The Twins are climbing back after a brutal April put them deep in the hole.
Most projections had the Minnesota Twins finishing near the bottom of the AL Central in 2026, and through three weeks of April, they looked the part.
Series losses piled up and the record fell well below .500, with a lineup that didn't have many answers when trailing.
Over the past month that flipped, and now they are a team nobody really wants to face when the score gets sideways.
Austin Martin is the biggest reason.
The 27-year-old outfielder grabbed the everyday job once Matt Wallner got sent to Triple-A, and he has not given it back.
He has been hitting, the glove has played in center, and the big moments keep landing on him.
On Friday at Fenway Park, he made a leaping catch on Caleb Durbin in the sixth, then drove a two-run homer into left-center in the seventh to turn a four-run deficit into a Twins win.
A Quiet Leader in the Clubhouse
After that game, Martin was asked about the team's refuse-to-die approach, and his answer said more about the dugout than most postgame quotes do.
"I feel I've been saying it all year. Even if we fall behind early, the at-bats continue to get better and better during the game," Martin said. "It's a matter of passing the baton, winning a good AB and adding some more energy to the next guy."
That is exactly what the Minnesota Twins keep doing.
Nine of their wins have come from behind, including all three games of last weekend's sweep in Boston, and the lineup keeps wearing down pitchers no matter the score.
Martin himself is hitting above .300 with an above-average OPS through 45 games, which is why first-year manager Derek Shelton keeps him near the top of the order.
Punching Back
The second piece of Martin's answer gets at how this group flipped its season.
"We don't let up even if they score runs. They punch us and we try to hit them back," Martin said.
That attitude is why a 14-18 team is now 26-27 after sweeping the Red Sox, with 10 wins in their last 14 games.
Byron Buxton already has 16 home runs and is back to driving the ball the way he can when healthy, and the rest of the lineup keeps stepping forward.
Ryan Jeffers is hitting near .290 from behind the plate, and the bullpen has been good enough on the road to lock down close games.
Martin matters this much because he affects games on both sides of the ball.
His bat has been the saving grace of an inconsistent offense, and his range in the outfield has saved the pitching staff more than once.
The record still has work to do, but the Twins are no longer waiting around to be punched. They are punching back, and they have a guy in Martin doing most of the swinging.
