Twins President Derek Falvey remains confident in roster despite June swoon

As poorly as the Twins have played throughout the last three weeks, entering Monday in fourth place in the American League Central division and 2½ games out of playoff spot, team president Derek Falvey said he isn’t entertaining thoughts of becoming a seller at the July 31 trade deadline.

“When you have the team you believe you have, and you hope you get guys back here soon, you feel like this group — and we’ve seen it [this season] — is capable of putting together good baseball, it’s hard for you to think like that,” Falvey said. “If we have to cross that bridge, we’ll cross that bridge later, but that is not at all our focus right now. It’s to figure out how to get this team right back to where it needs to be.”

The Twins entered Monday with a 6-14 record in June and a pitching staff that owns a league-worst 6.59 ERA this month. They’ve dropped 13 of their last 16 games, which catcher Ryan Jeffers summarized as “embarrassing.” Shortstop Carlos Correa said Monday he talked to coaches and front office staff about areas they need to improve, though he didn’t divulge details of their conversations.

Lefty reliever Danny Coulombe was used as a one-inning opener for David Festa on Sunday, and manager Rocco Baldelli hinted that tactic could be used more often.

Starting pitching depth dried up for the Twins after shoulder injuries to Pablo López and Zebby Matthews at the beginning of the month. There aren’t any proven starters at Class AAA, nor any prospects who look ready for a promotion.

“Pitching depth is not a phrase that’s real to me,” Falvey said. “Every time you think you have some, it gets thinned. Even when we had a couple injuries, there was a team that felt like they had some pitching depth and we had a brief trade conversation, ‘Hey, could we pick off some?’ And they were open to it. Within 72 hours, there were two different pitching injuries on that team that ultimately peeled them back from the market.”

Falvey said he still believes “there’s a ton to believe in with this group” despite their pitching injuries. The Twins expect López to return this season based on multiple medical opinions they’ve received, and Matthews started playing catch last week.

The Twins need Bailey Ober to break out of his monthlong funk. Festa’s growing pains, Falvey said, remind him of what José Berríos went through at the beginning of his career.

“I could sit here and point to some different things that I think are a little unlucky and should regress more to the mean, but I’m not sure anybody really cares about that,” Falvey said. “Ultimately, you’ve got to perform.”

The Twins believe their offense is trending upward, ranking seventh in runs per game (4.8) this month. They are third in on-base percentage this month and seventh in slugging percentage.

Despite trailing Detroit by 11 games in the division, they’re one of seven AL teams within three games of .500.

“The reality of the playoff structure is getting in and giving yourself a chance is a real opportunity that you don’t want to take for granted,” Falvey said of the postseason format with three wild-card teams. “If we’re right in the mix for that and we’re maybe a little further away from the division than we expected to be, come [trade] deadline time, it doesn’t really change my viewpoint on it.”

There are no easy solutions surrounding the team’s streakiness. They started the season with a 7-15 record, won 13 consecutive games and once again swooned.

Falvey said he believed in the core of the roster, and he backed the way Baldelli and his coaching staff are searching for answers.

“Rocco is not running away from any of the work,” Falvey said. “My focus has been on how do I support him with that, because I do believe he’s got the players’ best interests at heart, and he’s trying to figure out how to solve a challenging equation that we’re all trying to navigate through. He’s not alone in that. We’re all side by side with him, as is the staff and our core players.”

Etc.