Minnesota Twins: 5 Players To Regress In 2015
Sep 27, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier (2) hits an RBI single in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
2014 was a tale of two seasons for the Twins second basemen. For the early half of the year, Dozier looked like the best second basemen in baseball. He on a ridiculous tear and deserved to be mentioned higher than the likes of Robinson Cano, Jose Altuve, and Dustin Pedroia. That all seemed to come to a crashing half as the season wore on however.
After blasting home runs left and right to open 2014, and being selected to participate in the Home Run Derby, Dozier significantly cooled off in the second half. The Twins second basemen finished with a .242/.345/.416 slash line; outside of the uptick in on-base-percentage, Dozier replicated his 2013 line (.244/.312/.414).
Many will argue that Brian Dozier needs to hit for a higher average, but that probably couldn’t be further from the truth. Hitting 18 and 23 home runs the last two seasons respectively, while driving in 66 and 71 in that same time span, Dozier has proven his bat can provide consistency. Scoring a major league leading 112 runs a season ago, he also proved he gets on base at a high enough clip to be an asset at the top of the lineup. The Twins will hope that Dozier can cut down on his strikeouts (129 a season ago), but his career high in walks (89) shows that he has an advanced level of discipline.
Of the candidates for regression, Dozier remains amongst those least likely to see a significant fall off. If anything, Molitor and the Twins will be hoping for consistency throughout the season as a whole, rather than major peaks and valleys.