In each of the Minnesota Twins' previous four seasons -- all of which ended with 90 or more losses -- there was a common theme that could be spotted throughout each season: the Twins' starting pitching was consistently among the worst in the majors.
In both 2013 and 2014, Minnesota's starters had the highest ERAs in baseball -- 5.26 in 2013, 5.06 in 2014. The Twins ranked 29th in rotation ERA (5.40) in 2012, and 26th (4.64) in 2011. Despite other flaws each of those Twins teams had, starting pitching was No. 1 with a bullet.
Through the first 32 games of 2015, Minnesota has slowly seen that area improve. The Twins' rotation still doesn't boast an ace of the caliber other teams in the American League Central do; no David Price, no Chris Sale, no Corey Kluber. As a whole, though, Minnesota's starters are slowly but surely getting on track.
Entering Tuesday's series opener in Detroit, the Twins' rotation has a collective ERA of 4.49. Though not great, it's by far the worst in the league. It ranks Minnesota 21st of 30 teams, which seems like a drastic change from the previous few seasons.
"I think we're pretty confident. The rotation's been throwing the ball well," Twins starter Kyle Gibson said. "I think as a rotation, if we can go out there and get six, seven innings . . . if we can keep putting up starts like that, our offense is going to have more and more confidence. Our bullpen is starting to throw the ball really, really well. We like where we're going to be."
Gibson is one of the biggest reasons for Minnesota's improved rotation. The 27-year-old right-hander is in his third season in the majors and has gotten better each year. After going 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 31 starts last season, Gibson's 2015 campaign is off to a strong start: a 3-2 record and a 2.97 ERA. Even though Gibson isn't tallying many strikeouts -- just 2.7 per nine innings, lowest among the starting staff -- opposing teams are batting just .248 against him.
Right-hander Mike Pelfrey's resurgence has been another reason for the rotation's uptick. Originally slated to begin the year in the bullpen, Pelfrey slid back to the rotation after the suspension of right-hander Ervin Santana.
All Pelfrey has done since then is post some of the best numbers of any Twins starter this year: 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA. It hasn't always been pretty for Pelfrey, who has had three starts of five innings or less so far, but he's avoided any disastrous starts and has three outings of seven innings and two or fewer runs.
Up until his most recent start Sunday in Cleveland, right-hander Trevor May had been one of the Twins' better starters. Before giving up six runs in four innings, May's ERA was a respectable 4.15. He's eliminated the control issues that plagued him during his first few months in the major leagues last year and is also picking up a handful of strikeouts each start.
"I think May has come up and done a nice job for us," Twins first baseman Joe Mauer said. "The guys are throwing the ball pretty well. If we can do that and get the offense going like I know we can, we'll be pretty good."
Minnesota's rotation has improved its numbers as a whole despite pitchers like Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco struggling a bit. Hughes, the Twins' top starter a year ago, has given up a league-high 56 hits and saw his ERA jump to 5.11 after his last start against Cleveland. And Nolasco, who spent time on the disabled list with elbow inflammation, went five innings in two of his three starts but still has an ERA (albeit in just three games) of 9.00.
It's been rare so far this year, though, that Minnesota's offense has found itself in a big hole early in games. That was seemingly a common trend last year. Before the Twins would even step to the plate, they'd be trailing by several runs. Minnesota's rotation has done a better job thus far of getting a bit deeper into games and avoiding many crooked numbers -- and that's translated into wins.
"Sometimes it happens and that's when as an offense we try to pick them up. At the same time, when we're not scoring runs the pitchers are trying to pick us up and keep us in the ballgame. That's what makes a team," Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki said. "That's really all you can ask for is to give each other chances to win. That's what we've been doing. It's been working out so far."
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