Mike Radcliff has heard the chatter among scouts. He knows Appalachian League veterans are wondering what's going on. And he was just in Elizabethton, Tenn., in late July, so he understands there's some grumbling among the fans, too.

What's the matter with the E-Town Twins?

"That topic has run rampant among a lot of different scouts," said Radcliff, Twins vice president of player personnel. "We've taken some heat, as a matter of fact, a little bit. It's not what people are used to."

They are not used to losing, he means. Elizabethton is one of the most successful franchises in minor league baseball, tearing up the Appalachian League with amazing regularity. The Twins have made the playoffs an incredible 11 years in a row, have won six championships since 2000 (including last season), and have not posted a sub-.500 record since 1988 — long before the team's teenage players were born. They have averaged 40 wins a season over the last quarter-century, in a 68-game season.

"We've won so handily there for a decade, the fact that we're not winning there this year is getting a lot of notice," Radcliff said. "but you know, the season's not over, either."

Actually, it might be for the Twins, who entered the weekend 10 games behind the Greeneville (Tenn.) Astros. They hit bottom last Tuesday, when they dropped a doubleheader to the Johnson City Cardinals, their 12th loss in 14 games. They lost again Friday, putting them at 21-26 with four weeks to play.

There are lot of reasons for the decline, the Twins believe. On the field, Ray Smith — who had won 791 career games entering this, his 20th season as E-Town manager — sounds frustrated by his offense. "We're self-destructing one inning and we're not hitting," he told the Elizabethton Star last week. "We have a chance to make the play, and we fail — and when you're not hitting, the problems are just compounding."

They're not hitting, not up to their usual standards. Elizabethton ranks seventh in the 10-team league in scoring, and eighth in home runs — a statistic that sluggers such as Miguel Sano and Oswaldo Arcia have helped them dominate annually. The E-Twins led the league in home runs from 2008 to '11, for instance.

Then there are the special considerations that rookie-league teams must take, something affecting the pitching staff. "We have some pitching there, but a lot of it came from college, and they're guys who have pretty much used up their innings," said Rob Antony, the Twins assistant general manager. Second-round pick Ryan Eades and fifth-rounder Aaron Slegers, for instance, rarely pitch; they're mostly just learning to be professional ballplayers.

Dominican Felix Jorge and Venezuelan Yorman Landa are having strong seasons, but the E-Twins' ERA is almost a half-run worse than Greeneville's.

The hitting problems reflect the Twins' focus the past couple of years on pitching, Radcliff said. "That's certainly part of it. It's a combination of a lot of things, but absolutely, our system needed pitching, so we've had a greater emphasis on pitching — not just in the draft, but also internationally," he said. "So yeah, we've probably left out a position player on the way, trying to get pitchers."

Etc.

• Top pitching prospects Kohl Stewart and Alex Meyer are on the way back from injury, and both pitched Friday in a Gulf Coast League game. Meyer, recovering from shoulder soreness, started and recorded five outs — all on strikeouts — before hitting his pitch limit. He gave up three hits and one run, walking one. Stewart, who suffered a foot laceration while walking on the beach, struck out two in two innings, giving up no hits.

• Righthander Deolis Guerra, out since March after surgery to remove a rib that was causing blood clots in his shoulder, should be ready to pitch in a Gulf Coast League game in the next week or so, Antony said.