The Twins offense, which shattered a Major League Baseball record for strikeouts in a season, tied for the American League lead in homers during the regular season and ranked second in walks.
That is a trade-off, manager Rocco Baldelli and President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey said Friday, the organization is willing to make.
"You want baserunners, and you want balls hit on the barrel, hard," Baldelli said. "That is the goal. That's what we want, those two things, above anything else."
The Twins scored three or fewer runs in four of their six playoff games before they were eliminated by the Houston Astros, three games to one in the best-of-five American League Division Series. No team through the first two rounds of the postseason totaled more strikeouts (73) or walks (27), but the Twins ultimately were doomed by hitting a dismal .132 with runners in scoring position.
Home runs, largely, are the name of the game in the postseason. Teams that outhomer their opponents have a 14-1 record in this year's playoffs, and 53% of the runs have scored through homers, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
"We were trying to find ways to get to more power," Falvey said. "We've all observed these playoffs to this point. What has mattered most is the ability to hit for power. The reality is that striking out less this postseason has not led to more wins."
The Twins have areas they want to improve in their offense, like all teams, but they don't view strikeouts as a barometer for a team's offense. If they focus solely on cutting down on strikeouts, Baldelli predicted they would have fewer baserunners because it would lead to softer contact on many balls in play.
The Cleveland Guardians compiled the fewest strikeouts in the majors this year, and they scored the fourth-fewest runs.
