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WARNE: Power Ranking the Twins 25-Man Roster — 2.o


Brandon Warne

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One exercise that is fun, and in the interest of full disclosure gets a lot of people reading and talking, is ranking things in order as a “power ranking.” No seriously, if you call something a “power ranking” you’re guaranteed to see traffic go through the roof. I’m thinking of calling my podcast “power ranking.”

 

OK, I’m kidding.

 

But it’s a fun exercise to apply to a team’s 25-man roster. My general theory — and this can be altered if viewers think there is a better way — is to base a player’s ranking on how they’ve played to date, with a bit more weight placed on recent performance. We’ll also consider myriad reasons why players might be doing better than others, such as role the player was used in and so on, but at the very least, this is to get people talking.

 

In parenthesis, you’ll find the previous ranking for each player. We last did rankings on May 25, and will most likely do them one more time before the end of the season. Or perhaps more often, if people suggest they really like them. Send hate mail to Tom Schreier.

 

1. Eddie Rosario (Previous ranking: 18)

 

It’s not just that he’s been hot lately, but his season numbers are really starting to look great. Rosario is hitting a stellar .296/.337/.503 for the season. That’s good for a wRC+ of 119 — 11th among qualified left fielders. That’s ahead of some pretty good players, too, like Nomar Mazara, Andrew Benintendi, Matt Kemp, Brett Gardner and Michael Brantley. Since July 1 — Rosario’s five-hit game — he’s hitting an insane .333/.376/.581. Wonder if anyone has written about him lately?

 

2. Ervin Santana (no change)

 

Santana’s had a fine year, even with all the ebbs and flows. Through 24 starts, Santana has five complete games and a 3.28 ERA. However, that comes with a 4.71 FIP, thanks in large part to 25 homers allowed and not particularly strong strikeout and walk rates. He’s a sturdy No. 2 on a team that has no ace — so everyone moves up a notch. It’ll be interesting to see how holding onto him plays out. He’s managed to avoid serious injury for almost all of his career, but father time is undefeated.

 

3. Brian Dozier (4)

 

Just another ho-hum 20-homer season for Dozier — his fourth in a row. He’s hitting a solid .258/.334/.473, playing fairly steady defense and has hit a robust .298/.350/.605 over the last 30 days. Only Rosario (160) has a higher wRC+ over the last 30 days than Dozier’s 148. It’d be nice to see what he could do hitting third or fourth, no?

 

4. Miguel Sano (1)

 

Miggy gets big props for hitting .269/.354/.511 on the season, but he’s been pretty cold of late. Over the last 30 days, he’s hitting just .255/.295/.439, and he hasn’t been particularly good at staying within the strike zone after starting the season off really strong in that respect. It’s been a fine season, but it would be nice to see it ascend to a great season for the young monster.

 

5. Jose Berrios (6)

 

A rough couple starts have sullied his overall season numbers (4.27 ERA), but he’s still improved by leaps and bounds from last year, isn’t walking anyone and is keeping the ball in the yard. Chalk it up to the ebbs and flows of being a young starter.

 

6. Trevor Hildenberger (NR)

 

Hildy gets the nod over the elder Belisle solely because of the beginning of the latter’s season. Both have been absolutely terrific of late, as Hildenberger hasn’t walked a batter in the last 30 days with 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a groundball rate of 55.6 percent. He could just as easily pitch the ninth inning moving forward if manager Paul Molitor so chooses. He has some interesting options out there.

 

7. Matt Belisle (22)

 

Forget the start of his season or even the home run he allowed to Justin Upton; Belisle has been terrific now for about two months and deserves some love. Sure, he’s not an ideal option to close games. Nobody on the team is, really. But since his blow-up in San Francisco back in mid-June, look at these numbers: 22 games/24 innings, 23-5 K/BB ratio, 1.13 ERA, .209/.261/.326 line against. That’s legit.

 

8. Tyler Duffey (7)

 

Duffey hit a bit of a speed bump not too long ago that pushed his ERA over 4.00, but he’s on the cusp of bringing it back under (4.04) as he’s been brilliant for the last month. Over the last 30 days, Duffey has a 1.42 ERA (2.35 FIP), more than a strikeout per inning and 0.7 BB/9. He could also be in the mix to close out games.

 

9. Bartolo Colon (NR)

 

The BART has gotten better with each passing start. He’s got a 4.02 ERA with the Twins, and despite virtually no strikeouts (4.6 K/9) has walked 0.9 batters per nine and has managed to keep the ball in the park for the most part (1.2 HR/9). There’s virtually no risk here, as he can be immediately DFA’d if he falls apart. But the value he’s already provided has been a really, really nice find for the Falvey-Levine duo.

 

10. Byron Buxton (12)

 

He just pushed the OBP up above .300, and he’s been terrific over the last 30 days: .313/.370/.415. If he ever does that over a full season, he’s a full-fledged superstar.

 

For players 11-25, click here to go to ZoneCoverage.com!

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Its like Dozier starts every season saying I'm going to pull a bunch of home runs to left feild and then takes a half season to realize he can go with the pitch and get a bunch of hits.   He then also realizes that by going with the pitch he still has enough power to hit home runs to right and center and that when he does that he gets better pitches to pull also.

 

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Really fun exercise. Can you imagine how good Buxton can still be? I honestly believe, in say 2 years time, we'll be laughing at those who called him a possible bust. And as good as Rosario has been, overall, there is STILL room for improvement. I love watching Kepler, not mentioned here of course, and everything looks so natural and easy for him at times. Wait until he figures out things more!

 

It appears you obviously kept this as a top 10 list,otherwise Polanco and Pressly may have been on it as well. Or are their recent surges to SSS to include?

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Really fun exercise. Can you imagine how good Buxton can still be? I honestly believe, in say 2 years time, we'll be laughing at those who called him a possible bust. And as good as Rosario has been, overall, there is STILL room for improvement. I love watching Kepler, not mentioned here of course, and everything looks so natural and easy for him at times. Wait until he figures out things more! It appears you obviously kept this as a top 10 list,otherwise Polanco and Pressly may have been on it as well. Or are their recent surges to SSS to include?

 

The link at the bottom takes you to the full 25

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Putting Bartolo at #9 is bold.

 

I'd put Sano above Dozier because I feel he and Ervin Santana are the biggest reasons the Twins played well early in the season and are in playoff contention at all now.  But that's nitpicking.

 

Also, as impressive as Rosario has been lately, isn't it sad that our #1 in the power ranking is only ranked "11th among qualified left fielders" for wRC+?

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