In case you've forgotten in the midst of the general misery from 2011-present, the Twins actually have gotten off to decent starts more than once. In fact, this year's start — which most people would agree is at least decent — marks the fourth time in the past five seasons the Twins have had a winning record at some point in May.

In 2013, the Twins were 18-17 after a victory on May 13.

In 2014, the Twins were 23-21 after a victory on May 21.

In 2015, the Twins were 20-7 during May and finished the month with a 30-19 overall record.

In 2016 … yeah, let's not talk about that. But yes, with the Twins in recent years it's more often been a question of how they finished, not how they started. Fans have been cautiously optimistic before, only to see those hopes dashed quickly.

So the question after another reasonable start in 2017 is: That's nice, but where is it all leading?

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com