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The American League Central Division has been nothing short of an abomination this season. The Cleveland Guardians have done little to assert themselves as favorites, despite having overtaken the lead late in the year. Tony La Russa’s Chicago White Sox may have the most talented roster, but it’s certainly been the most poorly managed thus far. Rocco Baldelli has been given an opportunity for his team to rebound from 2021, but they’ve struggled to break through.
Looking at the state of the division it’s easy to suggest that any of the three clubs in contention to take it will be wiped off the map come Postseason action. Diving into the Twins specifically, however, it’s worth trying to understand why September returns seem so immeasurable.
As of September 3rd, the Twins had been forced to use 24 different position players and had 33 separate pitchers on the mound. Despite operating just from a 40-man roster, the Twins had a total of 17 players on varying injured lists after putting deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle on it. To say every team goes through injury waters down a bit of what Minnesota has been dealing with.
Early on this season the club’s most important player, Byron Buxton, seemingly suffered a season-ending knee injury. Sliding against the Boston Red Sox on Jackie Robinson Day, Buxton looked to have suffered something gruesome. Instead, he never hit the injured list and played into late August while routinely getting his knee drained. There were multiple instances where a shutdown seemed likely. Concerns as to whether an infection could develop were real. What level of pain tolerance even the best athlete could endure was a question. All of that was taking place despite Buxton posting a team-leading 4.0 fWAR.
The front office dealt for Chris Paddack, and Emilio Pagan, right before Opening Day. The former made just five starts but the stuff was so good his 0.9 fWAR remains 6th among pitchers still into September. Carlos Correa, the superstar shortstop, missed time with a hand that appeared to be broken. A superstar prospect in Royce Lewis stepped up before suffering a second straight ACL tear.
Again, it may be sugarcoating it to suggest that every team goes through injury. It’s probably fair to understand there’s varying degrees of maladies suffered throughout a season, but it certainly seems as though Minnesota has been bit harder than most. For a team looking to reverse course following a bad 2021 season, far more has to go right from a health perspective alone to push the envelope.
The Twins front office never viewed this season as one in which they’d push all the chips in, and that was evident at the deadline when they doubled-down dealing almost exclusively for players under team control. There’s still hope the clubhouse can continue responding to the adversity they’ve been dealt but each new name to hit the shelf seems like another knockout punch.
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