Twins Accomplish Home Run Feat That Hasn't Been Reached in MLB in 20 Years

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The Minnesota Twins entered the record books on Friday, joining the 1999 Seattle Mariners as the only teams to slug 100 home runs in the first 50 games of the season.

The march to 100 dingers was helped Thursday night when the Twins bashed eight long balls against the Angels, the second eight-homer game for them this season after never achieving the feat in the team's prior history. They added three more on Friday to bring their total to 101 through 50 games. The AL Central leading Twins (34-16) have also scored the most runs (300) in baseball.

It's been a total team effort in the power department, as the Twins have a remarkable four players with double digit homers through their first 50 games (Eddie Rosario with 15, C.J. Cron with 13, Max Kepler with 11, and Jonathan Schoop with 10) along with two players, Mitch Garver and Jorge Polanco, with nine. Things have been so good in Minny even its backup catcher Jason Castro has seven homers.

The power display is a little bit of a surprise, considering that the guy the Twins acquired to help in that department, Nelson Cruz, isn't even close to the leaderboard with seven homers of his own. Cruz has battled injury this season and was recently put on the IL.

As the team leader in long balls, Rosario was a hyped outfielder going into fantasy drafts this spring, but no one was expecting this type of power. Even more surprising is Cron, who always had potential as a prospect and finally broke out last year with 30 home runs in his lone season for the Rays.

Can the Twins keep this up? While statistical regression is likely for many of the league's power hitters, the Twins now play in a hitter-friendly park and have clearly amassed a roster of players that fits the new launch angle era of hitting. This is welcoming info for anyone with Twins on their fantasy team.

If anything, their hot start may only be the tip of the iceberg considering Cruz has yet to get really hot, along with the team's incumbent home run source Miguel Sano, who is sitting on five jacks in just seven games since coming off the IL.

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