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Minnesota Punting On Half The Diamond?


Ted Schwerzler

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In the 2000 film, Remember the Titans, two teammates are depicted proclaiming "Left side!, Strong Side!" In doing so, they're referring to the strength of their team (or more accurately, the offensive side of the ball). On defense in 2017, the Minnesota Twins may not find themselves proclaiming that the left side of the diamond is anything close to strong. The question is, how much of a problem is it.

 

Thinking about the way in which the Twins will likely set up their Opening Day lineup (I took a stab here), the left side of the field could be a massive black hole. At third base, Miguel Sano is all but certain to get the majority of the time. Shortstop is going to be manned by Jorge Polanco after the Twins held onto Brian Dozier, and left field is likely to be played by a combination of Robbie Grossman and Eddie Rosario.

 

Looking at that group as a whole, they combined to be worth -31 defensive runs saved (of which Grossman accounted for -21). At third, Sano has found a tough time staying within himself. His range is acceptable enough to play the role, but he often finds his feet unsettled, throws rushed, and has displayed errant accuracy far too often when throwing across the diamond. Polanco has never been expected to have the arm strength to stick at short, and the last time he regularly played the role prior to last season was at Double-A in 2015.

 

In the outfield, Eddie Rosario went from an assist machine to replacement level. Assists being a fickle measure, teams simply stopped running on him a year ago. He backed up his 12 assists in 2015 with just four in 2016, all while going from 10 DRS to zero. The speed is there, but whether or not he's all in and committed on a nightly basis remains to be seen, and has been a knock throughout his career. Grossman totaled a defensive season in left that would make Delmon Young and Josh Willingham blush. He's been right around league average previously, but he'll have to prove the massive cliff he fell off in 2016 was simply a misstep.

 

Although the Twins didn't do much this offseason to elevate themselves through the free agent market, part of the draw behind Jason Castro was his pitch framing skills. The idea is the with him behind the plate, Minnesota's pitching woes would be somewhat addressed. The reality is that if the entire left side of the field struggles to help out, it's going to end up as a net loss anyways.

 

The Twins 5.39 ERA among starters a season ago was worst in the big leagues. What's worth noting though is the 4.82 FIP they posted (although still not good coming in at 28th) is virtually a half a run shy of what the actual results were. On the relief side of the equation, things weren't too different. Minnesota relievers owned a 4.63 ERA but posted a 4.18 FIP. Boiling it down to the Twins playing bad defense last year is a pretty easy suggestion, but also one that's widely known.

 

What 2017 presents as a question is whether or not things will get better. Byron Buxton sticking in the MLB outfield for the whole season should help guys on both sides of him. If the Twins don't develop the left side of the diamond though, they'll have a glaring deficiency for opposing teams to exploit. It's going to be something worth watching, and a development that I'd guess Twins pitchers have a close eye on as well.

 

For more from Off The Baggy, click here. Follow @tlschwerz

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I remember the long ago Go-Go White Sox with Nellie Fox and Aparicio starring on a team that featured speed, pitching and most importantly fielding.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-go-go-white-sox-flashback-0914-20140914-story.html    Yes they lost to the Dodgers in Four, but the point is that fielding matters.  With a very weak batting line up they were still able to win.  

I would add the Baltimore Orioles who were known for Great pitching, home runs and defense.  Contrast Mark Belanger who could not hit at all, but could field at SS next to Brooks Robinson who was a wall at 3B with the potential of Polanco and Sano.  Paul Blair wandered the outfield and caught everything.  Weaver balanced his slugging, fielding and pitching to create one of the best World Series winners.

I know that not every great fielding team wins the World Series, but I also know that great fielding and pitching teams do not lose 100 games.

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I lived close enough to Chicago to watch a lot of those Go-Go White Sox.  They were terrific fielders but their hitting wasn't bad.  Fox had a career OBP of .348 and Aparicio's was a positive .311.  The thing I remember most about Nellie Fox was that he would never step back from an inside pitch.  If it was headed for his head he would dive forward. Yes, he took a lot of HBP in his heyday.

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