Twins in the 2000s: The 2018 Season

[Nick Nelson]

False start, setback, hiccup ... Whatever you want to call it, the 2018 season disrupted the newly installed front office's plan, which had begun to unfold the year before, and would come fully to fruition the year after.

 

Lessons were learned and moves were made in 2018 that would contribute to the coming payoff.We're running a 20-part series in which we look back at each Minnesota Twins season of the 2000s. A rotation of different writers will highlight key moments, unearth forgotten details, and share nostalgic tales from the past two decades leading up to the present. This installment covers the 2018 season.

 

Team Record: 78-84

Finish: 2nd Place in AL Central

All-Star: José Berríos (SP)

Awards: N/A

Playoffs: N/A

 

Season Overview

 

By all appearances, the rebuild under Derek Falvey and Thad Levine was proceeding ahead of schedule. In their first year running the organization, Minnesota exceeded all expectations on the way to snapping a long postseason drought. Now, there was a sense of unfinished business, with many long-tenured players and franchise fixtures reaching the ends of their contracts.

 

The front office acted accordingly, bolstering the bullpen with veteran righty Addison Reed, recipient of the largest free agent contract for a relief pitcher ($16.75 million) in Twins history. The additions of starter Lance Lynn and power hitter Logan Morrison late in the offseason contributed to a feeling of energy and urgency as cornerstones like Brian Dozier, Ervin Santana and Joe Mauer returned, all facing down the open market at year's end.

 

But as these veterans all faded and fizzled to varying degrees, it became clear: They were no longer the future, or even the present. The beating heart of the Twins now resided with its next generation of talent, and unfortunately, much went amiss on this front:

• During spring training, the Twins announced that shortstop Jorge Polanco, whose August surge in 2017 helped propel the team back into contention, had tested positive for PEDs, and would miss the first 80 games.
• After having a titanium rod surgically inserted in his leg during the offseason, Miguel Sanó never looked right, with conditioning and performance issues reaching a nexus in mid-June when he was sent to Single-A for a full reset.
• Byron Buxton endured the most trying and frustrating season of his entire pro baseball career, which is really saying something. Migraines, a broken toe, wrist soreness that wouldn't go away ... and a whole lot of struggling, as the 24-year-old tried to push himself through physical ailments in his diminished state. As he rehabbed in the minors late in the season, the front office elected not to recall him in September, bringing a bitter note into the offseason.
• Max Kepler stayed healthy, but stagnated after a promising age-24 campaign, posting nearly identical numbers across the board. As a completely average offensive right fielder (20 HR, 58 RBI, .727 OPS) with a good glove, Kepler was showing himself to be more role player than building block.
• Getting his first extended look after a brief MLB debut in 2017, Mitch Garver was solid offensively as the backup catcher, slashing .268/.335/.414 with seven homers in 102 games, but his defense drew heavy criticism. And as a 27-year-old rookie, it wasn't clear he had much room for growth.

With each of these players (except maybe Garver), the transformative potential was plainly evident. But for various reasons, they weren't quite ready to unlock it.

 

The dropoff is most succinctly encapsulated by this stat: In 2017, Dozier, Buxton, Mauer, Sanó and Santana combined to produce 16.1 fWAR; in 2018, all five players returned, and combined for 1.3 fWAR.

 

A lack of impact from these five, as well as newcomers like Lynn, Morrison and Reed, left the Twins with little chance to mount a threat against an unspectacular Indians team (Cleveland's 91 wins won the Central, but were fewer than either wild-card team). This wasted some truly strong efforts from players like Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and the blossoming José Berríos, who represented the Twins at the All-Star Game.

 

At the trade deadline, Minnesota's front office once again went into sell mode, this time with less vacillation and less uproar. Escobar was dealt to Arizona. Dozier went to the Dodgers. Lynn was unloaded to the Yankees. Ryan Pressly, finally reaching his pinnacle after a long journey in the Twins bullpen, was shipped to Houston.

 

By making these deals, which netted several quality prospects, Minnesota made the best of a down year. And even in the absence of a competitive race, fans still got their unforgettable moment down the stretch.

