Remembering my Top-5 Minnesota Twins moments for 2018
The Minnesota Twins may have had a 2018 to forget but here are one writer’s top-5 moments of the year as we wait for the calendar to turn to 2019.
Us as Minnesota Twins fans likely would like to take 2018 and toss it out of our memory banks. The season itself was one that was full of expectations of another playoff appearance but in reality, it was filled with failed free agent signings and a second place finish in a very bad division. Sort of felt like the same trajectory of emotion that followed the Vikings season. Sorry, too soon?
With the disappointment of the year and season covered, there were some things that were still pretty great about 2018. Things that still bring a smile to my face as a fan of baseball, the Twins, and someone who gets to punch at his keyboard regularly and write my opinion about the team I love to cheer for.
As I have tried to narrow my favorite moments down to five, I have realized how hard of a task that is. Due to that, I will start with a few Honorable Mentions.
Honorable Mentions
The Willians Astudillo experience makes my honorable mentions. This may make many others actual list but if I am honest I was doing a lot of highlight watching by time Astudillo hit the major leagues so I missed seeing some of his celebrated moments live due to my other life as a High School Soccer coach.
Even though I missed those moments live. They were still pretty fun and exciting to follow in a season that was all but lost at that point. Unfortunately, I worry that might be it for Astudillo with the Twins unless something has gone horribly wrong with Jason Castro‘s recovery.
My other honorable mention would be the development of the Twins up and coming minor league players. Royce Lewis looks like a star, as does Alex Kirilloff, both of whom I had a chance to watch live this past summer. Lewis struggled a bit in the game I saw him play but it was later learned he was struggling with injury.
Kirilloff, on the other hand, looks every bit the part of a major league player physically right now. I was very impressed with the way he could hit and also the rocket of an arm he displayed for right field. You can read more about my experience watching Kirilloff here.
No. 5 2017-2018 Offseason Moves
To officially start off this list is the offseason moves that the Twins made in advance of the 2018 season. Even though they certainly did not go the way the front office had hoped it was still something pretty exciting to live out as a fan.
I remember the night the Twins traded for Jake Odorizzi. There were rumblings flying through Twitter chatter that the Twins were up to something with the Tampa Bay Rays. Of course, all the buzz had been about a trade for Chris Archer and so initially I thought that was what was going down.
While I was a huge fan of the Twins acquiring Archer, when I saw the deal for Odorizzi come across the wire I was very pleased with that move. While Jermaine Palacios still has the ability to develop into some sort of major league player he was going to get lost in a system full of high-end middle infield talent.
While Odorizzi isn’t the top of the rotation starter the Twins are still looking for, he has helped steady one spot in the rotation. And while his 4.49 season ERA and scheduled breakdown the third time through a teams lineup is slightly frustrating. Odorizzi did have stretches of pretty good pitching and held batters to a .216 batting average the first time he faced them and a .224 average the second time.
From there Lance Lynn looked like the starter the Twins needed to highlight the Twins rotation. Logan Morrison, although another lefty in the lineup, looked like a solid power bat to help bring runners around the bases. Addison Reed also looked like the Twins Andrew Miller lite that they needed. Even though none of those moves panned out it was still exciting to see the front office make some moves and spend some money.
No. 4 Eddie Rosario
This is just a wide spread look at the Twins starting left fielder. Eddie Rosario took continued steps in being not just a solid outfielder but an All-Star caliber one. Rosario finished the season with a .288/.323/.479 slash line and a .803 OPS. That is actually down from his 2017 season, but his first half was like something we rarely get to see in baseball.
Rosario’s first half was filled with a stat line of .311/.353/.537, a .890 OPS, and 19 home runs. If there is any way Rosario can harness a fraction of that over the entirety of a season as he continues to mature and develop he will be quite the force to be reckoned with.
