Article: Five Twins Rebound Candidates

[Cody Christie]

It has been a year of good and bad performances in Minnesota. Unfortunately, there have probably been more bad than good.

 

On the positive side of things, Phil Hughes has put together the best season of his professional career, Danny Santana has done some good things as a rookie, and the duo of Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia seem to be able to mash the ball out of any park.

 

There have been some players who haven't lived up to expectations for various parts of the year.Those players are trying to right the ship over the next couple weeks before 2014 comes to a close. Ending this year on a good note could help each of the following players to rebound in 2015.

 

Ricky Nolasco: When the Twins signed Nolasco this off-season to the biggest free agent deal in franchise history, there was a smattering of the fan base that said, "Who?" He had been a workhorse pitcher in the National League for multiple seasons but the transition to the American League has been anything but easy. There can be a variety of excuses thrown out in relation to his play this season. He could have been pitching through some injuries and he might have had a tough time adjusting to the new league. He'll be in the rotation next year and one has to hope that his performance will improve.

 

Joe Mauer: He's not a catcher any more so there is supposed to be less wear and tear on his body. Even with the switch to a new position, it has been one of the worst offensive seasons on record for Mr. Mauer. His second half has been better than his first half performance (.695 OPS improving to .812 OPS), but it has come in half as many games. Fans will always focus on Mauer's performance because of his large contract and that's something he'll live with for the rest of his career. For 2015, the focus should be on getting back to the Mauer of old.

 

Aaron Hicks: There's a chance Hicks could end up winning the starting center field job for the third straight season coming out of spring training next year. The Twins would obviously need to see something from him in the coming weeks. Since becoming a September call-up, he hasn't exactly knocked the cover off the ball. There haven't been a ton of signs pointing towards a rebound for Hicks but there have been flashes of good things in the minors and his first-round pedigree always helps. Next year could be his last chance to make a mark with the Twins.

 

Trevor May: May's only seven starts into his MLB career so it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to think he can improve. His outings in September have been better than August's and that might be enough of a confidence boost to put him on a higher path moving forward. Kyle Gibson struggled last year in his first taste of the big leagues and he's turned into a much more serviceable pitcher this year. May's mission should be to follow in Gibson's footsteps for 2015. If he can fit into the middle of the rotation for the next handful of years, Twins fans would have to be happy with the result.

 

Brian Dozier: For fans who haven't been paying attention in recent weeks, Dozier's name might be a surprise on this list. After a tremendous first half of the season where there was a chance he would make the AL All-Star squad, Dozier has fizzled in the second half. His slugging percentage has dropped almost 100 points and this can be attributed to his lack of second half home runs. He hit 18 long balls in the first half and he's only hit one since July 23rd. There are younger players coming through the Twins system in the coming years that will want a middle infield job so Dozier needs to get back to the player he was in the first half.

 

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[bird]

Every one of these guys is a strong candidate to perform better in 2015. But for my money, I want the most important rebounds to come from Alex Meyer, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Fernando Romero.

[Brandon]

Nolasco has already started his rebound in case it hasn't been noticed he has given up only 3 earned runs in his last 3 starts and has only 1 bad start in his last 5 where his ERA is still 3.09 including that start.  so he has been a lot better since coming back from injury it just took 2 starts to warm back up. 

 

Dozier has evolved some.  The pitchers quit throwing the high fastball to him which has resulted in more doubles than HRs the second half.  I do believe he needs to increase his average though but I am more concerned about why he quit running and stealing bases. 

 

The next 2 starts will determine where May is really at and if he belongs since he will pitch to 2 contending teams in his last starts of the year.  But he does appear to be improving as evidenced by his k and bb ratios since his first start. 

 

If Mauer can go back to hitting .320 then we may have an elite offense next year and beyond.  If he is at .270 we may have to move him back to C or consider him a part time player if he isn't going to hit 20+ HRs. 

 

Jury is still out on Hicks.  He seems to want to be a 4th OF more than a starter by the way he's hit so far. 

 

And more and more talent is on the way so our time is coming and hopefully soon we can get off of the fire the front office and manager. 

[Dantes929]

Mauer will not go back to catcher. I think this year he realized he shouldn't try to be someone he is not. .320 will be fine with me. Aaron Hicks is batting .214 but has a .337 OBP. I expect he can do better but his OBP is better than Ben Revere's because Hicks has walked 2.5 times as much in one third the at bats. That really doesn't play so badly in the #9 spot.

