The common thread in the Twins' 18-game postseason losing streak that spanned from 2004 until Tuesday — even more of a binding than those losses to the Yankees — was that the Twins in many years did not have a team well-equipped to win in the postseason.
Twins won the series, and Derek Falvey got a victory lap
Tuesday's streak-breaking Game 1 victory and Wednesday's series clincher for the Twins was a lot of things, including a referendum — in a good way — on a lot of the biggest moves the team has made in recent years.
October 5, 2023 at 12:01AM
They lacked dominant starting pitching and were short of bullpen arms — particularly strikeout pitchers in both cases — while their lineup often underachieved because not enough of their capable hitters were ready to meet the postseason moment (and the better pitchers that came with it).
That was not the case Tuesday, and it showed. The 3-1 win over Toronto, followed by Wednesday's series-clinching 2-0 victory showcased how different these Twins can be and brought to mind four of the biggest moves of Derek Falvey's time as Chief Baseball Officer, as I talked about on Wednesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
They are:
1. Choosing Royce Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, the first one overseen by Falvey and GM Thad Levine. There was hardly a consensus that season, and Lewis to some was an outlier pick. But he has quickly become the face of the Twins this season, and his legend grew three sizes with homers in his first two at bats Tuesday.
2. Landing Carlos Correa in free agency in 2022, then re-signing him after a turbulent off-season to a long-term deal. Correa didn't have the season anyone envisioned this year, but he made the kind of play that has eluded the Twins in the postseason on Tuesday by fielding a misplayed slow roller and cutting down a runner at the plate. He followed that with the defining hit in Wednesday's game, an RBI single, and more excellent defense.
3. Trading Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez before the 2023 season. The move was unpopular with many fans and became even less popular when Arraez flirted with .400 for part of the year while Lopez was merely decent. But Lopez is a top-of-rotation talent, and he gave the Twins at least an even chance in Game 1 that they seldom have had in the last couple decades. His 5.2 innings of one-run ball was as much as the Twins could have asked for Tuesday.
4. Trading for Sonny Gray before the 2022 season. The Twins paid a price (first-round pick Chase Petty) in the deal, but the vision was realized in this series. Gray combined with Lopez to give the Twins a dominant 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Gray's five shutout innings were essential in Wednesday's low-scoring win.
Add it up, and it was not just the end of a losing streak or a win in the Wild Card series — it was cause for a victory lap for Falvey.
Here are four more things to know today:
*It was fun hearing Vikings QB Kirk Cousins talk Wednesday about his spur-of-the-moment decision Tuesday to bring his family to the Twins' Game 1 win. They bought tickets online and tried to blend in with the crowd.
*Sports Business Journal had some interesting updates to the ongoing question of Diamond Sports' business model. The upshot? If Diamond Sports gets an extension on its bankruptcy reorganization this week, expect February 2024 to be a time when a lot of questions about the future of TV — including Bally Sports North — get answered.
*Aaron Rodgers is doing his own research again.
*The two-a-day podcasts are fun, right? Expect another Twins postgame podcast tonight featuring La Velle E. Neal III and another Thursday morning on multiple topics with columnist Chip Scoggins.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
