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Steve Lentz -> RE: Twins 2023 Season and Game Day Thread (5/23/2023 11:36:20 AM)
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Story by Joe Nelson
Byron Buxton was right: The Twins' offense IS nasty
© Provided by Bring Me The Sports on FanNation
Tuesday marks one full week since the Minnesota Twins beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers, prompting Byron Buxton to warn the baseball world that the Twins' lineup is "nasty" and "dangerous."
"It just shows how different we are — our mentality and who we are becoming as a team," Buxton said, according to the Star Tribune. "We didn't go out there today like, 'Oh, Kershaw's pitching.' It was like, 'They're facing the Twins. … You've got to pitch to us. We nasty. We dangerous.' And once we get it clicking, it's going to be way worse."
It's worse alright. Since that 5-1 victory in L.A., the Twins have lost four of five and averaged 3.2 runs per game.
Over the last seven days the Twins as a team are slashing .222/.312/.377 with 16 runs. Only the Padres (13 runs), Royals (12), Brewers (12) and Athletics (8) have been more putrid in the last week.
Nasty? No. Dangerous? To fans' health, maybe.
Twins batters have struck out 63 times in the last five games. Only the Angels (65) have struck out more in the past week of MLB action, though they've played one more game so the Twins are striking out more times per game since Buxton's "nasty" comment than any team in the majors.
When the Twins actually put the ball in play they are batting .316 in the past seven days, which is actually seventh best in the big leagues. But an average of 12.6 strikeouts per game means they're not putting the ball in play very often, which is why their team batting average in the last week is .222
In other words, the Twins have been Henry Blanco at the plate. Blanco hit .223 in his 19-year career that included a stop with the Twins in 2004.
No team has struck out more times than the Twins (474) this season. The last week has been a laughing stock with 63 strikeouts in 167 at-bats. That's a 37.7% strikeout rate. Woof.
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