The 2016 Twins lost 103 games, leading them to the first overall pick and the opportunity to draft Royce Lewis.
The 1988 group recovered from its poor start to finish 20 games over .500. And the 1981 team’s poor start got its manager, Johnny Goryl, fired.
The jury’s still out on how the 2025 Twins will end up, but their dismal start has put them in the company of those three teams. With a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, the Twins now own a 4-11 record, which is tied for the worst in team history through 15 games.
The latest loss, one in which they were shut out by Detroit’s prized pitching prospect, Jackson Jobe, prompted Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to suggest that the Twins could start shaking things up soon.
“You’ve got to shock yourself sometimes and wake yourself up sometimes,” Baldelli said. “We might be pretty close to that because we’ve got to play better baseball, and it’s not just one or two guys.”
But what, exactly, does that mean?
It can mean “a lot of different things,” Baldelli said. And perhaps some of those things will be visible in the coming days.
“Sometimes you’ve got to just not do the same thing every single day,” Baldelli said. “It could mean absolutely anything. I think we could be getting there where we need to make some adjustments, we need to do some different things, try some guys in different spots. And that could be one way of shaking it up a little bit.”
On the roster side, the Twins could be close to welcoming back infielder Brooks Lee, who has been rehabbing with the Triple-A Saints after suffering back spasms during spring training. Lee should help shore up the defense, which has been a sore spot this season.
His return would mean someone’s roster spot is in jeopardy, with Jose Miranda being among the candidates. Miranda is off to a poor start at the plate and did not start on Friday or Saturday, though he did enter late Saturday and made a baserunning mistake.
But beyond simply getting Lee — and eventually Lewis — back won’t be enough for the Twins, who have a long way to go to pull themselves out of the hole they’ve created.
“Everyone goes through challenging times and things like that,” Baldelli said. “You can’t succumb to despair or that emotion when things are just not pumping your way. You’ve got to find a way to just stay positive, bring good energy, work hard, and good things follow.”
Jeffers sits
Christian Vázquez drew his second straight start on Saturday, a rarity for a Twins catcher, because Ryan Jeffers is dealing with a minor thumb injury.
Jeffers, who came in off the bench Friday night, needed medical attention during the game because his finger was bleeding. He was originally supposed to be in the lineup, but Baldelli said the catcher’s thumb had swelled up and he instead received treatment.
“A little blood is something that sometimes in our game happens, but when it started to really swell up and get pretty painful, then we have to act on it,” Baldelli said.
Briefly
The Twins designated reliever Scott Blewett for assignment and recalled left-hander Kody Funderburk, who gave up a two-run home run in Saturday. The Tigers had five left-handed hitters in Saturday’s starting lineup. Funderburk joins Danny Coulombe, who has been used heavily recently, as the two lefties in the Twins’ bullpen. … Simeon Woods Richardson will start the series finale against the Tigers, coming off a start in which he threw a career-high 107 pitches.
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