Minnesota Twins: 5 most important players in the second half
The Minnesota Twins will be looking for reinforcements in the coming weeks, but several players on the roster will need to step up in the second half.
Back in March, if you would have told someone that the Minnesota Twins would be coming out of the All-Star break with a 5 1/2 lead in the American League Central, they would have thought you were out of your mind. The Twins came off a disastrous season in 2018 and while they finished in second place in the division, they still had plenty of holes with a record of 78-84.
The offseason didn’t do much to quell the concerns of Twins Territory either, as Minnesota passed on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper to sign their own guys (Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco) and add complementary pieces on the market. The Twins quickly alienated those concerns in the first half as they flew out of the gates and built a big lead over the Cleveland Indians.
Although the lead, which was as big as 11 1/2 games, has been cut in half, there’s still plenty of reasons for optimism, but still, questions to be answered. Many Twins players have answered those questions in the first half, but as the games become more important down the stretch, several players will have to step up and help lead Minnesota to its first division title since 2010.
Miguel Sano
Miguel Sano‘s career in Minnesota has been hyped for some time now, but his first half didn’t instill confidence in a potential rebound campaign in 2019. After a season in which the Twins sent him down to High-A Fort Myers to get in shape, Sano committed himself in the offseason only to get hurt in his winter league team’s celebration in January.
Sano would miss all of spring training and the first month and a half of the regular season before returning to the lineup in mid-May. The third baseman’s return was welcomed, but the production hasn’t been what Twins fans have expected.
As Sano continued to get at-bats at the major league level, he fell into a deep slump which saw him go 5-for-43 (.116) with 25 strikeouts. Although three of his five hits were home runs, Twins fans became frustrated with a player who had shown elite hitting potential during his All-Star season in 2016 and hasn’t quite recaptured it since.
If there is good news, Sano hit .400 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in the final nine games of the first half and looked more comfortable at the plate. If the Twins are going to go anywhere in the second half, they’ll need Sano to find his game and be a major contributor for the highest-scoring offense in baseball.
Taylor Rogers
Many Twins fans are scouring rumors and Twitter to see who the team could land at the trade deadline to help their bullpen. While the addition of Ken Giles or Will Smith would be a shot in the arm for the club, the Twins will have to have some of their current arms step up in the second half to make a push.
While a lot of the Twins relievers have been inconsistent this season, one constant has been Taylor Rogers. The left-hander has emerged to be one of baseball’s best relievers since the middle of last season when he started using his slider more. Since June of 2018, Rogers has posted a 1.56 ERA with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings and has become a dominant reliever at the end of the Twins bullpen.
The question for Rogers now is whether he can handle the pressure of a playoff race. Even if the Twins do get a reliever via trade, it will still be on Rogers to get some of the biggest outs the Twins will face all season. In a perfect world, Rogers would be the Twins’ version of Andrew Miller, who helped carry the Cleveland Indians to the World Series in 2016.
It remains to be seen if Rogers can be that dominant, but in the closing months, he’s going to have to be the Twins’ best in-house option.
Jake Odorizzi
Wes Johnson has done a tremendous job getting the most out of his staff throughout the first half of the season and perhaps his best work has been with Jake Odorizzi. The right-hander struggled in his first season with the Twins posting a 7-10 record with a 4.49 ERA in 164 1/3 innings, but those numbers have come down to 10-4 with a 3.15 ERA in 88 2/3 innings this season.
Perhaps the biggest improvement for Odorizzi has been his control as he’s issued 30 free passes on the year. That would be on pace to break his career-low when he issued 59 walks in his rookie season of 2014. That improvement helped lead the 30-year old to his first All-Star selection but the bigger question is whether his breakout season can continue.
While the Twins are looking for bullpen help, Odorizzi needs to continue to be a strong second starter. With Jose Berrios at the top of the rotation, the combination of Kyle Gibson, Michael Pineda and Martin Perez have been solid, but none of them inspire confidence in a big pennant race game.
If the Twins can add a starter and Odorizzi can continue pitching well, Minnesota will have a rotation that can match up with anybody in the American League.
Marwin Gonzalez
At the beginning of the season, few Twins were as cold at the plate as Marwin Gonzalez. As a late signing to the roster, Gonzalez struggled in the opening months as he hit .167 with 2 HR and 7 RBI in March/April before turning it on to hit .299 with 3 HR and 10 RBI in May. Those numbers have cooled off a bit since then (and a hamstring injury hasn’t helped either), but can Gonzalez be the two-way player the Twins signed him to be?
At this point in the season, it’s clear that manager Rocco Baldelli wants to keep his players as fresh as possible for the stretch run. Although he would love everybody to play every game, he’s going to need to save some players from themselves and that’s where Gonzalez comes in.
If Gonzalez can be productive, the Twins will be able to avoid having to make another big move to acquire another bat. It sounds crazy, but the Twins will need to figure out how to replace Gonzalez if his hamstring acts up in the wake of Willians Astudillo‘s injury, which should keep him out for a little longer than expected.
If the utility man can have a strong second half, the Twins will have the depth needed for their playoff push.
Rocco Baldelli
This is a swerve considering the title of the article is five players that are important to the Twins’ second-half success but the decisions of Rocco Baldelli will play a key part in whether the Twins can capture the American League Central or be heading home early.
So far this season, Baldelli has hit all the right buttons for this team to succeed. It started in spring training when he installed a lighter workload on his players and made plans to use three catchers throughout the year to keep them fresh. In addition, his bullpen moves have worked out for the most part, but he’s also been afforded a luxury of a big lead when he’s had to turn to them.
As the season rolls along, the games are going to get tighter putting the microscope on the Twins’ rookie manager. Although there are exceptions, veteran managers usually have the edge once they hit the final months of the season and it remains to be seen if Baldelli’s new age thinking will help the Twins get over their postseason victory drought.
Next. 5 bold predictions for the Twins in the second half. dark
If the moment isn’t too big for Baldelli, the Twins could make a run. If he makes the wrong decisions, this season could come crashing down earlier than expected.