The Twins are looking like a more mature team. Paul Molitor has taken a businesslike approach that looks like it has carried over to the play on the field. I generally prefer data to observations, but here they go hand in hand. The Twins of recent years often looked like a team intent on making big deals out of small triumphs, which may have been a reaction to having the good times be few and far between. There was the "Fun Bunch" group, mainly borderline major leaguers who seemed more interested in the accouterments of being a ballplayer than anything else. Now, the young players from that time who are still with the team are maturing.

It has been especially satisfying to watch the growth of Trevor Plouffe. It's only been a month, but I'm not sure you would have expected Plouffe to lead or rank second among the team's everyday players in almost every offensive category while playing a steadier third base than ever before. You can break down his statistics any way you want and Plouffe looks good.

These are things you couldn't say in the past.

A Fan's View: startribune.com/twins