The Weekly Nutshell:
The Minnesota Twins knew the stakes this past weekend in Colorado. The players knew. Rocco Baldelli knew. The front office certainly knew. In order to build on the momentum that was percolating before the break, and plant themselves in the “buyer” (or at least “non-seller”) category with 10 days until the deadline, the Twins needed to win this series, and ideally sweep it. The assignment couldn’t have been much easier, going up against a Rockies team those season is in contention for the worst in MLB history.

Despite all this, the Twins came up short. They came up more than short. They got completely outclassed  in the first two games by a Colorado team that’s been a laughing stock all year. Minnesota was able to recover and pick up a victory on their way out of town, but the damage was done. The upcoming trade deadline instills a real sense of urgency as the Twins try to save their wayward season.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/14 through Sun, 7/20
***
Record Last Week: 1-2 (Overall: 48-51)
Run Differential Last Week: +0 (Overall: -8)
Standing: 3rd Place in AL Central (11 GB) 

Last Week’s Game Results:

Game 97 | COL 6, MIN 4: Twins Unable to Recover After Rockies Ambush Paddack

Game 98 | COL 10, MIN 6: No Signs of Life in Lopsided Loss to League’s Biggest Losers 

Matthews: 4 IP, 5 ER, 8 H

Game 99 | MIN 7, COL 1: Twins Save Face, Escape Colorado with Win Behind Ryan’s Gem

Ryan: 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 11 K

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NEWS & NOTES

Zebby Matthews made his return to the Twins rotation on Saturday, following a single rehab start in Triple-A. It did not go well. Travis Adams was optioned to the Saints as the corresponding move. Also arriving on  St. Paul’s roster over the weekend: Luke Keaschall and Bailey Ober, who initiated their own rehab stints. Ober tossed four scoreless innings with slightly improved velocity on Friday night. Tough to make much out of that. Keaschall had four hits, three walks and two stolen bases in three games. He’s playing DH exclusively, for now. 

Over the All-Star break, the Twins acquired 28-year-old right-hander Noah Davis for cash in a minor trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers (whom they’ll now have the displeasure of facing on the road). Davis has an ugly MLB track record (8.95 ERA in 57.1 IP) but there’s some intrigue in his arm. The Twins are using their open 40-man spot to stash Davis at Triple-A.

HIGHLIGHTS

Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan both had strong showings in the All-Star Game and followed up by flashing All-Star form in their returns to meaningful action. Buxton belted his 22nd homer on Friday as part of a three-hit night, his fourth multi-hit game in a row. Ryan was flat-out brilliant on Sunday, ensuring the end of a three-game skid by firing seven innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts and no walks. Ryan improved to 10-4 with a 2.63 ERA on the season. With Pablo López on the way back, the Twins would have a heck of a co-ace setup atop the rotation if they could find their way into the playoffs. 

The usual suspects made some noise in a largely underwhelming weekend for the offense. Willi Castro drilled a three-run homer in Friday’s contest that threatened to make a game out of it. Ryan Jeffers notched four hits on Saturday, while Kody Clemens doubled, tripled and drove in three, continuing to work his way into more playing time, and higher placement in the batting order. Clemens batted cleanup on Sunday, and went 2-for-4 with another triple.

It was shaping up as a rough weekend for Royce Lewis, who was 0-for-3 on Friday when he got subbed out for a pinch-hitter late in a close game. He was on the bench the next day, and on Sunday found himself batting eighth in the lineup — more than justified based on his relapse into lackluster production. Then, in the finale against Colorado, Lewis finally did what we’ve been waiting to see for nearly a full calendar year: he looked like Royce Lewis.

Granted, it was against low-leverage relievers on the worst team in the league, in the most hitter-friendly environment. But Lewis popped off for two no-doubt home runs, going deep to left-center in the fourth and eighth innings to equal, on two swings, his long-ball output from the past 85 games combined. You could almost physically see the metaphorical weight being lifted off his shoulders.

 

Caveats aside, we’ll take whatever signs of progress we can from Royce. It’s been said before, but no one on the team (and really, few players around the league) has the ability to individually impact their team’s fortunes in the same way as a locked-in Lewis. If he can get going, the Twins aren’t dead. This was a much needed boost at the end of a really demoralizing weekend.

LOWLIGHTS

In Minnesota’s first inning out of the All-Star break, Chris Paddack took the mound against the worst team in Major League Baseball, and proceeded to allow four runs on four consecutive extra-base hits before recording an out. It set the tone for a disastrous series in Denver that leaves the Twins’ contention hopes in a dire state at a pivotal moment.

