Every season has a moment when the math still says “maybe,” but the baseball says something else entirely. For the 2026 Minnesota Twins, that feeling didn’t arrive all at once. It came in three hits.
The first crack showed up on August 4, in what might be called Double Dobber. Five days after former Twins playoff starter Randy Dobnak threw seven shutout innings against Minnesota at Target Field, he did it again in the rematch at Kauffman Stadium, turning in five more innings of one-run ball. The Twins were still alive in the Wild Card race, but getting Dobber’d twice in less than a week felt like an early warning sign that this season had a limited ceiling.
Then came September 2, and a loss that carried a little more weight than the box score alone could show. Minnesota had just finished an up-and-down August that included getting swept by San Diego and then sweeping Atlanta, and the club was trying to ride that momentum into a Wednesday night matchup with Detroit in Minneapolis.
The Twins fell behind early, fought back, and even forced extra innings with a three-run eighth against Kenley Jansen. But after both teams scored in the 11th, the Tigers slammed the door with a five-run inning off Tommy Nance and left town with a win after four hours and nine minutes.
It was the kind of game Minnesota had to take to stay within striking distance in the third Wild Card chase, and it slipped away anyway.
By September 6, the doubt had hardened into something much harder to ignore. The Sunday night Labor Day weekend game between the Twins and White Sox on the South Side got moved into prime time, and a win would have brought Minnesota within 5.0 games of Chicago in the division race and 3.5 games in the Wild Card picture.
Instead, there was no drama to savor at all. The Twins managed only four hits, all six pitchers they used allowed at least one earned run, and the night ended as a 10-1 loss on the National Broadcasting Company’s mostly-flightless bird streamer.
Three games, three reminders. That’s how the 2026 Twins year started to feel over.
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For Twins fans, it adds another layer to Baldellis already complicated legacy in Minnesota. He spent seven seasons in charge, went 527-505 and won the division three times, leaving behind a rsum that still prompts debate about how his tenure should be remembered. A move to Seattle would not just be a fresh start for Baldelli, it could also offer another chance to reframe what his run in Minnesota ultimately meant. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Could Replace Royce Lewis With Another Risky Infield Bet
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One name that could surface is Alec Bohm, the former Phillies infielder who is set to hit free agency after the World Series. Bohm would bring a different kind of gamble, since his recent seasons have produced mixed results on both sides of the ball and his profile comes with plenty of uncertainty attached, even if the Twins are clearly looking for alternatives with some everyday experience. [Read more 🡒]