This is fun, right? Like what we're having right now is what fun feels like?

As of today, the wildcard standings are:

New York, 69-57
Minnesota, 65-61
Texas, 64-61
Angels, 64-62
Orioles, 63-63

The team is a goddamn mess. The lone bullpen brightspots are banged up. The Aaron Hicks breakthrough finally happened, only for him to hit the DL. Mauer has never gotten over the hump. The rotation is bad *and* expensive. Plouffe and Dozier have come back to earth after their great starts. Torii Hunter stopped hitting, which has really left "veteran leadership" as his only identifiable contribution.

But Miguel Sano exists. Eduardo Escobar doesn't seem at all discouraged by being told he needs to win a job every single day in spite of zero better candidates (292/.361/.554) in the past month. Byron Buxton decided to start playing small until he figures out big league pitching and runs down *everything* in the outfield. And Eddie Rosario might be having Carlos Gomez-level fun being a rookie.

So something's happening. I still don't think they're good enough to be a playoff team, but:

a)the rules have changed since the last Twins team (2008) I felt that way about, so there are like four other AL squads in contention that I also don't think are good enough to be playoff teams, including the one right behind and right in front of the Twins.

b)like that 2008 Twins team, I think sitting back and enjoying it is the way to go.

Related to some/all of the above, Jose Berrios went seven shutout innings and struck out TWELVE last night. In his last twenty innings, he has thirty strikeouts, five earned runs, fourteen hits, and one walk.

On the purely prospecting level, he looks really ready. And the concerns about his durability, arising from running out of gas late in the season a couple years ago, now seem gone that he's dominating at 155 total innings for 2015. He might be the best pitcher in the Twins organization right now, not just on potential, and MLB rotation included.

On the is-this-team-good level, as September approaches it seems entirely plausible that Berrios could be the difference between a post-season appearance and... not. At his innings load, it'd be tough to put him in the rotation. But maybe some bullpen innings for him in September? It'd give him a chance to look at big league hitters and our bullpen is completely terrible, so it'd help the big club.

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"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad