The Minnesota Twins finish the 2023 regular season this weekend before heading to the postseason for the first time since 2020.
Last Friday, the Twins clinched a playoff berth at home for the first time since 2010. It is the ninth Central Division crown in club history, but the first since 2020, and the third time in five seasons that Minnesota finished atop the division. Minnesota was out of first place for only three days this season.
“We feel like we’re playing our best baseball right now,” Manager Rocco Baldelli told the MSR inside the clubhouse with the champagne popping and flowing after his team’s 8-6 playoff-clinching win over the Los Angeles Angels. “No matter what happened, the guys continually work their tails off every single day.”
“We never doubted ourselves,” said Michael A. Taylor, one of four U.S.-born Black players on the team.
When Minnesota suffered a mid-season swoon, the Twins’ young players, led by Royce Lewis, picked up the veteran-laden club. The Twins got rolling after the All-Star break.