Minnesota Twins: Logan Forsythe experiencing a Renaissance since trade
By Nate Palmer
The Minnesota Twins traded away one veteran second baseman for another. The new guy Logan Forsythe is seeing quite the turn around in his season.
The Minnesota Twins traded away fan favorite and clubhouse leader second baseman Brian Dozier before the July 31 trade deadline. One of the biggest questions that continue to linger in fans’ minds is if Dozier had one of his patented second half hot streaks coming and if that would be enough to push the Twins back into contention. While Dozier is hitting .282/.429/.590 with an 1.018 OPS and three home runs, the veteran second baseman the Twins received in return has had a resurgence of his own.
Logan Forsythe came back to the Twins in the Dozier trade alongside prospects Luke Raley and Devin Smeltzer. Since the trade, Forsythe has plugged in as the Twins regular second baseman and has been performing much better than the .207/.290/.450 slash line he produced in Los Angeles through the first part of 2018.
In 11 games since returning to the American League, Forsythe has hit .405/.463/.459 with a .923 OPS and two doubles. The 31-year-old will clearly not be able to keep up a .400 batting average for much longer, but is this maybe a throwback to the player the Dodgers thought they acquired a couple of offseasons ago?
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
- Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
- Minnesota Twins: After missing out on Correa, what comes next?
- Minnesota Twins: Free Agency should be Ace or Bust for the Rotation
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Christian Vazquez Signing
The thing that the Twins can do with Forsythe that the Dodgers didn’t do is to let him settle in to playing one position, second base. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts does seem to like to be able to move players around the diamond a bit. While Forsythe is definitely capable defensively to handle being moved around based on his offensive numbers his bat seemed to suffer.
Looking back to Forsythe’s time with the Tampa Bay Rays, once he became a regular in the starting lineup he found himself most often at second base. The season before being traded in 2016, Forsythe hit .264/.333/.444 with a .778 OPS, 24 doubles, and 20 home runs. In 2015 he was one step better when he hit .281/.359/.444 and a .804 OPS with 33 doubles and 17 home runs.
Next. Puckett's Pond prospect rankings: #36-40. dark
With Nick Gordon struggling at Triple-A right now to find the success he has had at other levels of the minor leagues, second base looks like a wide open position for 2019. Forsythe will be looking to perform well enough through the final months of the season to win himself consideration for the second base job with the Twins in 2019.