Twins' cold offense hot clubhouse topic after another loss
Thirty minutes after the final out in the Twins' 6-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, the sounds around the home clubhouse spoke volumes about the frustration with the team's offensive performance.
Edouard Julien and Kyle Farmer were taking swings in the batting cages with their hitting coaches and Carlos Correa watching. Inside the clubhouse, Byron Buxton, Trevor Larnach and Royce Lewis were locked in a long conversation about hitting.
The Twins are batting .195, the lowest batting average in franchise history through their first 20 games. They haven't scored more than four runs in a nine-inning game since April 3.
"I hate people saying it's early," Farmer said. "I hate it. Even when I talk to my parents or something, they're like, 'You have only 35 at-bats, relax.' I said, 'But yeah, I suck in those 35 at-bats.' I mean, it doesn't matter if it's early or late. Who cares? It's now. We're living in the now. We want to win now."
The Twins had five batters in their lineup Sunday batting below .200. Carlos Santana collected his first hit at Target Field this season with a fourth-inning single, ending an 0-for-20 home slump. Farmer, who is 3-for-38 (.079 average), says it's the worst start to a season in his life.
"We've got some guys that took their shirts and jerseys off, and they're in there hitting right now," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "That kind of tells you the way things are going at the moment. They're not going the way we want. You mix in a few good swings; you need a lot more than that."
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The Twins have a .135 batting average and a .435 on-base-plus-slugging percentage with a runner on second or third base, highlighting their inability to consistently score this year. They had a slow offensive start last year, too, but urgency grows with their 7-13 record. There hasn't been a team in franchise history that lost 13 of its first 20 games and finished with a winning record.
"We're not very good right now," Farmer said. "We have to make adjustments. I have to make an adjustment. I have the worst slugging percentage on the team [.105] and the lowest average. … Guys are throwing harder and nastier. I've been swinging a certain way for so long, I need to make an adjustment to time up what those guys are doing. That's what I was working on, and I think that's what Eddy was doing."
The Twins cut down on their strikeouts over the past week, striking out six times in Saturday's 4-3 win and five times in Sunday's loss, but that isn't the singular fix for their offensive woes.
"I think the worst drug in the world is baseball," Farmer said, "because it's addicting. You want to keep getting better and beating people. When you're not doing well, you have to keep going."
Etc.
* Max Kepler is expected to rejoin the Twins for Monday's series opener against the Chicago White Sox. He had four hits in 10 at-bats with the Saints on his rehab assignment with three walks and two strikeouts. "We're finally starting to add some guys back, which eventually, in my mind, that's going to lead to good things," Baldelli said. "Getting him back will be one step in that direction."
• The Saints were one-hit in a 5-0 loss at Indianapolis on Sunday. Randy Dobnak gave up two runs and five hits in 4⅓ innings.
