Twins projected to win fewer games this season than in 2017
By Tyler Haag
Opening day is nearly upon us and the optimism that comes with it can be destroyed in moments by reading the very detailed, very believable projections given by the fine folks at fivethirtyeight.com
Fivethirtyeight.com has released their projections for the 2018 Major League Baseball season. In the American League Central, the Cleveland Indians are unsurprisingly picked to win the division but an interesting little bit about the Twins should have their fans in a good mood.
In regards to their projected 83 wins, fivethiryeight believes that the Twins could very well exceed that projection, given their improving core and additions this offseason. If fivethrityeight’s projections are to be believed, it is going to take around 90 wins to compete for a playoff spot.
Out performing these predictions will be very possible, simply because of the progression of players like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios. If things go well, all of those players could be performing at an All-star level and it would be fair to assume the Twins would be winning games at a higher than projected clip.
As the article said, in addition to the young players progressing, the Twins brought in a number of players who almost certainly will be an upgrade over the player in their spot a year ago. Just from a pitching standpoint, Jake Odorizzi, Lance Lynn and Fernando Rodney are all top end improvements in their respective roles and they will be playing for a team that used 36 pitchers last season, which should be easy to improve upon.
Barring injury or another suspension for PED use, the Twins should almost certainly improve upon their 85 wins from a year ago, let alone the 83 game projection from fivethirtyeight.com. Baseball is a funny game and trying to predict what will happen in a given season can be a dangerous proposition.