Twins earn 'A+' grade for surprising start to 2026 MLB season

Twins earn 'A+' grade for surprising start to 2026 MLB season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Coming into the 2026 MLB season, the Minnesota Twins were looked at as one of the league's worst teams. Not just from a 2026 standpoint, but from an optimism standpoint overall.

And when Pablo Lopez went down before the year with a season-ending injury, the vibes were in a terrible spot. However, they're 11-9 on the year, sitting atop the AL Central in a surprisingly good start to the season.

Amid such a surprising start to 2026, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller gave the Twins an "A+" grade for their first 20 games of the year.

Twins get 'A+' grade for surprising hot start to 2026

"Is it just a hot start, or could this be the surprise team of the 2026 campaign? Either way, it's an A+ at this juncture," Miller writes.

If fans were told they would see the Twins atop the AL Central standings 20 games into the year before the season, it would've been incredibly hard to believe.

Thanks to 104 runs scored, one of the best marks in all of baseball, the Twins are 11-9 with a lot more promise than most would've expected.

But it's not just the offense that's producing well this year. The pitching staff is also showing up. Most notably, the Twins are getting some incredible production from two young starters.

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Mick Abel has a 3.98 ERA on the year following his seven-inning shutout of the with 10 strikeouts. has a 1.25 ERA in four starts as well, with no outing allowing more than one earned run so far this season.