This Is the Best Twins Offense Ever

I don't need to tell you that the Twins' offense is good this year. They're first in baseball homers, first in runs, second in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage, first in slugging, and at or near the top in most catch-all offensive statistics, like wOBA. Minnesota is mashing. If anyone in the majors has a better offense, it's Houston – the only other team in the American League with 36 wins going into Tuesday.

This is not news. It's still worth contextualizing, however.

An offense of this caliber is not common in the Twins' recent history. The team's offense led the way to a pennant and two division titles in the 1960s and 70s, led by players like Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew. But since the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991, offense has been harder to come by.

These 2019 Twins are decidedly different from what we've seen from the post-title teams. Even considering the hard-hitting Metropolitan Stadium-era teams, however, this Twins team is special.

The following graph uses wRC+, a FanGraphs stat meant to capture overall offensive performance. It's straightforward: A wRC+ of 100 is average. Anything above it is better than average, and anything below it is worse. Unlike OPS, wRC+ includes park adjustments so that the league leader isn't a Rockies hitter every time. It's also adjusted for year; the definition of average changes based on the hitters of a given season.

No year on the chart comes close to the 2019 Twins, represented by that steep increase at the end of the graph. They've posted a wRC+ of 124 through Monday, which is an astounding number. A 124 wRC+ is what Sammy Sosa did over a whole career, and the whole Twins team has combined for that. Most teams do not crack 100 over a full season because fielding a team of just average hitters is hard, even when you play with a DH.

Only seven teams since 1903 have hit for a 120 wRC+ or better. Of the 10 teams to post the highest marks, three won the World Series, and another (the 1982 Brewers) won the pennant. Another two are teams from 2019: the Astros and Twins.

If you prefer something countable over advanced statistics: The 2019 Twins are on pace to score 975 runs this season. That would not only blow away the previous franchise record (the 1930 Senators scored 892); it would be the 14th-highest total in baseball history since we've had a World Series.

The 320 home runs the Twins are on pace to hit would obliterate the record set by last season's Yankees. Even adjusting for our current homer-happy era, such a mark would be truly astonishing.

It's unlikely that the Twins will keep this up for a whole season because that's really difficult to do. But a soft schedule the rest of the way (including 46 combined games against the Royals, Tigers, and White Sox) and warmer weather make it a little easier for the Twins to continue wrecking opposing pitchers. Regardless of how sustainable it is, this pace deserves to be recognized as historic.