 

Playing in the final year of his historic contract, Mauer's future was an open question that loomed over the entire season. As his performance backslid – he finished with a .729 OPS, tied with 2011 for second-lowest of his career – and concussion symptoms flared up again, optimism waned that the 35-year-old would continue his career. While he didn't officially reveal his intentions until November, the writing was on the wall during an emotional final game of the season, in which Mauer donned catcher's gear and received a pitch for one last time.

 

His exit would be accompanied by that of another local baseball legend: Paul Molitor was dismissed as manager two days after Mauer's touching send-off. With Dozier, Mauer, and Molitor gone, there really was a sense that Falvey and Levine were sweeping out the final remnants of the old guard.

 

Team MVP: Eddie Rosario (LF)

 

Other Contenders: Max Kepler (RF), José Berríos (SP), Kyle Gibson (SP), Eduardo Escobar (3B)

 

As I wrote at Twins Daily when naming him our choice for team MVP after the 2018 season, Rosario's "nod is well earned even if it says more about the surrounding nucleus than him." His 3.4 fWAR was a new career-high, but the lowest team-leading mark in three years.

 

At times during the summer, Rosario was the only source of offense and energy for an offense that frequently slumped. Through exactly half the schedule's games (81), he was slashing .312/.352/.564 with 18 home runs, 23 doubles, and 52 RBIs.

 

He fell off in the latter part of the season, as Minnesota marched toward a distant second-place finish, posting a .659 OPS after the start of August and missing most of September due to a quad injury. Still, Rosario set new career-highs in both fWAR and bWAR, finishing with the team lead in homers (24), RBIs (77), runs (87), and steals (8).

 

3 Most Pivotal Games

 

April 26nd: Lost @ New York Yankees, 4-3

 

The Twins had just suffered a painful sweep in Tampa and were now in danger of another one at Yankee Stadium. Riding a six-game losing streak that had dropped them out of first place and below .500, Minnesota was simply trying to escape New York with a win.

 

It looked like they actually might do so for a change. Thanks to a tremendous start from Kyle Gibson, the Twins entered the bottom of the ninth with a 3-1 lead. An error, a single, and a three-run homer from Gary Sanchez were all it took to bury Fernando Rodney and the Twins, extending an astonishing run of futility against the Bronx Bombers.

 

July 15th: Won vs. Tampa Bay Rays, 11-7

 

The Twins had won eight of 10 heading into the final game before the All-Star break, gaining 4 1/2 games on the first-place Indians in the process. In this series finale against the Rays at Target Field, Trevor Hildenberger blew a one-run save in the top of the ninth and the game went to extras. In the bottom of the 10th, Dozier delivered a walk-off grand slam, putting an exclamation point on the end of a disappointing first half for the team and himself.

 

 

August 6th: Lost @ Cleveland Indians, 10-0

 

Heading into Cleveland in early August, the Twins were essentially making their last stand. Trailing in the standings by nine games, and sitting six below the .500 mark, Minnesota's hopes were thin, but a sweep against the front-runners could make things interesting.

 

That notion evaporated quickly, as the Twins suffered a 10-0 drubbing in the series opener. Trevor Bauer dominated with 11 strikeouts over six scoreless frames, and Cleveland's bullpen was perfect over the final three. The Twins managed three hits. After this loss they were never again at single digits in the GB column.

 

Unforgettable Highlights

 

Berríos Shines in Native Puerto Rico

 

With Santana unavailable due a finger injury, Berríos would've been a natural fit for his first Opening Day start, but Molitor opted for Jake Odorizzi in order to put Berríos in line for a bigger honor: facing the rival Cleveland Indians in his homeland of Puerto Rico on April 18th. The young right-hander rose to the occasion, tossing seven scoreless innings and lowering his ERA to 1.63 through four starts on the season.

 

He was headed toward another big accomplishment in July: his first All-Star appearance.

 

Rosario Goes Three-and-Out

 

In early June, the division was still up for grabs, and Rosario was at the height of his slugging prowess. In the last of a four-game set, Minnesota was aiming to take the series from Cleveland and move within 3 1/2 games of first place. It was a ho-hum day for the Twins offense against Mike Clevinger and the Indians bullpen ... everyone except Eddie, that is.

