Minnesota Twins Opening Day Projection: The Twins Bench

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The Minnesota Twins had a solid bench last season as they made the playoffs. With personal improvements and roster additions, it looks even better now.

The Minnesota Twins have spring training underway and even a few games with real box scores under their belt as well. As they start to get ready for the season it seems only appropriate to start giving our best guesses at who will be making the team for Opening Day and in what roles. Earlier we went through the starting lineup, today we continue with the bench.

In 2017, the Twins had a bench that played well in just the right moments. There could have possibly been a little more talent on the bench as none of those guys were truly going to ever push any of the starters for playing time outside of when starters needed a rest day. The fact that when called upon this group performed is what made it a good bench for the Twins during the 2017 season.

Chris Gimenez was the veteran of the group serving primarily as the backup catcher but was a jack of all trades with the ability to play first, third, and even come in as a relief pitcher. In a season in which he logged the most plate appearances of his career, Gimenez hit .220/.350/.382 and added 7 home runs and 9 doubles.

Ehire Adrianza was one of the Twins utility players who had the ability to play across the infield and even logged some innings as an outfielder. On the season Adrianza slashed .265/.324/.383 and legged out 9 doubles and 2 triples. That included a seven-game hitting streak that he put together from June 21st to July 21st when he appeared in games.

Kennys Vargas spent about half of 2017 on the twins bench hitting .253/.314/.444 and showed off his power with 11 home runs. Zack Granite also was able to get a solid amount of playing time becoming the 4th outfielder from a defensive standpoint. At the plate, he started to get used to the big leagues by hitting .237/.321/.290.

Now for the slightly embarrassing part, I have left a player off of the break down from last year that was included in the initial starting lineup prediction. Something big changed between that post and this post, the Twins signed Logan Morrison. Morrison looks to be the Twins starting designated hitter and back up first baseman at this point.

The signing also sends confusing messages about Miguel Sano and where he will be to begin the season. Trying to read between the lines of the Twins moves it appears that Miguel Sano will make that starting lineup, if he isn’t suspended, as the Twins third baseman. Morrison will DH, which means the first member of our bench is…

TORONTO, CANADA – AUGUST 26: Eduardo Escobar /

Infielder Eduardo Escobar

Here is the really good news about the Twins signing Logan Morrison and Miguel Sano’s apparent ability to continue as the starting third baseman. Eduardo Escobar is able to return to the position that fits him best.

Escobar hit .254/.309/.449 with 21 home runs, 16 doubles, and 5 triples. Those numbers would be OK for the Twins at third base but would always be considered a position that could be improved. Escobar’s 1.3 WAR from last season also speaks to the solidness of his performance, but not necessarily what you want to be slotted in as a starter. As defined by FanGraphs, Escobar according to WAR is a solid role player and needs to reach 2.0 WAR for starter level.

There is a chance that over a full season of starting, Escobar could reach that mark. With the Morrison signing, what ultimately happens is we replace Escobar’s offensive numbers with Morrison’s. Morrison provides a little more in on-base percentage (.353) as well as power (.516). Also, Morrison’s 3.6 WAR puts him it the range of a solid starter furthering the thought that replacing Escobar’s bat with Morrison’s should be an overal upgrade for the Twins.

Escobar is a good baseball player. And this role as a utility infielder coming off of the bench is the place he is a very valuable player and reaches his peak value for the Twins in 2018. As much as a writer hates to be “wrong” with initial predictions, I am glad to be writing about Escobar as a member of the Twins bench.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 1: Gabriel Moya /

Catcher Mitch Garver

Mitch Garver has worked hard to get to where he is currently at as a 9th round draft pick out of the 2013 draft. In his climb through the organizational ladder, he has had to pass catchers like Stuart Turner and John Ryan Murphy. Now he has earned his place as backup catcher to Jason Castro.

At Triple-A Rochester in 2017, Garver hit .291/.387/.541 along with 17 home runs and 29 doubles. It took some time for Garver to get his chance in the majors, but a mid-August Robbie Grossman injury created an opening for Garver to get his chance.

Garver received limited looks but saw time in 23 games for the Twins and slashed .196/.288/.348. Even though he wasn’t able to fully showcase his hitting ability in 2018, Garver should be given the opportunity to platoon Castro in 2018 when the Twins face left-handed starters. There is even the outside chance that the Twins could try to work Garver into some other roles if his bat really starts to take off.

That is the most exciting prospect of Garver on the bench and was at his call-up in August, his bat. What has helped Garver grab the chance at a major league spot has been his hard work to become a solid defensive catcher, something that was in questions earlier in his career. Could Garver turn into the right-handed power bat the Twins have been lacking? The Twins did sign some catchers to push Garver during spring training, but this spot on the bench is all but his to lose.

Ehire Adrianza

Ehire Adrianza had his best season at the major league level in 2017. After being claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers from the San Fransisco Giants earlier in the offseason, he would then be claimed by the Twins from the Brewers. Adrianza’s start with the Twins would be delayed due to injury, but from the beginning of May on he was a fixture on the Twins bench.

As mentioned in the opening, Adrianza hit .265/.324/.707 and 2 home runs, 9 doubles, 2 triples and 8 stolen bases in 9 attempts. On the way to 186 plate appearances, Adrianza lined up defensively all across the infield and in left field throughout 2017. He proved to be a significant upgrade from Danny Santana for the Twins.

Adrianza does have a bit of a position battle on his hands as the Twins did sign veteran Erick Aybar to challenge him for a utility infielder role on the Twins bench. From a pure spring performance standpoint, Aybar is putting up his best challenge as the close of Thursday’s game as he is hitting .500 in three spring games.

Adrianza isn’t going away quietly and is putting up an impressive spring of his own hitting .333/.412/.667 with 2 doubles and a home run. He has looked good swinging the bat to this point in the spring and seemed to have done his best to prepare himself to stick with the major league club and his manager is taking notice. As Mike Berardino tweeted Paul Molitor said of Adrianza, “He looks like he put on a little muscle.” His glove and his bat seems to have a bench spot secured again for 2018.

Robbie Grossman

In 2017, Robbie Grossman got the most at-bats of any Twins batter at designated hitter. Grossman hit .246/.361/.380 as well as 9 home runs and 22 doubles. Grossman certainly doesn’t have the power that would be traditionally thought of from the DH spot, but he continued to be good at getting on base. Of players that played at least 100 games in 2017, Grossman was just on the outside of the top 50 in OBP.

What has to be an interesting situation for Grossman is that his place on the Twins has changed dramatically in the course of a week. He went from assured bench spot and fringe starter to now having his spot on the Opening Day roster very much in question. This spring he will need to prove his glove is good enough to play the corner outfield to ensure his place on the roster and playing time during the season.

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Grossman is currently battling Kennys Vargas and Zack Granite most closely for that final position. Both Grossman and Vargas don’t have options remaining on their contract making this battle differently important for them. Granite does have options and his value to the Twins may be his glove before his bat, although if he can prove to be the on-base machine he was in the minors he could become a serviceable player in the majors.

Next: How seriously is Brian Dozier considering free agency?

In the end, there is simply more trust in Grossman’s bat then Vargas’, and Granite’s available option makes it an easy decision to see what Grossman can offer in 2018 before simply letting him go. The only way I don’t see Grossman fill this final bench spot is the real possibility that with Morrison in the fold that the Twins might see if they can find some trade value in Grossman and his affordable $2 million contract.

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