2015 Minnesota Twins season

2015 Minnesota Twins
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901)
Central Division (since 1994)
Location
Target Field (since 2010)
Minneapolis, Minnesota (since 1961)
Results
Record	83–79 (.512)
Divisional place	2nd
Other information
Owner(s)	Jim Pohlad
General manager(s)	Terry Ryan
Manager(s)	Paul Molitor
Local television	Fox Sports North (Dick Bremer, Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris, Roy Smalley)
Local radio	KTWN-FM (Cory Provus, Dan Gladden, Kris Atteberry)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
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The 2015 Minnesota Twins season was the 55th season for the franchise in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, their sixth season at Target Field and the 115th overall in the American League. The team finished second in the AL Central with a 83-79 record, their best overall result since the 2010 season. The team remained in the running for a wild card berth in the American League playoffs until losing Game 161 (their second to last).

After seven years away, outfielder Torii Hunter returned for his twelfth year as a Twin. Lauded rookies Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton arrived from the minors; each tallied their first big-league hit, home run and run batted in. In Rosario's case, he did all three on May 6 with his first big-league swing, just the twenty-ninth player in history to do so.^[1]

Offseason

October 30: Jared Burton becomes a free agent.

Week of November 11: Signed 4 players to a minor league contract and invited 3 of them to Spring training.

November 20: Signed 3 players to a minor league contract (2 with a Spring training invite) and promoted 4 players from the minors.

November 25: Sent Anthony Swarzak to the minors.

December 3: Signed Torii Hunter to a one-year, $10.5 million contract.

December 5: Signed Shane Robinson to a minor league contract and invited him to Spring training.

December 11: Drafted J. R. Graham.

December 13: Signed Ervin Santana and Carlos Paulino (minor league contract) while sending Chris Parmelee to the minors.

Week of December 15: Signed 5 players to a minor league contract (1 with an invite to Spring training) and invited 11 others to Spring training.

December 23: Signed Tim Stauffer.

December 31: Signed Blaine Boyer to a minor league contract and invited him to Spring training.

Week of January 7: Signed 3 players to a minor league contract.

Season standings

American League Central

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	95	67	0.586	—	51–30	44–37
Minnesota Twins	83	79	0.512	12	46–35	37–44
Cleveland Indians	81	80	0.503	13½	39–41	42–39
Chicago White Sox	76	86	0.469	19	40–41	36–45
Detroit Tigers	74	87	0.460	20½	38–43	36–44

American League Wild Card

Division Leaders	W	L	Pct.
⁽¹⁾ Kansas City Royals	95	67	0.586
⁽²⁾ Toronto Blue Jays	93	69	0.574
⁽³⁾ Texas Rangers	88	74	0.543

Wild Card teams (Top 2 qualify for 1-game playoff)	W	L	Pct.	GB
⁽⁴⁾ New York Yankees	87	75	0.537	+1
⁽⁵⁾ Houston Astros	86	76	0.531	—
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	85	77	0.525	1
Minnesota Twins	83	79	0.512	3
Cleveland Indians	81	80	0.503	4½
Baltimore Orioles	81	81	0.500	5
Tampa Bay Rays	80	82	0.494	6
Boston Red Sox	78	84	0.481	8
Chicago White Sox	76	86	0.469	10
Seattle Mariners	76	86	0.469	10
Detroit Tigers	74	87	0.460	11½
Oakland Athletics	68	94	0.420	18