As Twins pitchers gasped for life in the Rocky Mountain air, the lineup could do little to take advantage of the favorable setting and provide support. On Friday, the top three hitters in the order — Buxton, Jeffers, Castro — combined for eight hits, two homers and four runs scored. The rest of the Twins lineup was 2-for-21 with zero runs scored and zero batted in. 

Saturday somehow unearthed new lows, with the offense flailing away futilely against arguably the worst starting pitcher in baseball, Antonio Senzatela. This was a get-right spot if I’ve ever seen one, but the Twins got right back to fumbling away their fate. They managed three runs over seven innings against Senzatela — his longest start since 2022 — as the Rockies piled up runs against Twins pitchers. 

It was the same old story for Zebby Matthews on Saturday: visibly good stuff, plenty of swings and misses, but way too many hits, way too much hard contact. The ability is clearly there and, importantly, Matthews looked fully healthy in his first start coming off the shoulder strain. But his consistency in execution continues to falter, leading to mistakes you simply can’t afford at the big-league level. 

 

Matthews gave up eight hits in four innings and paired with Brock Stewart, who surrendered a back-breaking three-run bomb in relief, to dig Minnesota a deep hole in this game they desperately needed to win. 

Whatever the Twins aspire to do in the second half, it’s going to be dependent on exceptional pitching that makes almost every game winnable, even with an unreliable offense. That was the missing piece in June, but was starting to materialize again in July up until the break. This makes Friday and Saturday’s displays, surrendering 16 runs against a lousy Rockies team, so disheartening.

Having said that, offense is clearly what’s holding the Twins back. After scoring one run in a crushing 2-1 loss heading into the break, Minnesota’s bats couldn’t make noise until it was too late in a pair of devastating defeats to open this series. Brooks Lee went 0-for-7 at Coors. Ty France went 1-for-8. We’re still waiting for Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner to heat up, though Wallner did launch a homer on Sunday, his fourth this month. When will some of these guys truly step up? Ever?

TRENDING STORYLINE

The trade deadline is all but upon us. Buzz is going to heat up significantly in the coming week, and the Twins will undoubtedly be receiving relentless calls on their numerous intriguing assets. Even as someone who has been adamantly against the idea of full-on “selling,” it’s getting harder to make an argument toward clinging to the fading dream of contention in 2025 after what we just saw in Colorado. 

I’m still very opposed to the idea of selling off key parts of the 2026 team, which is why I’m out on the idea of trading Ryan, and unenthused about shopping Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax (though you’ve got to listen on relievers overpays at the deadline).

Those players who are due for free agency after this year, however, have a much tougher case for retaining as the suitors come calling. Unless the Twins can rapidly resuscitate themselves in the next week or so — and, the other direction feels more likely given who they’re about to face — the front office will probably take what it can get for one or more of Castro, Harrison Bader and Danny Coulombe. 

The coming week might be the last chance for this Twins team to avert a sell-off that strips away the help they need for an unlikely, but not impossible, push to the postseason.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Twins have played nine straight games against National League opponents and will extend that number to 15 with six more lined up against the Senior Circuit. That includes one of the toughest match-ups on the entire schedule to open the week, as the Twins travel to Los Angeles for three games against the high-priced, high-powered Dodgers. The Twins will face Shohei Ohtani as pitcher in the opener, and they’ll have to deal with his bat for the whole series, along with plenty of other top-tier arms.

Things theoretically get easier when the Twins return home to face the last-place Nationals, but no opponent can be dismissed based on what we just saw in Colorado (especially with two lefty starters in the queue), and besides, by the time that series rolls around, the meaningfulness might have already been lifted. I sure hope not.

MONDAY, JULY 21: TWINS @ DODGERS — RHP David Festa v. RHP Shohei Ohtani
TUESDAY, JULY 22: TWINS @ DODGERS — RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23: TWINS @ DODGERS — RHP Chris Paddack v. RHP Tyler Glasnow
FRIDAY, JULY 25: NATIONALS @ TWINS — LHP Mitchell Parker v. RHP Zebby Matthews
SATURDAY, JULY 26: NATIONALS @ TWINS — LHP MacKenzie Gore v. RHP Joe Ryan
SUNDAY, JULY 267: NATIONALS @ TWINS — RHP Jake Irvin v. RHP David Festa