It Might Be All Over For the Minnesota Twins In 2009

After the Minnesota Twins lost to the Chicago White Sox last year in a one-game playoff, I was one of the many people who thought the Twins would come back in 2009 and have a tremendous season. After all, there was a lot to be excited about if you were a Twins fan headed into the 2009 season.

Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer were moving full throttle into the prime of their careers, the pitching staff was not spectacular, but it was pretty solid, Joe Nathan was still one of the best closers in the game, and it was the last year of the Metrodome.

You had to think the Twins would send the “Homer Dome” out on a positive note, right?

Well, after losing two out of three to perhaps the worst team in baseball in the Kansas City Royals at home—including a 14-6 spanking on Tuesday night, it’s really starting to look like 2009 is not the Twins year. The Twins are now 55-59 on the season and are five games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central and 10 games out of the Wild Card spot.

August has been a rough month so far for the Twins. The main culprit—pitching. Through the first 10 games, the Twins pitching staff is 3-7 with a 6.38 ERA. The 6.38 ERA is 29th in baseball only in front of the before mentioned Royals.

You know things are going bad when Joe Nathan doesn’t even have a save attempt in August.

Can the Twins turn this around in the next month and a half? I think it is going to be tough. The Twins can’t rely on an ace to get them out of a losing streak like the Tigers can with Justin Verlander (yesterday was a perfect example) and they just have the arms in the pen this year.

The only thing the Twins can hold on to is the fact that as bad as they have played, they are only five games out first place in the AL Central. If they could ever muster a streak of seven out of ten or eight out of ten—they can be right back in it.

The Twins were one game away from a playoff spot in 2008. With the way they are playing now—I am not sure that will be the case in 2009.