Record against opponents

2015 AL Records Source: AL Standings Head-to-Head
Team	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	HOU	KC	LAA	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Baltimore	—	11–8	3–3	5–1	4–3	3–4	3–4	2–4	0–7	10–9	6–1	3–3	10–9	1–6	8–11	12–8
Boston	8–11	—	3–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	4–3	2–5	2–5	8–11	5–1	4–3	9–10	2–5	10–9	13–7
Chicago	3–3	4–3	—	10–9	9–10	5–1	7–12	4–3	6–13	2–5	5–2	4–3	1–5	3–3	4–3	9–11
Cleveland	1–5	4–2	9–10	—	7–11	5–2	9–10	4–2	7–12	5–2	3–4	4–3	5–2	3–3	3–4	12–8
Detroit	3–4	2–4	10–9	11–7	—	3–4	9–10	1–6	11–8	2–5	2–4	4–3	3–3	2–5	2–4	9–11
Houston	4–3	4–2	1–5	2–5	4–3	—	4–2	10–9	3–3	4–3	10–9	12–7	2–5	6–13	4–3	16–4
Kansas City	4–3	3–4	12–7	10–9	10–9	2–4	—	6–1	12–7	2–4	5–1	4–2	6–1	3–4	3–4	13–7
Los Angeles	4–2	5–2	3–4	2–4	6–1	9–10	1–6	—	5–2	2–4	11–8	12–7	3–3	12–7	2–5	8–12
Minnesota	7–0	5–2	13–6	12–7	8–11	3–3	7–12	2–5	—	1–5	4–3	4–3	4–2	3–3	2–5	8–12
New York	9–10	11–8	5–2	2–5	5–2	3–4	4–2	4–2	5–1	—	3–4	5–1	12–7	2–5	6–13	11–9
Oakland	1–6	1–5	2–5	4–3	4–2	9–10	1–5	8–11	3–4	4–3	—	6–13	3–4	10–9	1–5	11–9
Seattle	3–3	3–4	3–4	3–4	3–4	7–12	2–4	7–12	3–4	1–5	13–6	—	4–3	12–7	4–2	8–12
Tampa Bay	9–10	10–9	5–1	2–5	3–3	5–2	1–6	3–3	2–4	7–12	4–3	3–4	—	2–5	10–9	14–6
Texas	6–1	5–2	3–3	3–3	5–2	13–6	4–3	7–12	3–3	5–2	9–10	7–12	5–2	—	2–4	11–9
Toronto	11–8	9–10	3–4	4–3	4–2	3–4	4–3	5–2	5–2	13–6	5–1	2–4	9–10	4–2	—	12–8

Season summary

New manager Paul Molitor oversaw a winning season (83-79) for his Minnesota club, following four consecutive seasons of 90 or more losses under previous manager Ron Gardenhire.

2.22 million fans attended Twins games at Target Field, the ninth highest total in the American League.

The season brought some "Twins' firsts" and broke or matched several longstanding club records:^[2]

Facing Detroit, the Twins began the season with 24.1 scoreless innings, a club record in futility. Paul Molitor didn't get his first win until the fourth game. Among Twins managers, only Billy Martin in 1969 waited longer for his first victory.

On May 6, rookie outfielder Eddie Rosario hit a Target Field home run on the first major league pitch he saw, something no other Twin has done.

On June 14, three Twins hit triples in the sixth inning, a Twins first. Oddly, the Twins only scored one run in the inning. With another triple two innings earlier, the power burst added up to the club's first four-triple game since 1964. All four three-baggers were hit off Texas Rangers' starter Nick Martinez.

In the week prior to All-Star Game, second baseman Brian Dozier belted two walk-off home runs, the first time a Twin has done that within one week. Dozier was a late addition to the American League All-Star roster as an injury replacement.

Relief pitcher Glen Perkins set club records with 28 consecutive saves to start the season.

Rookie Miguel Sano was called up, and blasted ten home runs in his first 41 games—the fastest start for any Twins or Washington Senators rookie.

Eddie Rosario set a Twins rookie record by tallying fifteen triples (which led the major leagues) and tied the late Kirby Puckett's 1984 rookie club record with sixteen outfield assists.

On September 24, first baseman Joe Mauer reached base safely in his 43rd straight game, setting a Minnesota record. The record had been held by Harmon Killebrew at 40 in 1970.

Two days later, third baseman Trevor Plouffe grounded into his major-league-leading 28th double play. The tally tied Harmon Killebrew, in the 1970 season, for the Minnesota record.

On Oct. 1, Brian Dozier struck out for the 146th time this season. His season finished with 148 strikeouts, topping the previous club record of 145, set by Bobby Darwin in 1972.

Two Twins made the All-Star Game: relief pitcher Glen Perkins and second baseman Brian Dozier. In the eighth inning, Dozier pinch hit and homered off Mark Melancon in his only at-bat in Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park. Perkins pitched the ninth inning in the AL's 6-3 win.