[bird]

Mauer will not go back to catcher. I think this year he realized he shouldn't try to be someone he is not. .320 will be fine with me. Aaron Hicks is batting .214 but has a .337 OBP. I expect he can do better but his OBP is better than Ben Revere's because Hicks has walked 2.5 times as much in one third the at bats. That really doesn't play so badly in the #9 spot.

And it plays quite nicely for a 4th OF

[Rick Niedermann]

Extreme Darkhouse Rebound Candidate: Mike Pelfrey

[TheLeviathan]

Extreme Darkhouse Rebound Candidate: Mike Pelfrey

Is that you Terry?

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Definitely looking for bouncebacks from Sano and Buxton, though I'm guessing that will be mostly in AA or AAA, with potential call ups at mid season or later.

 

Nolasco can't get much worse, can he?

 

I unfortunately also am dreading a "reverse bounceback" by Kurt Suzuki. I think he was great this year, but I don't see him repeating a career year again. Hope I'm wrong about that and he and Pinto have a spirited battle for the starting job.

 

And I won't call it a comeback / bounceback, but I have hope for Arcia to put it all together in 2015 and have a monster season.

[SwainZag]

Definitely looking for bouncebacks from Sano and Buxton, though I'm guessing that will be mostly in AA or AAA, with potential call ups at mid season or later.

 

Nolasco can't get much worse, can he?

 

I unfortunately also am dreading a "reverse bounceback" by Kurt Suzuki. I think he was great this year, but I don't see him repeating a career year again. Hope I'm wrong about that and he and Pinto have a spirited battle for the starting job.

 

And I won't call it a comeback / bounceback, but I have hope for Arcia to put it all together in 2015 and have a monster season.

 

I was much in the camp that they should trade Suzuki instead of giving him the extension, but the silver lining on him reverting back to his career norms is that it would give Pinto every chance to show he could be the starter.

 

As for Arcia, I could totally see that.  That run he had in September was just a glimpse of what he can do!

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Before Gardy was let go, I was concerned about what would happen at the Catcher position if Suzuki was traded or allowed to leave via Free Agency - in the thread talking about extending his contract, my big worry was that Pinto would still be stuck riding the pine with Suzuki gone and the Twins would trot out Eric Fryer and or Chris Herrmann instead of Pinto.

 

Instead, I think Pinto will get a closer look in 2015 than he would have under Gardy, and Suzuki will have the pressure of a younger, more powerful bat waiting in the wings. I think it was among the best possible outcomes for the Twins to retain Suzuki, because even if he's his 2012-2013 version of himself, that's a better than average back-up for Pinto.

[Linus]

Before Gardy was let go, I was concerned about what would happen at the Catcher position if Suzuki was traded or allowed to leave via Free Agency - in the thread talking about extending his contract, my big worry was that Pinto would still be stuck riding the pine with Suzuki gone and the Twins would trot out Eric Fryer and or Chris Herrmann instead of Pinto.

 

Instead, I think Pinto will get a closer look in 2015 than he would have under Gardy, and Suzuki will have the pressure of a younger, more powerful bat waiting in the wings. I think it was among the best possible outcomes for the Twins to retain Suzuki, because even if he's his 2012-2013 version of himself, that's a better than average back-up for Pinto.

The key here is that they signed him to a reasonable contract.  I think TR played this one perfectly: they initiated extension talks, received inflated demands from the agent, started shopping him for trades and then signed him at their price. 

 

He can revert back to historical norms or even end up as Pinto's backup and the contract would still not be a problem.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

Yes. exactly, it's not just the fact that he was extended, it's that it was a very good deal for the Twins

[Paul Pleiss]

Trevor May seems like a likely candidate for great success in 2015. What does great success mean? Well, if you want me to use pitcher wins, I'll say he can get 15, 15 on this ball club, yes. He's got the stuff, he just needs to find that mental toughness, stay within himself and don't let the game get away from himself.

 

he's a cerebral guy, graduated #1 in his high school class. If he can stay out of his head and let his stuff do the talking, he'll be much close to the good Trevor May we saw in September, than the guy who was throwing the ball anywhere but over the plate to start his MLb career.

 

I can't wait to see Trevor May go HAM on opposing batters. It's going to be fun.