Hump day takes us back to the AL Central as we preview last year’s division winners, the Minnesota Twins. 2023 was a terrific season for the Twins as they shook their long running reputation as playoff failures and knocked out the Blue Jays, only to follow that up with a strong showing in defeat to the Astros. In somewhat puzzling fashion they followed that strong campaign up with an offseason where they did not make significant addition to this team, as Carlos Santana and Anthony DeSclafani are the lone pickups. Perhaps even more puzzling was their decision to ship last year’s ace Sonny Gray to St. Louis for minimal return. I guess you can get away with that when you’re in the worst division in baseball. Let’s dive into their keys to success.

Keys to Success

1. Royce Keeps Raking: For years we have talked about the Twins being Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa’s team, but in the end last year’s squad was led in big moments by Royce Lewis. Lewis had a big postseason as well and it helped lead the Twins to their series win since 2002. Lewis needs to carry this over so the Twins can go even further in 2024.

2. Pablo Becomes the Ace: With Sonny Gray rocking Cardinals red, the Twins will need Pablo Lopez to step into the ace role. Lopez had a fine campaign in 2023, but fine won’t be good enough this time around. Lopez needs to step up and anchor this staff for Minnesota to meet expectations in 2024.

3. Will the Real Carlos Stand Up?: The aforementioned Carlos Correa needs to pull it together for this Twins team to go above and beyond in 2024. The big-name short stop hasn’t hit the heights the Twins were expecting from him when they signed him to his big deal. He needs to be on the field for the full season and produce at the clip we’re used to from him.

The Lineup

1. Edouard Julien 2B

2. Royce Lewis 3B

3. Byron Buxton CF

4. Max Kepler RF

5. Carlos Correa SS

6. Carlos Santana 1B

7. Matt Wallner LF

8. Ryan Jeffers C

9. Alex Kirilloff DH

The Staff

1. Pablo Lopez

2. Joe Ryan

3. Bailey Ober

4. Chris Paddack

5. Anthony DeSclafani

Closer: Jhoan Duran

The Prediction

88 Wins and the AL Central Title

While I think the Twins have a solid team, they’re not exactly facing murderers’ row in the AL Central. The division is very thin as their competition is rebuilding in one form or another and the Twins are well rounded enough that they should be fine. Their starting pitching is good enough and electric closer Jhoan Duran should lock down the leads they build with ease. Look for them to be the only team over .500 in the Central.

You can find me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Also, check out our new Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. We’ll be back with our preview of the Mets tomorrow!