Pitchers Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson each finished with eleven wins for tops in the Win column. No pitcher lost more than eleven games. Eight Twins finished with ten or more homers.^[3]

Game log

2015 Game Log (83−76)^[4]

April: 10–12 (Home: 6–4 ; Away: 4–8)

May: 20–7 (Home: 13–3 ; Away: 7–4)

June: 11–17 (Home: 6–8 ; Away: 5–9)

July: 12–13 (Home: 8–6 ; Away: 4–7)

August: 14–14 (Home: 7–4 ; Away: 7–10)

September: 15–13 (Home: 6–7 ; Away: 9–6 )

October: 1–3 (Home: 0–3 ; Away: 1–0 )

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Twins team member

Roster

2015 Minnesota Twins

Roster

Pitchers

58 A. J. Achter

36 Blaine Boyer

55 Neal Cotts

52 Brian Duensing

56 Tyler Duffey

50 Casey Fien

44 Kyle Gibson

62 J. R. Graham

45 Phil Hughes

49 Kevin Jepsen

65 Trevor May

51 Alex Meyer

33 Tommy Milone

47 Ricky Nolasco

61 Ryan O'Rourke

37 Mike Pelfrey

15 Glen Perkins

57 Ryan Pressly

54 Ervin Santana

22 Tim Stauffer

56 Caleb Thielbar

64 Aaron Thompson

59 Michael Tonkin

Catchers

26 Eric Fryer

12 Chris Herrmann

8 Kurt Suzuki

Infielders

17 Doug Bernier

2 Brian Dozier

5 Eduardo Escobar

7 Joe Mauer

9 Eduardo Núñez

24 Trevor Plouffe

11 Jorge Polanco

22 Miguel Sanó

39 Danny Santana

19 Kennys Vargas

Outfielders

31 Oswaldo Arcia

25 Byron Buxton

32 Aaron Hicks

48 Torii Hunter

67 Max Kepler

21 Shane Robinson

20 Eddie Rosario

1 Jordan Schafer

Manager

4 Paul Molitor

Coaches

41 Neil Allen (pitching)

23 Tom Brunansky (hitting)

75 Nate Dammann (bullpen catcher)

40 Butch Davis (first base)

13 Gene Glynn (third base)

18 Eddie Guardado (bullpen)

63 Rudy Hernández (assistant hitting)

46 Joe Vavra (bench)

Statistics

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Oswaldo Arcia, OF	19	58	6	16	0	0	2	8	4	15	.276	0
Doug Bernier, 3B,2B	4	5	1	1	1	0	0	2	1	3	.200	0
Byron Buxton, CF	46	129	16	27	7	1	2	6	6	44	.209	2
Brian Dozier, 2B	157	628	101	148	39	4	28	77	61	148	.236	12
Brian Duensing, P	55	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Eduardo Escobar, LF,SS,DH,3B,2B	127	409	48	107	31	4	12	58	28	86	.262	2
Eric Fryer, C	15	22	2	5	2	0	0	2	5	11	.227	0
Kyle Gibson, P	32	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	0
Chris Herrmann, C	45	103	13	15	5	1	2	10	7	37	.146	0
Aaron Hicks, CF	97	352	48	90	11	3	11	33	34	66	.256	13
Phil Hughes, P	27	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Torii Hunter, RF	139	521	67	125	22	0	22	81	35	105	.240	2
Max Kepler, RF	3	7	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.143	0
Joe Mauer, 1B,DH	158	592	69	157	34	2	10	66	67	112	.265	2
Trevor May, P	48	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	0
Tommy Milone, P	24	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	0
Ricky Nolasco, P	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	0
Eduardo Núñez, SS,DH,3B	72	188	23	53	14	1	4	20	12	29	.282	8
Mike Pelfrey, P	30	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.667	0
Trevor Plouffe, 3B	152	573	74	140	35	4	22	86	50	124	.244	2
Jorge Polanco, SS	4	10	1	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.300	1
Shane Robinson, OF	83	180	28	45	7	3	0	16	12	29	.250	6
Eddie Rosario, LF	122	453	60	121	18	15	13	50	15	118	.267	11
Miguel Sanó, DH	80	279	46	75	17	1	18	52	53	119	.269	1
Danny Santana, SS	91	261	30	56	10	5	0	21	6	68	.215	8
Jordan Schafer, CF	27	69	9	15	3	0	0	5	3	23	.217	0
Kurt Suzuki, C	131	433	36	104	17	0	5	50	29	59	.240	0
Kennys Vargas, DH,1B	58	175	18	42	4	0	5	17	9	54	.240	0

