By the numbers: Putting the Twins' sizzling start into context

(FOX 9) - It seems like all the Twins know how to do is win at this point in the season as they enter Thursday’s off-day as the best team in MLB.

They’ve had a turnaround under new manager Rocco Baldelli which has led them to the top of the standings.

Their 23 wins are only the start of the story that is filled with some spectacular stats.

Power at the plate

The Twins have been fun to watch lately, thanks in part to bats like Eddie Rosario.

Rosario is up to 13 home runs, which leads the American League. In total, the Twins have six players with at least seven home runs on the year.

To put that in perspective, there are seven teams right now that don’t even have a player with seven or more home runs. That’s just how much of a force the Twins’ lineup has been to begin 2019.

It’s been a group effort in the batting order because the Twins are dominating baseball in multiple categories. Their team batting average is currently second best in baseball.

On average, they are scoring more than five runs per game to start the year, which is top five in the majors. Their average of home runs per game is second only to Seattle.

Pitching

The Twins’ arms are also carrying them a long way, too. The most recent series against the Toronto Blue Jays was a prime example of it.

The Twins went on a stretch of 25 scoreless innings, which was their longest streak since 2004.

They also held the Blue Jays to only one run in three games, their best series as a pitching staff since the 1980s.

Kyle Gibson had a career high 11 strikeouts Wednesday, but he’s not the only success story. Martin Perez is 5-0 after he had only two wins in all of last year.

As a team, the Twins are already at 23 wins for the year. In their nine seasons prior to this one, the Twins averaged around 14 total wins May 9.

In fact, this year is only the second time in the last 10 years when the Twins were at 20 or more wins on this day. The other was in 2010, which is the last time the team won the AL Central.

It’s still early, but the Twins are putting together a special start to the season as they seek that division crown. A rival is back in town this weekend as the Twins take on Detroit in their first series against an AL Central opponent in almost a month.