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The Kansas City Royals undoubtedly wish they could’ve played more ball the day after being shut out by Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday, but they instead must wait through two off-days. Now that the slow, strange start to April’s schedule is nearly over, the Royals (and the people who talk about them) can focus on the Minnesota Twins. The Twinkies begin a three-game series at Kauffman Friday night, when Ervin Santana will take the mound against his former team.
Santana, who recorded a career-best season ERA of 3.24 as a Royal in 2013, is one of the most trustworthy arms Minnesota currently employs, but that doesn’t mean they’ll falter in 2016. The Twins are betting on youth this year and will do so for years to come. It’s a strategy they’ve used to success in the recent past, but it shouldn’t result in the Twins realistically contending for a division title this season. Nonetheless, this is a club that held onto a spot in the 2015 Wild Card playoff game until August. They won’t be World Series contenders in 2016, but they could easily improve upon last season’s 7-12 record against KC.
Minnesota kept last year’s core of talented youngsters largely intact, which may sound familiar to any pre-“we don’t suck anymore” Royals fans. A club designed like this gives their fans good reason to be optimistic about the future, since the majority of the team is expected to improve. Veteran Korean slugger Byung-ho Park was brought in to take over in right field now that Torii Hunter’s career is finished, and Park should provide a great deal more offense than an aged Hunter did last season. Minnesota also addressed their need for a better backstop by trading for John Ryan Murphy, a young catcher with a high upside and five years of club control left.
The Twins didn’t do much else this offseason, but they didn’t need to. Expect Minnesota to take another step, however small, towards playoff baseball, but don’t expect them to surpass KC this year. They won’t win 100 games, but these Twins have a chance to incite more fear and frustration in Royals fans than any Twins team since 2010.
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