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
A. J. Achter	0	1	6.75	11	0	0	13.1	12	10	10	4	6	14
Blaine Boyer	3	6	2.49	68	0	1	65.0	62	24	18	5	19	33
Neal Cotts	0	0	3.95	17	0	0	13.2	14	8	6	3	5	9
Brian Duensing	4	1	4.25	55	0	1	48.2	46	24	23	5	21	24
Tyler Duffey	5	1	3.10	10	10	0	58.0	56	20	20	4	20	53
Casey Fien	4	6	3.55	62	0	0	63.1	61	26	25	6	8	41
Kyle Gibson	11	11	3.84	32	32	0	194.2	186	88	83	18	65	145
J. R. Graham	1	1	4.95	39	1	0	63.2	73	41	35	10	21	53
Phil Hughes	11	9	4.40	27	25	0	155.1	184	76	76	29	16	94
Kevin Jepsen	1	1	1.61	29	0	10	28.0	18	5	5	1	7	25
Trevor May	8	9	4.00	48	16	0	114.2	127	53	51	11	26	110
Alex Meyer	0	0	16.88	2	0	0	2.2	4	5	5	2	3	3
Tommy Milone	9	5	3.92	24	23	1	128.2	128	64	56	17	36	91
Ricky Nolasco	5	2	6.75	9	8	0	37.1	50	31	28	3	14	35
Ryan O'Rourke	0	0	6.14	28	0	0	22.0	16	15	15	3	15	24
Mike Pelfrey	6	11	4.26	30	30	0	164.2	198	86	78	11	45	86
Glen Perkins	3	5	3.32	60	0	32	57.0	58	21	21	9	10	54
Ryan Pressly	3	2	2.93	27	0	0	27.2	27	9	9	0	12	22
Shane Robinson	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Ervin Santana	7	5	4.00	17	17	0	108.0	104	50	48	12	36	82
Tim Stauffer	1	0	6.60	13	0	0	15.0	24	13	11	4	7	6
Caleb Thielbar	0	0	5.40	6	0	0	5.0	5	3	3	0	0	5
Aaron Thompson	1	3	5.01	41	0	0	32.1	32	19	18	2	11	17
Michael Tonkin	0	0	3.47	26	0	0	23.1	21	9	9	4	9	19

Awards

Team MVP and Twins Most Outstanding Rookie: Miguel Sano, at 22 the youngest player to be named Twins MVP and just the second to win the award as a rookie, joining Tony Oliva in 1964.

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Rochester Red Wings	International League	Mike Quade
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern League	Doug Mientkiewicz
A-Advanced	Fort Myers Miracle	Florida State League	Jeff Smith
A	Cedar Rapids Kernels	Midwest League	Jake Mauer
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Ray Smith
Rookie	GCL Twins	Arizona League	Ramón Borrego
Rookie	DSL Twins	Dominican Summer League	Jimmy Alvarez

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2015 Minnesota Twins season.

↑ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball=Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
↑ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball=Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
↑ "Minnesota Twins". Baseball=Reference.com. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
↑ "2015 Minnesota Twins Sortable Schedule". Minnesota Twins.
↑ Leventhal, Josh, ed. (2015). Baseball America 2016 Almanac. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-60-2.

External links

2015 Minnesota Twins season at Baseball Reference

2015 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston New York Tampa Bay Toronto

AL Central	Chicago Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota

AL West	Houston Los Angeles Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Atlanta Miami New York Philadelphia Washington

NL Central	Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Arizona Colorado Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Minnesota Twins

Formerly the Washington Nationals and the Washington Senators
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Twin Cities)

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring Training: Plant Field
Tinker Field
Hammond Stadium

Culture

Homer Hanky
Little Big League
Major League: Back to the Minors
Continental League
"The Piranhas"
AL Central tie-breaker games
- 2008
- 2009
Damn Yankees

Important figures

Senators Hall of Famers	Herb Carneal Goose Goslin Bucky Harris Walter Johnson Arch McDonald Sam Rice

Wall of Fame members	Rick Aguilera Bob Allison Earl Battey Bert Blyleven George Brophy Rod Carew Bob Casey Gary Gaetti Calvin Griffith Kent Hrbek Jim Kaat Tom Kelly Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Carl Pohlad Kirby Puckett Brad Radke Jim Rantz Zoilo Versalles Frank Viola

Key personnel

Owner Jim Pohlad
President Dave St. Peter
Vice president/Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey
General manager Thad Levine
Manager Paul Molitor

World Series
championships (3)

Pennants (6)

American League: 1924
1925
1933
1965
1987
1991

Division titles (10)

West: 1969; 1970; 1987; 1991
Central: 2002; 2003; 2004; 2006; 2009; 2010

Minor league affiliates

Triple-A: Rochester Red Wings
Double-A: Chattanooga Lookouts
A Adv.: Fort Myers Miracle
A: Cedar Rapids Kernels
Rookie Adv.: Elizabethton Twins
Rookie: GCL Twins; DSL Twins

Seasons (117)

1900s	1900 . 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

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