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The Twins have added depth at multiple positions on the roster, but trading Luis Arraez leaves a hole to fill. One position might be the key to the Twins' line-up firing on all cylinders during the 2023 campaign. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, USA Today Sports Not all fans approved of the Twins trading Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez. Arraez was a fan favorite, and there are multiple reasons the club was willing to part with the reigning AL Batting Champion. He has yet to have a true defensive home and doesn't fit the profile of a slugging first baseman. Minnesota has other options at first base in 2023, which might be the most pivotal position on the roster. Presumed Starter Alex Kirilloff returns from a unique off-season surgery where doctors shortened his ulna bone. He has dealt with wrist issues over the last two seasons, and this surgery was the best way to solve these problems. This surgery has shown success with the general population, but there have been few professional athletes to undergo this procedure. There is no guarantee Kirilloff will return to his previous form, but all reports from the Twins have him on track to complete a regular spring training. Projection systems defer in what to expect from Kirilloff in 2023. During his big-league career, Kirilloff hasn't been healthy, which impacts how projections view his potential contributions. ZiPS has Kirilloff hitting .250/.310/.401 (.711) while accumulating 0.9 WAR in 82 games (332 PA). Baseball-Reference projects him to post a .708 OPS in 301 PA. The Twins are hoping to get more than half a season from Kirilloff, so their internal projections are likely higher for his output during the upcoming season. Other First Base Options Minnesota can use Joey Gallo at first base, but he provides much of his value with Gold Glove-caliber outfield defense. He can likely be a strong defender at first, but the Twins' best defensive alignment has him in a corner outfield spot. Gallo has played over 745 innings at first base in his career, but most of those innings came in 2017 or earlier. His offensive profile fits at first base, so he is a fallback option if Kirilloff misses time in 2023. Jose Miranda got time at first last season, but the Twins want him to be the club's everyday third baseman. He has never been considered a strong defender at third, so first base might be his eventual long-term position. Rocco Baldelli can undoubtedly use a line-up that includes Kyle Farmer at third base with Miranda sliding over to the other corner infield spot. Farmer and Christian Vazquez have played over 100 innings at first base so that they can be emergency options. Offensive Potential Fans may forget that Kirilloff was considered one of baseball's top prospects throughout his professional career. All three major national rankings had him among their top 100 prospects for three consecutive seasons (2019-21), with Baseball America and MLB.com ranking him in the top 15 entering the 2019 season. He was the 2018 TD Minor League Hitter of the Year after he hit .348/.392/.578 (.970) with 44 doubles, seven triples, and 20 home runs in 130 games. Kirilloff can still be that type of hitter if his latest wrist surgery proves successful. Minnesota saw flashes of the offensive wunderkind when they sent Kirilloff to St. Paul during the 2022 season. He was struggling to fight through his wrist injury with the Twins, and the club wanted him to rediscover his swing in an environment more suitable for working on mechanical adjustments. He dominated in 35 games by hitting .359/.465/.641 (1.106) with seven doubles and ten home runs. His hot hitting didn't follow him back to the Twins, and he was eventually shut down because of his wrist. The Twins' best line-up against a right-handed starter has Alex Kirilloff at first base with an outfield of Joey Gallo (LF), Byron Buxton (CF), and Max Kepler (RF). If Kirilloff isn't deemed ready, the Twins can move Gallo to first and have one of the other young outfielders (Trevor Larnach or Matt Wallner) take his place in a corner outfield spot. Minnesota focused on improving the club's outfield defense this winter, so they may avoid using players that struggle more on the defensive side. If Kirilloff is healthy, Minnesota's line-up is strong at nearly every position, with depth waiting in the wings. The Twins will need to be ready to pivot to other first-base options like Gallo or Miranda if Kirilloff has any setbacks. How important is first base to the Twins line-up this season? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. View full article

The last two seasons haven’t gone the way we’d hoped for the Twins. With the offseason continuing to unfold, many questions remain unanswered. The Twins could find themselves leaning heavily on breakout candidates in 2023. Image courtesy of Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports Even if Carlos Correa returns, the Twins roster will not be a geared up contender for the AL Central. Hopefully multiple acquisitions are made, but the Twins will also be relying on several players to break out. Luckily in the case of the Twins, there are plenty of candidates. Trevor Larnach Larnach now has two seasons of flashing white hot stretches at the plate followed up by extreme lows. His most recent run in 2022 began with a slash line of .299/.375/.515 through the end of May, only to finish with a .429 OPS in June. Larnach suffered a core muscle injury that eventually resulted in his season ending. Did said injury knock him off of his peak, or did pitchers adjust to his approach as they did in 2021? Larnach became a certified asset in the corner outfield because of his arm and should provide a safe floor in terms of value due to that defensive ability. The question is whether he can consistently contribute at the plate. While expecting him to be 50% above league average offensively as he was for a stretch in 2022 is too much, those two months show the talent he has hidden away somewhere. His knowledge of the strike zone and ability to punish mistakes could lead to his emergence as a legitimate middle of the order bat. Even that outcome would give the Twins lineup an entirely different look. Griffin Jax Perhaps the crown jewels of the Twins pitching pipeline at this time are of course Jhoan Duran and the underrated Griffin Jax. In the latter’s case, it is a story of great success. After failing to hold up as a started, Jax switched to the bullpen and