Twins Defense

[Trov]

Coming into the year I was very scared of the Twins infield defense, even more so when Donaldson dropped out.  However, Polanco has looked decent with his throws, unlike most of last year.  I do not think range has been great from what I have seen with any of the defenders but do not feel it has really hurt them.  Sano has been a big surprise for me.  He has looked lost a couple of times on balls off of the base and what to do, which is to be expected, but he has dug out balls in the dirt much better than I thought he would and yet to lose a pop up.  He is no gold glove guy, but coming into year I was dreading what he would like like.  So far so good with the defense from what I have seen.  

 

If anyone thinks otherwise feel free to point out where I may be wrong.  I have not looked up any defensive metrics on this, only going by my eye test, which may be flawed. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

I’m not sure why people were scared of Sanó at first. He was an acceptable third baseman, is large, and quite athletic for that size.

 

Sure, he’s going to bungle plays on occasion as he figures it out but I never had real concerns about him switching corners.

[lecroy24fan]

Errors are not the only thing for fielding, but they've only committed 2 errors in 23 games. Averaged over 162 games comes out to 14.1 errors. That's pretty darn good. STL had 4 but only 10 games. PHI is next with 7 in 17 games and HOU also with 7 in 22 games. 

 

My eyes also tell me that the defense has been really good overall, maybe ever great. Making the plays that need to be made and the occasional extra effort play, like the DP Arraez barehanded the throw and turned on, have been key. 

[Craig Arko]

And having a healthy Eddie Rosario has provided dividends. 

[Danchat]

They've been pretty darn good at all spots. It helps that we don't have anyone playing hurt, Polanco is picking up where he left off after taking a step forward defensively last year, and Arraez looks a lot better than expected. Garver has taken a bit of a step back, but that's about all the criticism I have thus far.

[Thegrin]

and dud yoou see Kepler's diving catch!!!!!!! Nothing falls but

Raindrops :)

[IndianaTwin]

Last night was also only the second unearned run of the season. 

[Number3]

Pitching, defense and speed win a bunch of games. Nice to see them hang in there after losing the no hitter and then the lead in the 9th, ironically on an error. The W is what matters.

Nice to see posters resorting to the old fashioned eye test as opposed to a bunch of analytics. Good defense is seen, not crunched on a spread sheet. The unearned run stat is as basic as it gets.

[twins1095]

 

And having a healthy Eddie Rosario has provided dividends. 

 

*Having a healthy Byron Buxton is paying dividends. Buxton is the best defensive CF in the league and it also allows you to move Kepler, who is above average in CF, but elite in the CO spot. Rosario doesn't have elite range, but his arm is great... with Buxton covering him that OF defense is great... Buxton can shade towards Rosario if needed.

 

The IF defense has been lights out between the positioning and accurate throwing of Polanco/Arraez, Sano being more athletic and rangy than a normal 1B, and even with Donaldson out Marwin/Adrianza are way more rangy and mobile than a normal 3B.