The Minnesota Twins have the worst record in baseball. No surprise, at 10.5 games back of the division-leading Cleveland Indians, this also gives the greatest deficit of any team.
Can the Twins really be this bad? Sure, they have had several players out of the lineup.
Former MVP and All-Star catcher Joe Mauer, left fielder Delmon Young and slugger Jim Thome are all on the disabled list and have not been able to contribute like they did last year.
Yet the Twins’ starting rotation is pretty much in intact from last season, and while they lost Jon Rauch, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier, the end of the bullpen still has closer Matt Capps and the return of Joe Nathan.
Perhaps this is just one big sophomore jinx as the Minnesota Twins, in only their third homestand of the season, are playing in their second season at Target Field.
I looked over the Twins roster and found several “sophomores” who are playing their second season with Minnesota.
In all cases, it would appear this is a double-sophomore jinx.
Here are seven “sophomores” that are not performing to their 2010 levels.