quietly posted a 3.36 ERA in 72 1/3 IP in 2022. Striking out around 27% of hitters, Jax was a great setup man in a pinch. For a portion of the season he was likely the Twins second best reliever. So how could he break out and become even better? It appears for starters that Jax is working on adding velocity, never a bad idea! His wipeout slider wasn’t enough to keep hitters off his fastball which allowed a .530 SLG in 2022 so perhaps some added velocity could help. Jax also sneakily had a very effective changeup which he used around 14% of the time. Perhaps in just his second season as a reliever he can add some velocity and use his changeup as an equalizer for lefties a bit more. Given the baseline he showed in 2022, doing so could make him a devastating weapon at the back end of games. Alex Kirilloff Unfortunately at this point Kirilloff’s breakout feels like a pipedream due to his inability to remain on the field. The talented former #15 overall pick has been dealing with wrist issues for years. Following multiple surgeries, the most recent of which can be considered experimental, it’s hard to rely on Kirilloff for any kind of value moving forward. That being said, he displayed his pure hitting skills throughout the minors and flashed them in the MLB during the short stints he’s been healthy. While it’s hard to find sustained success in his brief career, it’s easy to forget that he was considered the best pure hitter in the Twins system not that long ago, regularly dominating the minor leagues. Fans may be tired of waiting, but the Twins drafted Kirilloff out of high school six years ago. If he can take the field in the spring, the Twins will give him every opportunity to succeed, as they should. We’ve rarely seen Kirilloff take the field while healthy, but at just 25 years old it’s not time to give up on him just yet. Long projected to be a cornerstone of the lineup, health is the main question that Kirilloff looks to answer in 2023. If that wrist allows him to swing the bat, don’t be surprised to see the former first rounder as one of the Twins most consistent hitters. Does anyone on this list stand out above the others? Is there a major breakout candidate not listed here? Let us know below! View full article

As injuries mount and roster churn happens for the Minnesota Twins, 2021 minor league hitter of the year, Jose Miranda, sees himself eyeing a major league debut. After one of the most offensively dominant seasons in minor league history, what is there to expect at the next level. Miguel Sano is headed to the injured list with a knee issue following his walk-off hit the other night, and Kyle Garlick may land there with a calf strain. Having Sano out has meant that Luis Arraez needed to learn first base on the fly, and no backup exists on Minnesota’s roster. This year, Alex Kirilloff was expected to rotate with the hulking slugger, but he’s currently dealing with a wrist ailment. Enter Jose Miranda. Having primarily played third base throughout his professional career, it’s evident that Minnesota sees Miranda’s versatility as a bonus and can get him into the lineup in multiple different ways. He has played second base, some corner outfield, and a significant amount at first base. You’d be hard-pressed to suggest he’s a Gold Glove candidate anywhere, but he’s a starting option at any of the positions he plays on the dirt. Needing to spell Arraez, considering his lack of significant defensive value, it may be prudent to find Miranda a spot as Rocco Baldelli juggles his players dealing with differing maladies. What can you expect when he’s ultimately called up to the big leagues from a guy who laid waste to the competition a season ago? Miranda was a second-round pick for Minnesota back in 2016. He posted an .824 OPS with Elizabethton as a 17-year-old but then never again topped a .736 OPS until 2021. As a 23-year-old last season, he needed less than 50 games at Double-A to prove he was too advanced for the level. Making it to Triple-A St. Paul last season, he became the main act for a Saints team in their debut year as a Twins affiliate. Across 80 games, he slashed .343/.397/.563 and ripped a whopping 30 total homers. Striking out just 74 times while drawing 42 walks, he’s hardly a slugger that sells out for power. Fast forward to 2022, and Miranda was given plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills this spring. Josh Donaldson was originally going to block him at the hot corner, and then the trade for Gio Urshela accomplished the same thing. Sano is entrenched in the big leagues, so first base was taken, and Jorge Polanco isn’t going anywhere at second. It would take injury to provide an opportunity, and that door has now opened. Through 21 games with St. Paul this season, Miranda has overcome a slow start. A .737 OPS is hardly indicative of the talent that emerged last season, but what he’s done lately will draw attention. Miranda has hits in 10 of his last 11 games, and his last 57 plate appearances have resulted in a .300/.351/.520 slash line. Last week, he blasted his second homer of the season, and it was crushed to deep left-center at CHS Field. While the weather has yet to do so, Miranda is heating up. Starting last season in Kansas, the change to an odd Minnesota spring hasn’t been helpful at all. It doesn’t appear the process has altered, though, as a 14/5 K/BB is still indicative of a guy picking his spots. Should the recent surge provide any substantial evidence, it’s time to call mastery at the highest minor league level a thing. When graduating to Minnesota, there should be plenty of promise. He can play all over the diamond but is a more natural fit at first base than Arraez. He’s a better hitter than Sano but lacks the same level of power. He will put baseballs in the seats, but will do so without the prototypical slugger plan of attack. He’s an adequate defender, and that gives him a leg up on his internal competition for both spots on the right side of the infield. I don’t know that Miranda is an immediate .800 OPS player at the next level given his slow burn on the farm, but if 2021 and beyond are any indication, he should be here to stay when called upon. This is a regular that could have a quicker path to contribution than that of Urshela, but a player in that vein would be a great addition for a team needing depth. We are on the precipice of a long-term run from another prospect out of Puerto Rico, and following in the footsteps of Jose Berrios or Eddie Rosario would be a welcomed reality. View full article