Jim Souhan: If it weren't for bad luck, Twins would have no luck at all

Jim Souhan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Pohlads would be justified in moving the Minnesota Twins.

At least a few hundred feet.

At least far enough so Target Field no longer stands on an ancient burial ground from which emanates every manner of curse.

This is my annual “Twins are cursed” column. This one might sound a little like last year’s, but there is one major difference: This one was written March 1, and the Twins’ chances of contending might have ended in February. Even curses should take longer to develop.

Not long ago, I made the case that the 2026 Twins might be unusual. Even if they endured a lousy season, they would have hope for the future because of their wealth of quality arms.

Seemingly just minutes after that column was published, the Twins announced that ace Pablo López, the team’s most important player, would miss the season because of an elbow injury. Joe Ryan was expected to take López’s turn on Opening Day.

Then Ryan was temporarily shut down because of a minor back injury. He might be ready to make an Opening Day start, but baseball injuries tend to be more serious than initially feared, so let’s not count on it.

Then David Festa, perhaps the most major league-ready young pitcher in the organization, suffered a shoulder injury that could shut him down for months.

Then third baseman Royce Lewis, perhaps the most pivotal player in the organization, was scratched from a game this past week because of tightness in his right side. An MRI exam revealed no reason for worry. I think we should all still worry.

Before this spate of injuries, you could have dreamed, however unrealistically, that the Twins could find a path to contention.

Now? This might be a season dedicated to testing young arms — and test what little patience remains in the state’s most jaded fan base.

I don’t like to use the word “cursed.” Often, what fans call “curses” are seeking a mystical explanation for poor performance.

Vikings fans like to say that they’re cursed, but you’re not cursed when you miss a field-goal attempt or throw an interception. You just failed.

I began covering the Twins in 1993, and here’s a summation of what has happened to their best and most promising players:

— Kirby Puckett woke up blind and never played again.

— Chuck Knoblauch made himself a star, then begged for a trade and wound up being unable to throw a baseball 50 feet without endangering someone in the box seats.

— Francisco Liriano walked off the mound with an elbow injury when the 2006 Twins looked like the best team in franchise history since 1991.

— Joe Mauer was on pace to become one of the three greatest catchers in baseball history before a series of injuries diminished his skills and turned him into a first baseman.

—Justin Morneau, while having a better season in 2010 than he did when he was the MVP in 2006, slid into second base in Toronto, took a knee to the head and was never the same while wearing a Twins uniform.

— Byron Buxton had his Hall of Fame-level talents diminished by a bizarre series of injuries.

— Lewis proved that he has superstar capabilities, then went through an inexplicable series of injuries and slumps.

— López suffered injuries that ruined his and the Twins’ 2025 season, then didn’t make it to March in 2026.

— Mauer and Morneau, two of the best players in franchise history when healthy, managed to play in the same playoff series just once, in 2006.

We could go on. We could go back to the knee injury that diminished Tony Oliva’s remarkable career, or the injuries that diminished Scott Erickson, or…

When the Twins’ woes are examined, most people blame ownership for not spending more money.

In reality, there are three prongs to the Twins’ struggles:

— A limited payroll means that the Twins can’t afford to lose players to injury.

— The Twins’ injuries tend to be particularly devastating, targeting their best players.

— The farm system has struggled for years at a time to produce big-league-ready players.

If someone were looking to place a curse on the 2026 Twins, they would have stuck a pin in the right elbow of a López voodoo doll, then jabbed at the dolls representing Ryan and Lewis.

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