Twins' offense on pace for, among many things, historic team OPS
Look, we’ll keep this simple: the Minnesota Twins’ offense is insane.
Led by sluggers Eddie Rosario, C.J. Cron, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Nelson Cruz and (we could go on all day) Miguel Sano, the Twins rank atop the big leagues in runs per game (6.06), slugging percentage (.518), OPS (.860), extra-base hits (223) and home runs (104).
It all adds up to a 36-16 record -- the best winning percentage in Major League Baseball by the way, surprising just about everyone in the sport besides the 25 men in the Target Field clubhouse.
But back to the numbers.
One of them stands out -- not only for this 2019 season -- but since the year 1900. If it can keep this pace up, Minnesota’s team OPS of .860 would be the highest mark since the 1936 New York Yankees. If the Twins were able to keep this up, they would become one of four teams since 1900 to post an OPS of .860 or better, joining Yankees squads that featured legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.
| YEAR | TEAM | OPS |
| 1930 | New York Yankees | .872 |
| 1927 | New York Yankees | .872 |
| 1936 | New York Yankees | .864 |
| 2019 | Minnesota Twins | .860 |
| 1930 | Chicago Cubs | .859 |
OPS, or on-base plus slugging, calculates the sum of a players on-base percentage and slugging average.
Minnesota takes its roster full of sluggers to the test against the Milwaukee Brewers for a two-game set this week at Target Field.
Milwaukee pitchers allow 1.47 homers per nine innings, which ranks 24th in all of baseball. In conclusion, if you’re planning on attending Target Field this week, be ready.
Baseballs will continue to fly.
NOTABLE
-- Milwaukee infielder Mike Moustakas, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with Kansas City in the American League Central, has a career .270 batting average and 19 homers against the Twins.
-- Twins outfielder Max Kepler owns a career 1.011 OPS in 33 career at-bats against Milwaukee, with three homers and seven RBI.
-- Dating back to the 2011 season, the Twins and Brewers have split their last 40 meetings. Milwaukee has scored 200 runs in those 40 contests, while Minnesota has racked up 191.
-- Expect a lot of dingers this week. Milwaukee scores 54% of its runs via the home run, while the Twins score 53.3% of their runs by the long ball. The only other MLB team with a higher percentage is San Diego (56.55).
-- The Twins have 10 players that have clobbered at least five homers this season, while the Brewers have seven.
-- Twins first baseman C.J. Cron has notched a 1.318 OPS this season against left-handed pitching, which ranks fourth in the big leagues – and first in the AL.
-- Brewers starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez owns a 2.26 ERA over his 10 career starts with Milwaukee.
-- Opponents hit .314 against Michael Pineda in his first seven starts this season, but the Twins’ right-hander has limited opponents to a .205 average over his last three outings.
Statistics courtesy Sportradar, baseball-reference.com
