Los Angeles Angels

Night and day for Twins compared to last season

Published Jun. 1, 2017 3:44 p.m. ET

As the calendar turned from May to June, the Minnesota Twins found themselves in first place, percentage points ahead of Cleveland.

Compared to last season, it has been night and day for the Twins. Despite some recent struggles, Minnesota has improved in hitting, pitching and defense when compared to 2016.

	2016	2017
Runs/G	3.75	4.61
OPS	.689	.750
Opp R/G	5.27	5.08
Opp OPS	.819	.765
Errors	31	21

It won't hurt the Twins' chances this series against the Los Angeles Angels with star outfielder Mike Trout sidelined.

It also won't hurt to have Joe Mauer in the lineup.

Minnesota's first baseman has been scorching hot. In 22 May games, Mauer had a slash line of .346/.442/.531. In the last two weeks, he's been even hotter at .368/.478/.553. And last week? A resounding .409/.500/.636.

This can't be good news for the Angels, who Mauer has hit quite well over his career. Mauer's .343 batting average against the Angels is the second-highest all-time of any player vs. the franchise (minimum 200 plate appearances), behind just Houston's Jose Altuve (.361) and ahead of former Twins catcher Brian Harper (.335) and Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (.335).

Mauer's overall stats vs. the Angels: 329 PA, .343/.416/.495 with 15 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 37 BB, 33 K. The only teams Mauer has a higher batting average against are the Dodgers (.571 in 48 PA), Pirates (.382/38), Marlins (.375/46), Rays (.364/290), Cubs (.353/41) and Reds (.353/20). He also owns a .343 lifetime batting average vs. the Brewers in 275 plate apperances.

Other notes:

-- Minnesota is third in the majors in games allowing 0 or 1 runs, with 11. Kansas City leads with 13 and the Dodgers have 12.

-- Adalberto Mejia has limited opponents to a .125 batting average with runners on base, tied for the second-best mark in MLB (min. 40 batters faced).

Statistics courtesy STATS and baseball-reference.com