Conventional wisdom heading into the MLB season had the Twins' offense, which returned essentially all its key 2014 pieces plus Torii Hunter, leading the team to a slightly improved 2015, albeit in a difficult division. Beyond Hughes and Santana, the starting pitching and an "iffy" bullpen were perceived weaknesses. That script has been completely flipped as the Twins wrap up the first month of the season Thursday.

After a horrendous opening series against the Tigers, Twins starters have posted a 3.51 ERA, 7 "quality starts," and a two-plus strikeout to walk ratio in 14 outings since April 10th. Contributions have come from every member of the staff. Hughes and Gibson have each tossed 2 quality starts while May, Pelfrey, and Milone each contributed one. Even "non-quality starts" have been relatively "solid," such as Pelfrey's 4/17 start when he allowed only one run over five innings and Trevor May's 4/25 performance in front of his hometown Washington crowd, when he struckout 5 before being knocked out by a line drive in the fourth inning.

It's got to the point where I'm almost excited to see who's pitching. A "Who's next!?" attitude as opposed to, "Uh oh, who's next?" a 'la 2011 - 2013 (e.g. P J Walters, Cole De Vries, and Andrew Albers?) Glen Perkins and Casey Fien have also combined to be nearly "lights out" at the back of the 'pen.

The offense? Not so much.

As of 4/27, the Twins slash line of .226/.290/.318 had them second to last, last, and last in the American League in each category, respectively. That is vomit-inducing. Fortunately, Joe Mauer has been especially Joe Mauer-ish thus far, or things would be even uglier. Mauer has batted .299/.392/.387 which compares relatively closely to his career slash of .318/.401/.458.

The youthful trio of Arcia, Santana, and Vargas, is primarily to blame for the Twins' anemic production. Their median OPS currently sits at .489.

That. Is. Bad.

The solution, however, is simple. Keep writing Santana, Vargas, and Arcia into the lineup while riding the current "quality" SP carousel as far as it goes. It will inevitably end. The pitching isn't "3.51 ERA" good. This is a rebuilding year. There will be growing pains.

Oswaldo Arcia shot through the Twins farm system like a rocket. The guy can mash. My personal over / under Arcia 2015 HR total is 28. He's shown glimpses of his potential over parts of the past couple seasons. I would like to see what he does given a whole year in the lineup.

I also want to see if Santana is the rookie we saw in 2014 or something more like his career MiLB totals. And what about Vargas? Was his 2014 September flash just Parmelee 2.0 or was it something more? You only find out by trying, which may mean prolonged periods of pain. Patience...for now.