Minnesota Twins Player Preview: Brian Dozier
2016 Outlook
With excitement building for the Twins and their upcoming season, it seems right that their leader and lone positional All-Star selection would enter the season with high expectations.
All signs point to Dozier being healthy after dealing hip issues during the latter part of the 2015 season which hopefully will set Dozier up for a nice follow-up year in 2016.
Dozier is firmly planted as the Twins second baseman so there shouldn’t be any competition at the position. The Twins seem so committed to Dozier, in fact, they previously moved Eddie Rosario from second to outfield and Jorge Polanco from second to shortstop.
Power shouldn’t be a concern at all for Dozier as he’ll likely hit the 20+ home run mark again but one encouraging sign from the early returns of Spring Training is Dozier has been putting the ball in play, has been striking out less and is hitting .444 after six games.
Dozier will be looked upon to be a catalyst for a lineup that will include fellow power hitters Miguel Sano, Trevor Plouffe and Byung Ho Park. If he can provide some pop at the top of the order, it could open the door for some RBI opportunities for the big bats in the middle as well as a, hopefully, healthy and rejuvenated Joe Mauer.
Time will only tell but expect Dozier to continue to put up the numbers he has in the past. If he wants to take the next step however, he’ll need to start showing the ability to hit to all sides of the field as well bring his average up while bringing his strikeout numbers down.