, just half a game under 500. However, they are in second place in the AL Central, a game and a half behind the White Sox. However, the division is tightly bunched with last place Kansas City trailing Chicago by 3 games.
Though their record is mediocre, the team has several bright spots, with most of them falling on the offensive side. Justin Morneau and Carlos Gomez have easily been some of the team’s best when they are up to bat. Gomez has been all that he was advertised to be when he came over in the Santana deal. He has displayed great ability in the outfield, making several highlight reel catches and has been great in stealing bases. Morneau has provided the power for a team largely starved of it, hitting 6 home runs. Jason Kubel has also been a power supplier, with 4 homers. There has been noted inconsistency with driving runs home in critical situations, as the team has left numerous runners in scoring position. Joe Mauer and Brendan Harris are the only regulars with high batting averages, .295 and .287 respectively, the next being Morneau at .268. Mauer in particular has been consistent in getting hits.
As for the pitching, it has been mostly uneven. Livan Hernandez started off well, but ran into trouble in his latest outing. Boof Bonser and Nick Blackburn have turned in both great and bad outings. Both Hernandez and Scott Baker have been homer prone and no Twins starter has an ERA under 3.50. The bullpen has been a strength, except for that Detroit series where it collapsed. Closer Joe Nathan has been automatic, with 9 saves with an 0.82 ERA. Reliever Dennys Reyes has an ERA of 0, giving up only 4 hits and 2 walks in 9 innings.
The job for the Twins moving forward is to sustain their success of the recent White Sox series. There have been short bursts of production in April, but the team hasn’t really been able to keep it going over an extended period of time. Now seems like the perfect opportunity to take that step into continued production.
