Torii Hunter has been a Twins regular since 1999 including on the playoff teams of 2002-2004 and 2006, but he rates the 2007 team the best. “This is definitely the best team that I’ve been part of,” he said earlier this week. “I thought the year (2002) that we had David Ortiz, Jacque Jones and Corey Koskie, I thought that team was really special. But this team right here is something special. …It’s a lot of fun with this ball club we have right now and it’s exciting to watch.”
The 2002 team won the Central Division championship, finishing 94-67 and 13.5 games ahead of second place Chicago. Last year’s team, 96-66, also won the division, finishing a game ahead of Detroit.
The Twins return mostly the same personnel as last season but the loss of the extraordinary Francisco Liriano has made the starting pitching rotation a prime target for worry warts. On the flip side, the team’s hitting, bullpen and defense eases a lot of anxiety.
“We’re happy with the pitching staff we have,” Hunter said. “All they have to do is go out there and throw strikes. They can’t strike out everybody, so just rely on your defense and have faith in your defense.”
Despite their talent and past success the Twins aren’t the popular pick to repeat as division champions. “Now that the division is strong they put us on the backburner, way down on the backburner,” Hunter said. “But I definitely think that just being the underdog gives us a little bit of a motivation to go out there and prove people wrong.”
Winning the division, because of so many competitive teams, is likely to be determined by which teams avoid injuries to their best pitchers and position players. “Oh, definitely, it’s all about who is the healthiest,” Hunter said. “That’s the key for every player, for every team. …You’re going to have some guys get banged up. It’s just how long they’re out. You don’t want a guy out so long you’re falling behind and he’s the key guy on your ball club. …”