I remember back when the Twins were legendary for their inability to hit the long ball. Before Justin Morneau came along, the twins had gone decades without a 30 HR hitter, and he went out and hit a career high 34 and won the MVP in 2006. Now, there is a lefty with a similar stance as Morneau, who before Labor Day, has already surpassed his home run total.
Max Kepler is already sitting at 35 home runs, while Nelson Cruz is at 33. Morneau’s total has already been surpassed for the Twins high water mark in the 21st century by Brian Dozier, but the 30 total has been had to come by for the Twins since 2006. Only Morneau, Dozier, Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, and Josh Willingham have reached the mark.
Back in 2006, the Twins had two guys hit over 30 bombs, Morneau and Hunter, but they also ended up with 2 more players that hit double digit home runs. The Twins have been trending upwards in home run hitter depth. In 2013, while they had 6 players with double digit home runs, nobody hit more than 20. As recently as 2016, there were 11 guys with at least 10 dingers.
So far, the Twins already have 11 guys in double digits, but they also have 7 players with over 20 home runs, which is a record. Speaking of records, they have also hit the most home runs on the road of any team in MLB history. They were likely slowed at home by the colder temperatures in the spring. If they were playing at the Dome, could you imagine how many blasts they would have already?
With all that said, this incredible season from the newly christened Bomba Squad will go down in the record books. The team should surpass the MLB season record on either Saturday or Sunday. They’ve come a long way from 2006.
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