 

In one of the decade's best individual offensive performances, Rosario homered three times, all of them putting the Twins ahead, including the last: a walk-off two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth. Much like when he homered on his first major-league pitch at Target Field three years earlier, Rosario's family was in attendance and looking on.

 

 

Hello Again, and Goodbye

 

In their highest-scoring game of the season on August 16th, the Twins scored 15 runs, and eight of them came against Tigers starter Francisco Liriano, who was ousted after 1 2/3 innings after a two-run homer by Sanó. By now Liriano was a far cry from the dominant phenom who surfaced with the Twins in 2006, but to his credit, he was still holding down a big-league rotation spot 12 years later at age 34.

 

In addition to reuniting the Twins with a former rotation staple, this game also marked the end of the line for another one: Santana gave up seven earned runs over four innings in the final start of his Twins career.

 

Mauer Crouches One Last Time Before Walking Away

 

It's my pick for the best moment in the first 10 years at Target Field: In the top of the ninth in Minnesota's last game of the 2018 season, Mauer emerged from the dugout in catcher's gear, slowly making his way out to the field as thunderous applause rained down from appreciative fans. This all but confirmed Mauer's intention to retire, ending a career that – much like his M&M counterpart – will always be cherished, but also always subject to endless "What if" discussions.

 

At the very least, his sendoff cleared up this question: What if you pulled off an absolutely perfect farewell for a beloved franchise fixture in the most touching way imaginable?

 

One Detail You Probably Forgot

 

The 2018 Twins used 34 pitchers, second-most in franchise history (surpassed only by 2017 team). This included four different position players – Garver, Chris Gimenez, Willians Astudillo, Ryan LaMarre – appearing on the mound, reflecting a broader trend. Fifteen different pitchers threw more innings for Minnesota than Santana, who was the staff's sturdy workhorse a year prior.

 

Fun Fact

 

By losing 12 games on walk-offs (including the aforementioned crusher at Yankee Stadium), the 2018 Twins tied a franchise record and came within one of the MLB record. I'm not sure if this qualifies as fun but it sure is a fact.

 

~~~

Previous Installments:

• The 2000 Season
• The 2001 Season
• The 2002 Season
• The 2003 Season
• The 2004 Season
• The 2005 Season
• The 2006 Season
• The 2007 Season
• The 2008 Season
• The 2009 Season
• The 2010 Season
• The 2011 Season
• The 2012 Season
• The 2013 Season
• The 2014 Season
• The 2015 Season
• The 2016 Season
• The 2017 Season

 

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[mikelink45]

What is really fun is the fact that Rosario was MVP for the team.  For all the Rosario bashing and the admitted fact that he was a weak MVP compared to many in this series, still he has been the most his cumulative WAR - 10.7, Kepler 11.5, Buxton 9.8 means our three OFs has essentially evened out over the years and we are not yet at that point where we can celebrate their accomplishments as we had dreamed. 

 

Add that to  poor FA performances, Sanos injury and surgery and Berrios was the best story of the year. 

[saviking]

Looks like we selected our DH of the future in the 1st round.

[DocBauer]

With all that went wrong that year, I was surprised they still won 78 games. It's why I wasn't that surprised when things began to turn around in 2019.

 

Mauer coming out in catcher gear one last time was one of the greatest and most emotional sports moments I've experienced.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Yes, I had blocked all those walk off losses from the memory bank.

[D. Hocking]

 

With all that went wrong that year, I was surprised they still won 78 games. It's why I wasn't that surprised when things began to turn around in 2019.

Mauer coming out in catcher gear one last time was one of the greatest and most emotional sports moments I've experienced.

 

I remember thinking that things were going to go from bad to disaster when they got rid of Dozier and others basically calling it a season, and then being pleasantly surprised when the actually seemed to get better and finished the last third of the season by playing respectfully.  I thought the wheels would come completely off of the bus, but the remaining players kept on playing as if they had a chance.

 

Mauer's "unofficial" retirement really did pack an emotional punch that a lot formal retirement celebrations have (esp. when they are drawn out for a full season) and doing it that way was very Mauer (even though he says otherwise, I suspect he knew that was his last game and was that he would retire in the off-season).  Although he did basically get the official celebration when they retired his number the next year.