During the \u201cBomba Squad\u201d season of 2019, the Minnesota Twins\u2019 lineup led the majors with an .872 OPS versus left-handed pitchers, including the most home runs against lefties (95) by any team in MLB history and the highest slugging percentage off lefties (.521) in American League history.<\/p>\n
It was an offense built to punish southpaws, featuring right-handed power hitters Nelson Cruz, Byron Buxton, Miguel San\u00f3, Mitch Garver, Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron, each of whom slugged over .550 with an OPS above .900 versus lefties.<\/p>\n
And then the Twins\u2019 lineup just stopped hitting left-handers.<\/p>\n
Combined over the six-plus seasons since then, the Twins rank 21st in OPS versus lefties, placing outside the top 10 every year and never producing an OPS above .732. While this season is still extremely young, it\u2019s already trending in a familiar \u2014 and negative \u2014 direction against lefties.<\/p>\n
Twins’ production versus lefties<\/p>\n
YEAROPSRANK<\/p>\n
2019<\/p>\n
.872<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
2020<\/p>\n
.658<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
2021<\/p>\n
.725<\/p>\n
22<\/p>\n
2022<\/p>\n
.701<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
2023<\/p>\n
.726<\/p>\n
19<\/p>\n
2024<\/p>\n
.732<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
2025<\/p>\n
.705<\/p>\n
14<\/p>\n
2026<\/p>\n
.530<\/p>\n
27<\/p>\n
2020-26<\/p>\n
.711<\/p>\n
21<\/p>\n
This year, through three series, the Twins have faced a left-handed starting pitcher five times in nine games \u2014 tied for most in MLB \u2014 and they have a 1-4 record while scoring 3.4 runs per game. They\u2019ve batted .169 with a .530 OPS versus lefties, striking out in 27 percent of their plate appearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little unprecedented,\u201d manager Derek Shelton said of the abundance of lefty matchups while looking ahead to the Twins\u2019 upcoming opponents. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to get eight (lefties) in the first 16 games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ugly early numbers will inevitably improve as the 2026 sample grows, but the lineup struggling with lefties was expected this season. In fact, it\u2019s been the expectation for several years now as the front office leaned more and more into lefty hitters with lopsided splits in need of shielding from lefties.<\/p>\n
Platooning left-handed hitters has been a common strategy across MLB for decades. For that approach to succeed, it requires pairing the lefty bats with capable right-handed platoon partners. The Twins have been unable or unwilling to get the righty pieces needed to complete the puzzle.<\/p>\n