The Baseball Scholar

Minnesota Twins Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
2–3 minutes

This is a list of the Minnesota Twins best single seasons. I decided to select two players for each infield position, six outfielders (regardless of specific position), and one designated hitter for each AL team. Hitters had to play at least 51% of games at their position. For pitching, we selected seven starting pitchers, three non-closers, and two closers. Starting pitchers had to start at least 20 games during the selected season. Relief pitchers were deemed non-closers if they saved less than 10 games. Closers are pitchers that save more than 10 games.


  • Catcher – Joe Mauer, 2009

    • Joe Mauer
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    170 .438 7.8 138 606 94 191 30 1 28 96 4 76 63 .365 .444 .587 1.031

  • First Base – Rod Carew, 1977

    • Rod Carew
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    175 .440 9.7 155 694 128 239 38 16 14 100 23 69 55 .388 .449 .570 1.019

  • Second Base – Chuck Knoblauch, 1996

    • Chuck Knoblauch
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    145 .422 8.6 153 701 140 197 35 14 13 72 45 98 74 .341 .448 .517 .965

  • Third Base – Harmon Killebrew, 1969

    • Harmon Killebrew
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    173 .441 6.1 162 709 106 153 20 2 49 140 8 145 84 .276 .427 .584 1.011

  • Shortstop – Joe Cronin, 1930

    • Joe Cronin
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    139 .418 8.4 154 686 127 203 41 9 13 126 17 72 36 .346 .422 .513 .934

  • Outfield – Goose Goslin, 1928

    • Goose Goslin
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    174 .473 7.5 135 528 80 173 36 10 17 102 16 48 19 .379 .442 .614 1.056

  • Outfield – Ed Delahanty, 1902

    • Ed Delahanty
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    173 .485 6.7 123 539 103 178 43 14 10 93 16 62 9 .376 .453 .590 1.043

  • Outfield – Kirby Puckett, 1988

    • Kirby Puckett
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    150 .403 7.7 158 691 109 234 42 5 24 121 6 23 83 .356 .375 .545 .920

  • Designated Hitter – Chili Davis, 1991

    • Chili Davis
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    139 .391 3.3 153 634 84 148 34 1 29 93 5 95 117 .277 .385 .507 .892

  • Starting Pitcher – Walter Johnson, 1913

    • Walter Johnson
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    39 14.6 48 36 36 7 1.14 346 29 11 2 56 44 38 243 6.3 0.780

  • Starting Pitcher – Johan Santana, 2004

    • Johan Santana
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    56 8.6 34 34 20 6 2.61 228 1 1 0 70 66 54 265 10.5 0.921

  • Starting Pitcher – Bert Blyleven, 1988

    • Bert Blyleven
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    63 9.9 40 40 20 17 2.52 325 25 9 0 109 91 67 258 7.1 1.177

  • Starting Pitcher – Frank Viola, 1987

    • Frank Viola
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    62 8.0 36 36 17 10 2.90 251.2 7 1 0 91 81 66 197 7.0 1.176

  • Starting Pitcher – Camilo Pascual, 1959

    • Camilo Pascual
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    67 7.8 32 30 17 10 2.64 238.2 17 6 0 80 70 69 185 7.0 1.135

  • Relief Pitcher – Dennys Reyes, 2006

    • Dennys Reyes
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    20 2.2 66 0 5 0 0.89 50.2 0 0 0 8 5 15 49 8.7 0.987

  • Relief Pitcher – Caleb Thielbar, 2013

    • Caleb Thielbar
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    44 1.3 49 0 3 2 1.76 46 0 0 0 11 9 14 39 7.6 0.826

  • Closer – Joe Nathan, 2008

    • Joe Nathan
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    31 3.3 68 0 1 2 1.33 67.2 0 0 39 13 10 18 74 9.8 0.901

Bench

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