All Things 2026 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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D see one interesting stat from our lads as we’re about a this the way through the season -

We’ve second in the AL with 249 runs scored; Yanks first with 258. This is good for 8 overall in MLB.

Through Monday, Twins starting pitchers are 17-17 with a 3.82 ERA. The group entered Monday tied for 10th in the majors with 4.8 Wins Above Replacement.

I think the bullpen will be better moving forward and we’ll add an arm or two at the break, as long as we’re in the hunt for the postseason.
 
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Ope3 said:
Just for clarification, Brooks was never out of my good graces. I have been rooting for him, especially during the tracking of getting his season WAR into the black. Goes back to when I saw him have a stellar game at the plate and at short with the Saints, as I reported in this forum.

I only bailed on the career WAR tracking because it fell out of "knocking on the door" range.
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Lee is even more in my good graces at this exact moment in time.
 
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Twins Win!
 


Ope3 said:
Lee is even more in my good graces at this exact moment in time.
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Brooks 6 for 13 this season with the bags full.

Tonight's key knock in the 11th was on an 0-2 count.

I thought Buxton, starting on 1st, was going to chase Keaschall down ahead of him.
 



Ope3 said:
Brooks 6 for 13 this season with the bags full.

Tonight's key knock in the 11th was on an 0-2 count.

I thought Buxton, starting on 1st, was going to chase Keaschall down ahead of him.
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Yep. He was on his heels. Scored easily from first. Love to get a speed reading and time from 1st to home.
 



Ope3 said:
Brooks Lee bolstered by his performance last night raised his Career WAR to -0.5. At +0.5 for 2026.

www.baseball-reference.com

Brooks Lee Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Brooks Lee. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
www.baseball-reference.com www.baseball-reference.com
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Thank you.

There’s an MlB player in there
 



Hendry Mendez went 4-4 yesterday for St Paul. Average up to .400. Twins got him and a now 17 year old pitcher for 1/2 season of Harrison Bader. Not bad, not bad at all.
 



GophersInIowa said:
The Varland one looks awful still but most of the others are pretty good.
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I disagree with the awful sentiment; I think Rojas has shown enough to not have it in that category - he also has a higher upside than Varland
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I disagree with the awful sentiment; I think Rojas has shown enough to not have it in that category - he also has a higher upside than Varland
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Varland’s career WAR in now his 5th big league season is 3.0, whereas Rojas is 0.6 in 5 games in his rookie season 🤷‍♂️
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I disagree with the awful sentiment; I think Rojas has shown enough to not have it in that category - he also has a higher upside than Varland
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I agree with your disagreement.

Plus Rojas is a higher commodity, Lefthanded which the Twins were deficient in.

Hard to say how it will play out given how young both are and what the Labor Rules will be in 2027, but right now Varland will arbitration eligible already in next year whereas the Rojas clock just started this season.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Varland’s career WAR in now his 5th big league season is 3.0, whereas Rojas is 0.6 in 5 games in his rookie season 🤷‍♂️
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I hope it works out but Varland has been great in the closers role for Toronto so far and is exactly what this team needs right now.
 

Ope3 said:
I agree with your disagreement.

Plus Rojas is a higher commodity, Lefthanded which the Twins were deficient in.

Hard to say how it will play out given how young both are and what the Labor Rules will be in 2027, but right now Varland will arbitration eligible already in next year whereas the Rojas clock just started this season.
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I think they’ll keep him as a starter because he’s more than just a two pitch pitcher and his stuff is at Bradley’s level - a little less velocity, but still.

Can you imagine having him and Prielipp in the rotation. Two potential front line lefty starters?

Boggles my mind. I thought he was a year away and am shocked at how well be has performed and that he is a solid contributor already
 

GophersInIowa said:
I hope it works out but Varland has been great in the closers role for Toronto so far and is exactly what this team needs right now.
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I’m not concerned about having a defined closer this year; this season was a reset and my hope was that the Twins would do the following -

Play much better fundamental baseball ✅
Find out what the older group of young guys could or couldn’t provide; Martin, Lee, Wallner, Latnach & Lewis ✅
(Martin is a keeper, Lee is a probable, Wallner will likely never target Field again (cooked), Larnzch is a keeper, Lewis is TBD). Provides us with depth and trade pieces to pick up arms at the deadline or in the offseason without pillaging the farm system.
Have young arms step up in the rotation ✅
Play competitive baseball ✅
Have a manager who is ready to lead us for the future ✅

I’m more than satisfied at this juncture.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I’m not concerned about having a defined closer this year; this season was a reset and my hope was that the Twins would do the following -

Play much better fundamental baseball ✅
Find out what the older group of young guys could or couldn’t provide; Martin, Lee, Wallner, Latnach & Lewis ✅
(Martin is a keeper, Lee is a probable, Wallner will likely never target Field again (cooked), Larnzch is a keeper, Lewis is TBD). Provides us with depth and trade pieces to pick up arms at the deadline or in the offseason without pillaging the farm system.
Have young arms step up in the rotation ✅
Play competitive baseball ✅
Have a manager who is ready to lead us for the future ✅

I’m more than satisfied at this juncture.
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It would still be nice to have one guy you know you can rely on in the back end. Varland has 4 more years after this of team control.
 

GophersInIowa said:
It would still be nice to have one guy you know you can rely on in the back end. Varland has 4 more years after this of team control.
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True.

Yoendez for the Win - a closer picked up on waivers - would be the most Twins scenario ever🤠🤞
 

GophersInIowa said:
It would still be nice to have one guy you know you can rely on in the back end. Varland has 4 more years after this of team control.
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That was simply a bad trade. Even if Rojas is good, it's a push at best.
 



howeda7 said:
That was simply a bad trade. Even if Rojas is good, it's a push at best.
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I bet Rojas has a higher career WAR than Louis.

You got the guts to make a friendly wager of $25 Elton the victor’s (Me🥸) charity of choice?
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I bet Rojas has a higher career WAR than Louis.

You got the guts to make a friendly wager of $25 Elton the victor’s (Me🥸) charity of choice?
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Career WAR doesn't mean much. The team control was 5 years of Varland vs 6 of Rojas.
 

howeda7 said:
Career WAR doesn't mean much. The team control was 5 years of Varland vs 6 of Rojas.
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Sure it does, it measures productivity.

Just thought you’d like to put a small wager to back up your opinion; as usual Tiood County 🐶 can’t hunt in Douglas County🤠
 

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