Minnesota Twins: Taking stock of the outfield

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Eddie Rosario
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: (L-R) Eddie Rosario /
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Minnesota Twins
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 16: Former Minnesota Twins player Torii Hunter speaks as he is inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in a ceremony before the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Indians of the game on July 16, 2016 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

It’s finally here folks, Spring Training games have begun for the Minnesota Twins! Today, we’ll take a look at who will will be covering all of that ground in the outfield of Target Field for the 2018 season.

The Minnesota Twins have one of the best defensive outfields in all of Major League Baseball. All of the players that we will talk about today are young, homegrown players who will have a huge impact this season.

However, first I want to take a little trip down memory lane, and remember one of the recent greats for the Twins. For the purpose of keeping this article short(er), we won’t include Kirby Puckett, the greatest Twin in history. Let’s be honest, we could talk about the Hall of Famer for days, so we’ll focus on a player from the last 20 years.

Torii Hunter

First up, we have one of the best players to ever play center field in the history of Major League Baseball. Watching Torii Hunter track a fly ball in the outfield was a beautiful site. He won seven consecutive Gold Gloves and hit .271 with 192 home runs during his Twins career.

As you can see in the video, a home run wasn’t a home run until Hunter didn’t catch it. This one was during the All-Star game in Milwaukee in 2002…

Or the time Hunter did this…

Sorry, I got a little carried away there. However that’s not hard to do when you’re looking at the numerous spectacular plays Hunter made during his career. However, there was more to Hunter than just tremendous defense. He always played the game with a smile on his face and a pure love for baseball.

Watching players like Hunter always make the game more fun. His zest for baseball is always an exciting thing to witness as a fan. The Minnesota Twins current outfield will bring similar excitement during the coming season.

This will be an exciting season for Twins fans to watch and this outfield will be a big part of that. The pitching staff will benefit the most from the runs the outfielders will save defensively. First up we have the Twins speedy center fielder Byron Buxton.