Neal: Simply put, the Twins are going to swing the sticks this season

FORT MYERS, FLA. — This is not the time to be skeptical about how productive the 2025 Twins offense will be.

Yet I sense that sentiment from a fan base that tends to focus on what could go wrong rather than go right. That sentiment comes in the form of emails, social media exchanges and by-chance encounters lately around Fort Myers.

I’ve been at spring training for roughly a week, have observed a few games and chatted with club officials as well as scouts for other teams. I’ve have watched these hitters work.

My conclusion? The Twins are going to hit.

Perhaps I’m influenced by getting a warm sun facial every morning when I leave for the ballpark (not this Monday because of a rain delay). Good feelings might produce positive vibes. And this is the time of the season to focus on what a team has more than what it doesn’t. Pardon my optimism.

Skeptics point to players who can’t stay on the field because of injuries or who are falling short of their potential to explain why they won’t have a postseason-caliber offense.

I don’t see that. But let’s be skeptics for a moment.

The Twins don’t have a true leadoff hitter, so manager Rocco Baldelli will entrust slugger Matt Wallner with the assignment. Baldelli also doesn’t have an obvious choice for a hitter in the middle of the order. Too bad he can’t plop the 2019 version of Nelson Cruz into a time machine and bring him here. A year ago, Baldelli said Royce Lewis was his best option at cleanup hitter, which was startling to hear, but understandable. It’s easier to build a lineup if you know what the core is. It was a lot easier with Cruz around.

Despite all of this, the injuries, the lineup juggling, batting .218 in September, etc., the Twins were 10th in the majors in runs scored with 742. It was an above-average offense. And it was the second consecutive season they were 10th in runs scored.

So that’s both of Carlos Correa’s plantar fasciitis seasons. And Byron Buxton playing 187 games over the past two seasons. And Lewis playing in 140 games over that same span.

Every team deals with injuries, and it seems as if the Twins have had more key players affected in recent years than others. This is a new season and it’s time to break apart the mental scar tissue built up over recent years watching the injured list bulge and the club hire and fire trainers.

Is it possible that Buxton will miss 60 games because of his injury history? Yes. Can he find a way to play 135 games? Just as possible.

Based on last season’s performances, if Correa and Buxton reach 400 plate appearances, they are 4.0 WAR (wins above replacement) players. Anyone would take that.

Lewis’ September nosedive was emblematic of the Twins' 12-29 finish to last season. He agreed that some of his late-season fatigue was mental, but mostly physical. Despite batting .233 last season with a .747 on base-plus-slugging percentage last season, Lewis is batting .268 with 33 homers and 104 RBI over the first 152 games of his career. He needs to come out better for the experience, but his potential remains real.

Imagine Lewis, Buxton and Correa playing 120 games each, and the Twins with a top-five offense.

“That was us playing at our worst, and we were still one or two games away from making the playoffs,” Lewis said. “That just goes to show you how good this core nucleus is.”

Baldelli is tabbing Wallner to lead off. Despite an early demotion to the minors, Wallner finished with an .894 OPS last season. He also had an impressive 149 OPS+, which means he was nearly 50% better than the major league average in terms of offensive impact. Batting him leadoff allows him to maximize his impact.

Trevor Larnach and Jose Miranda also retain upside, with Miranda’s midseason tear last year an example of his potential. And a scout over the weekend said Ryan Jeffers was taking the best at-bats of any Twin.

The Twins are going to swing the sticks this season. If you don’t think so, you’re in denial. Or you just like being unhappy.