On top of the actual baseball performance of Rosario is just the joy that comes with watching Rosario. Really not much unlike watching Astudillo, there is something infectious about watching Rosario play the game of baseball. His smile, his energy, his swagger just brings joy to his fans.
My hope is now with Joe Mauer retired that excitement and energy that he and Jose Berrios bring to the ballpark is something that may become the hallmark of this team moving forward. Of course, there is always a danger with such an emotionally charged team but it also would be quite entertaining to watch.
No. 3 Jake Cave got his shot
As spring training was getting rolling the Twins made a trade that I felt a little too excited about as it felt pretty minor at the time. On March 16th, the Twins traded Luis Gil, a minor league pitcher who is a long ways from being an MLB player (although he did perform well this season so we may reevaluate this take at a later date), for Jake Cave. Cave was a player who had been performing very well at the Triple-A level but with Giancarlo Stanton joining the roster the Yankees outfield was very crowded.
That was where the Twins front office saw an opportunity and acquired Cave. While it took some time for Cave to get his shot as the Twins continued to run Ryan LaMarre out in the lineup way too often when he did he took advantage of his opportunity.
May 19th Cave made his debut with the Twins and showed off his ability to add pop to the lineup as he made his first hit in a Twins uniform a home run. From there he went on to fill Byron Buxton‘s spot in the lineup and shuffled around the outfield defensively. Cave hit .265/.313/.473 and 13 home runs through 2018.
Cave performed well enough in 2018 that there are some who wonder if he hasn’t overtaken Max Kepler as a starting outfielder. He certainly didn’t hurt his chances with his 2018 performance in a Twins outfield mix that is full of potential major leaguers.
No. 2 Nailing the Oliver Drake take
I am about a year and a half into this regular blogging adventure. While I hope that I have come a long way in not only my writing but also my ability to form baseball opinions I still look to others with great hope that I will someday evaluate the game as well as they do. With that said, part of my 2018 greatest moments includes a chance for me to just give myself a bit of an “atta boy!”
When the Twins claimed Oliver Drake this past summer it just seemed like a strange move at first. The Twins were losing a lot of games and it wasn’t like a sneaky veteran waiver wire claim was going to push them into the playoffs. The Twins also had plenty of young bullpen arms that needed a look in the minors, namely Alan Busenitz.
After the announcement was made I turned to write up the move and was completely ready to begin blasting the Twins front office for a meaningless move. But then I began to dig into Drake’s Baseball Reference page and saw some encouraging signs and thought maybe this just might work. From that research, I wrote this.
While Drake has continued to bounce on and off of rosters this offseason, he proved he can hold his own in an MLB bullpen. Drake logged 20.1 innings, a 2.21 ERA, and a 9.7 K/9 with his funky straight over the top delivery. Hopefully, he can catch on somewhere this offseason.
No. 1 Joe Mauer’s final game
I don’t think any top moments list on the 2018 Minnesota Twins can be void of Joe Mauer’s final game. So many words have been written about the experience, photos shared, and memories written that I don’t know if I can provide anything different.
I will say this. Mauer’s career pretty much marks the span of time in which I began seriously following the Twins. I was born just 10 months in advance of the Twins 1987 World Series championship and did attend and vaguely remember a game in the 1991 season. So I have fuzzy memories of Kirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch.
It was around 2001 or 2002 when the Twins came back into focus for me. So Mauer has almost always been there. So it was great to see Mauer play the game as one of the best catchers ever before a brain injury took that from him. It was also incredible to see him battle back and remake himself.
So as weird as 2019 will be without hearing No. 7 Joe Mauer being announced with the starting lineup. I am also very happy to have been able to watch “one of us” give his all to his hometown team. I am also very happy to see him be able to go spend time with his three beautiful children.
Next. Twins should pay for Dallas Keuchel. dark
With that, we are on to 2019. Who knows what is next for the Twins. What I do know is while 2018 was frustrating it was also very fun. Hopefully, 2019 is filled with similar moments.