You’ll be hard pressed to find someone who believes in the Twins less than I. But wouldn’t I be damned if I just watched them pull off a 4-piece of the presumptive AL Central favorite Detroit Tigers.

And it wasn’t cheap either. They beat up on Skubal and Valdez, scoring 12 runs off the dynamic duo and put up 22 total in the 4 game sweep.

My main question is — what is the takeaway here? Is this a sign that the Twins are maybe more dangerous than I’m giving credit for? Are the Tigers showing signs that plagued the team down the stretch in ‘25?

I’m unfortunately leaning the latter. The Tigers were a .430 ball club in the 2nd half, but perhaps worse was the DYSMAL 7-17 September (.292)

I opined in my ceilings and floor post at the 1 week mark — they will go as far as their pitching staff takes them, namely their bullpen.

And thus far 2 of their main back end guys — Jansen and Vest — have 5.40 ERA’s and their next best option — Kyle Finnegan — while not having a run charged to him, is carrying a 5.96 FIP. Two more relievers have ERA’s north of 6.35.

Couple those issues with mediocre starting pitching, and slow starts from Torkelson, Greene, Carpenter, and McKinstry (all win sub .700 OPS) and I’m starting to sweat the Tigers right now.

To make sure I am giving the Twins their much deserved flowers, here’s a few quick hitters:

—

Nike released their 2026 “City Connect” uniforms, and there are definitely some highs and lows.

In honor of the upcoming film “The Devil Wears Prada 2” — in theaters May 1st — let’s judge the shit out of some clothing.

8th/Last Place - Texas Rangers

I mean these are straight GARBAGE. This feels like they forgot they had an 8th jersey due and just slapped down whatever they could before shipping it off to the printers.

Take some inspiration from SMU Football on how to do a PERFECT city jersey … FFS

0/10 (with prejudice)

7th - Kansas City Royals

This isn’t horrible. They’re clean and fresh, nice and light … but they look a little amateur?

They obviously were going for minimalist with a nod to the fountains in Kauffman, but this just fell flat for me. There’s a corporate/start up to the logo, the ombre in the hat is… fine?

Nothing wrong but just didn’t hit for me

5/10.

6th - Cincinnati Reds

These are doing the opposite of the Royals — WAYYYY too much.

I don’t care for ALL the Red here. There’s a subtle red pinstripe that you can’t quite notice without a zoom.

These are totally fine, but it looks like a travel ball jersey for the rich kids that get waxed every time they leave the state. Mom hates washing these, and Dad wants rip what little is left of his hair watching Timmy boot his 3rd ball at Short as they go down 7-0 to Prime Elite Gold 12u.

5.5/10 - the logo patch is sick though

5th - Milwaukee Brewers

Again, these aren’t bad by any means, but they just read a little amateur hour.

But unlike the corporate minimalism of the Royals, these swing into overly… juvenile? This is another travel ball jersey.

But where it passes the Royals and Reds for me — It has whimsy. And I can get behind a proper level of whimsy (i.e. no vibrant red baseball pants)

This logo gets it a bonus point for sure:

Bro looks good

6/10 - P.S. Wisco is a state not a city.

4th - Baltimore Orioles

I kinda dig these. They’re a nice nod to Camden Yards and these have an interesting color scheme that takes a creative chance but doesn’t diverge from how you think of the Orioles.

My only gripe here is the “BMORE” - I need that one explained to me.

I watched The Wire, I sat through that horrific season on the Docks and that loser Ziggy say “Ball-Mer” but BMore was never uttered once on that show. Lost a point there

6.5/10

3rd - San Diego Padres

I like the direction the Padres went here. It’s a nod to the former team colors in the Navy/Orange, and it’s a cool font that isn’t trying too hard.

Where they get MAJOR points here, is the AWESOME Sugar Skull alternate logo

ELITE ELITE stuff here from the Friars.

I do have one gripe from a strictly … “the author is lowkey on the spectrum” POV.

