Twins' turnaround from 103-loss season rooted in defense

Paul Molitor is entering what might be the defining stretch of his managerial career. The Twins are in second place in the AL Central, only 2½ games behind the Indians and one game out of the second wild-card playoff spot. Molitor is without a contract for next season, but there has to be some belief that he is the right man for the job going forward, given how well the team has bounced back from their terrible 2016 campaign.

The big question might be whether he wants to come back, because for a long time, Molitor turned down opportunities to manage.

Molitor spoke right before the All-Star break about how he got the Twins in position to compete without a drastic overhaul of the roster.

"I think that you have to have some belief of being able to turn things around," he said. "You know how dramatically you can't predict, but I knew that the talent that we had didn't really match up to the 103 losses [from 2016]. We had to endure a lot of things with pitching last year, and some much-needed experience for our younger guys. I think they all believed that we were a better team than that, and when you get off to a good start it breeds confidence, which is huge for young players."

And while the Twins and Molitor were 32-56 heading into the second half last season, they actually posted a 49-40 mark over the first half of 2015, Molitor's first year. So how does he account for the up-and-down nature of this collection of veterans and youngsters?

"I'll look at three components: I'll say our [starting] pitching, although the numbers of late haven't been good, has done a good job of protecting our bullpen," he said. "I think defensively the fact that we're saving as many runs as we are by playmaking and not extending innings has really been a big part of what we have done.

"And thirdly just the fact that a lot of our young guys who we're counting on to be a big part of our future — [Max] Kepler, [Eddie] Rosario, [Miguel] Sano, [Byron] Buxton — all these guys have come back better players this year."

Defense.

They rank fourth in defensive efficiency in the American League, according to Baseball Reference.com, and they are second in the American League in fielding percentage (.987). In 2016, they were dead last in both categories.

The pitching staff posted a 4.97 ERA through the first half of 2016 compared to 4.89 this season.

And the offense is hitting .253 this season, an identical mark to last year. The one big difference offensively is that the team is second in the American League in walks with 323.

Molitor said some of the defensive improvement is simply based on players being in the right position to have success.

Molitor was asked if anyone really surprised him this season.

"I really had a lot of hopes that Jose [Berrios] was going to be a guy that would contribute to our rotation being better and deeper," he said. "I think on the offensive side, I was really hoping that every single one of those guys we talked about would come back and start to figure things out here and be more consistent."

Did Molitor ever have doubts about Sano, his newest and youngest All-Star, after some struggles last season?

"I have to say it's not abnormal for a young guy to come up here and maybe have some success and think it's just going to continue," he said. "He probably learned a lesson about focus every day and those types of things, but he has been great.

"The fact that he's playing third base, a position he's much more comfortable with than the outfield, I think that took away from his hitting a little bit last year, too. He's happy, he's trying to win, he's not worried about his own numbers, he's turned into a really good, team player."

"It's a little bit frustrating in that we can't seem to post a little bit better record," Molitor said. "Overall I'm trying to win games every day, just like the players, and fortunately we've played well on the road to compensate for some of the facts that we've had difficulty here."

If the Twins are going to reach their first postseason in seven years, they're going to need some more victories at home, but first things first: a road series with the best team in the American League, the Houston Astros, starting Friday night.

• Now that the University of Minnesota has put the 3M name on Mariucci Arena for $11.2 million over 14 years, I think it is a cinch Williams Arena will attract a similar deal, but for a lot more money. And don't completely be surprised if they put a new name on the football practice facility, too.

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