But how about that pitching! The question mark when it came to competing with Cleveland in the Central, and other AL favorites, was pitching. That question, so far, has been answered.
Berrios was certainly becoming the team's ace with an All-Star appearance in 2018, and overall had a very good season for a young, up-and-coming pitcher. His expectations were already high.
But, what could they expect after him? Kyle Gibson had a decent 2018 with some ups and downs. Jake Odorizzi was a slight disappointment in 2018. Micheal Pineda was coming off Tommy John surgery, and hadn't pitched since July of 2017.
Then there is Martín Pérez. The 28-year old was coming off an injury-shortened 2018 during with Texas, going 2-7 while carrying a robust ERA of 6.22. Pérez had some success in Texas, but was never a frontline starter. The team could never have expected the dominance that Pérez has shown so far.
From Michael Rand of the Star Tribune, here comes this amazing stat:Jose Berrios, Martín Pérez and Jake Odorizzi have made a combined 14 starts since April 14. They are a combined 13-0 (with one no-decision from Perez) in that span while allowing just 19 earned runs in 90 innings pitched (1.90 ERA). Seriously, great pitching from those three.
Since Pérez entered the starting rotation, the pitching hasn't just been good, it's been historically good. The Twins posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 2013 in the first two games against the Blue Jays (game three Wednesday night at 6:00 p.m. on WCCO Radio), with Pérez and Berrios each going 7 shutout innings, and a solid bullpen shutting down Toronto over the last couple innings. It was Berrios' 6th win of the year which ties for the AL lead. Pérez is 5-0 now, with a 2.83 ERA.
They are the first twins teammates with at least five victories this early in the season since Mike Marshall and Jerry Koosman in 1979.
The Twins expected more consistency from Buxton and Sano at the plate (although Sano has been on the DL since Spring Training), and they've gotten it from Byron. The solid years Rosario and Kepler were coming off of have continued in 2019. Plus a couple of new free-agents in Nelson Cruz, Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron, all have contributed. And Jorge Polanco is off to a blistering start. Polanco after Wednesday now has two 5-hit games already (the 5th Twin to do that in one season...and it's May 9th). He's hitting .344 with 7 home runs and 14 RBI's, and ranks in the top 6 in the AL in OPS.
This is a lineup with pop and gives the Twins a 'top-to-bottom' lineup that can create some runs. The Twins lead the majors in slugging percentage (.487). Certainly not the "Piranha" era Twins that was the epitome of small-ball. These guys really knock it around the yard.
There's also been some power from the catchers.
Mitch Garver has been red-hot lately including a home run Tuesday night, his 7th of the season matching last year's total already. Jason Castro has added four round-trippers already. And of course, there's "La Tortuga", Willians Astudillo (who is injured but expected back soon).
The three-headed catcher the Twins have is setting the pace for catchers across the league. Right now, Twins catchers lead the American League in: batting average, home runs, runs, RBI's, on-base percentage and slugging. In fact, the .700 slugging percentage the Twins have at catcher is more than all other AL catchers combined!
Now, over a month into 2019, it's Twins pitching that has really led to way to their first-place record of 22-12, 2nd best in Major League Baseball on May 8th (Tampa is 23-12 currently).