They are marketing these as a MEXICO jersey. And while the tie between San Diego and Mexico are undeniable, these are supposed to be City Connect uniforms. Maybe connect with the dang city you live in.

8/10

2nd - Pittsburgh Pirates

HELL YES. What a damn upgrade off of the previous iteration.

The Buccos are back in black. The only notes I have here are that I wish they went with the black hat they made and I would’ve outlined the font in red to tie in the swoosh and the bandana. But I’m nitpicking a great uni.

Plus they brought back Pirates legend AJ Burnett (The Batman) for the hype video

9/10 - P.S. 1600’s Piracy is not a city connect theme either but the jerseys are too cool to deduct for that.

#1 - Atlanta Braves

Chefs Kiss

Absolutely no notes. Color is perfect, the old school wordmark, the yellow accents?

This is PERFECTION.

10/10 - Another Win for the Wagon.

—

Look. It’s no secret that the NL West is the Dodgers division to lose. They have won it every year — except one — since 2013. And now they’re 2-Time defending World Champs.

Since out of principle I’m trying not to give any props to the 9-3 Dodgers lets give a couple quick notes on everyone BUT them. Fight the Power

2nd Place - Arizona Diamondbacks (7-6)

Corbin Carroll has absolutely DEFIED medical professionals, and is confounding modern science. He is living proof you don’t need a Hamate Bone to rake. Leading the way with a 1.099 OPS thus far, he is setting the pace for this lineup… the problem is that nobody else is seemingly in the race with him.

.634, .584, .582, .542, .445, .410, .408, and .279 are the OPS of the rest of the opening day/usual starters… holy shit that’s awful

They have gotten a spark from rookie Jose Fernandez but they need someone else to step up and soon.

But I’d be remiss not to point out how AWESOME Eduardo Rodriguez has been, even dating back to the WBC

T-3rd Place - Colorado Rockies (6-6)

I touched on this yesterday, I don’t believe in this team but credit where it’s due.

They have a few hitters in Rumfield, Moniak, and Johnston who are MASHING right now.

They have a bullpen that had an ERA in the 1’s during their season opening home stand.

I just don’t trust anyone in that rotation to succeed long term, and I think eventually most of that lineup will fall back to earth.

S/o Coors though

T-3rd Place - San Diego Padres (6-6)

Typing T-3rd with the ROCKIES had to sting a bit here.

Nobody is hitting for the Padres yet. No everyday player (30+ AB) has an OPS even touching .700

Thankfully they have the best bullpen in the game, lead by the best closer in the game Mason Miller

I trust this team long term to wake up the bats and make a run for silver in the NL West.

5th - San Francisco Giants (5-8)

Look. I have made it abundantly clear that I think the college manager thing is going to blow up spectacularly, and Tony Vitello is doing nothing to dissuade me from that stance

He runs an amateur hour operation. You can feel the sour vibe of that locker room and it is bleeding onto the field right now.

Nobody is struggling too terribly but nobody is excelling either.

Chapman is hitting but he’s making fielding errors and screaming at teammates for them. Webby isn’t punching tickets. Devers isn’t walking

It feels off and it’s clear things aren’t running smooth at the moment.

—

If you haven’t noticed Twitter/X embeds are still down.

Thanks Elon.

—

I saw the most metal thing I’ve seen in a long time, and OF COURSE it comes from the D3 baseball ranks

—

There was a really scary collision in the Tigers Twins game on Thursday

Prayers up for Parker Meadows who had to be carted off the field in the Twin Cities.

—

The Nats bullpen is an unmitigated dumpster fire

—

I was doing some prep for a prospects piece I am considering running next week and holy shit… Yankees prospect Spencer Jones is something else

That is unfathomably awful. His Contact at pitches in the zone is nearly 40%???

This is who they wouldn’t trade for anyone but Paul Skenes? Shoutout Cashman

—

This didn’t cross my desk the other night, and I am making sure it doesn’t miss yours

I am a sucker for a good pun. And the Angels nailed it.

Have a great day everybody