5 Questions for the Minnesota Twins heading into spring training

The Minnesota Twins are just two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Fort Myers, but there are plenty of questions to be answered.

Every year the Minnesota Twins have some kind of slogan that gets the fans fired up for the upcoming season. During the 2000s, the slogan “Twins Territory” became a household phrase that stuck with the run that Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau had to several division titles. In 2017, “This is how we baseball,” took it’s place beside “total system failure” and “bilateral leg weakness” as one of the most infamous phrases in franchise history.

But as the Twins are two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Fort Myers for spring training, the phrase for the upcoming season should be “What’s next?”

The Twins enjoyed a breakout season in 2019 as they became the Bomba Squad while setting an MLB record in home runs (307) and claimed their first American League Central division title since 2010. Alas, those accolades didn’t translate to postseason success as Minnesota suffered a familiar fate by being swept by the New York Yankees in the ALDS.

As many loyal Twins fans long for warmer weather and the others fight the urge to dig their Doug Mientkiewicz jerseys out in January, many want to see what’s next for a team that has a young nucleus that has been supplemented by powerful veterans, but still has some question marks going into spring training.

Can Miguel Sano adapt to first base?

The Twins addition of Josh Donaldson has been met with tons of excitement and who could blame Twins fans for being giddy adding “The Bringer of Rain” to a historic lineup. Even with the fear of new baseballs coming into play in 2020 that could suppress power numbers league-wide, Donaldson adds another feared hitter to the Bomba Squad and also improves their infield defense, which was abysmal in 2019.

One of the reasons the Twins struggled defensively was Miguel Sano‘s performance at third base. In a traditional sense, Sano was one of the shakiest defenders at the hot corner in 2019, chucking 17 errors in just 91 games. By comparison, MLB’s leader was Boston’s Rafael Devers, who committed 22 errors, but did so in 152 games.

A dive into sabermetrics for Sano’s performance was even worse as his -6.7 UZR would have extrapolated to -19.9 over 150 games according to FanGraphs and his -5 OAA ranked 118th among qualifying infielders per Baseball Savant.

For those looking for a reason why the Twins felt adding Donaldson was a priority, this is a big reason why. But with Donaldson taking over third base and Nelson Cruz occupying the designated hitter spot, they must now find a new position for Sano.

After a 2015 experiment in right field that went miserably, the Twins are trying their luck at first base. Sano didn’t put up sterling numbers at first base last season with a pair of errors in nine games, but he doesn’t need to be John Olerud to improve the infield defense with C.J. Cron owning a -0.6 UZR over 117 games.

For reference, Sano’s UZR at first (-0.1) was slightly better but was in a way smaller sample size. In addition, his career UZR (-1.3) is actually better than Cron’s (-2.0), who was used more in a platoon role as opposed to a full-time first baseman prior to 2019.

If Sano can be OK at first, that should let Donaldson to work his magic while also taking pressure off of Jorge Polanco who was even worse defensively last season. That will make Sano’s transition a pivotal part of spring training as he tries to adapt to his new position.

Which Twins prospect will make the biggest impression?

We mentioned two of the top Twins prospects in the previous slide, but with the Twins having six representatives in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list, there will be plenty of young faces to watch during spring training.

Both Larnach and Kirilloff are on this list as Larnach attempts to continue his red-hot start to his professional career and Kirilloff tries to get back to a 2018 form that made him one of the top prospects in the game. If either is successful, it’s possible they could be making a cameo at Target Field sometime in 2020.

The Twins also have some talented pitchers who may not be ready for the major leagues but could show their potential. Jhoan Duran and Dakota Chalmers are currently listed on the team’s active roster, but Minnesota also has Brusdar Graterol, who will be looking to make an impact in the bullpen during his first professional season.

But the prospect with the most to show could be Royce Lewis. While the No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 MLB Draft has shown flashes with his speed and defensive ability, the last step could be the development of his game at the plate. After struggling throughout 2019, Lewis turned it on with an MVP performance in the Arizona Fall League and could be looking to come out of the gates strong in 2020.

A lot of the names on this shortlist aren’t likely to make it to Minnesota out of camp, but strong performances could inspire optimism and potentially raise trade value if the team (again) decided to acquire more pitching.

When will Byron Buxton hit the field (and can he stay on it)?

2019 was a good year for center fielder Byron Buxton as his bat finally matched up with the rest of his game. With career-highs across the board, Buxton showed the potential that many have been craving for years and if he stays healthy, he could be in for a monster 2020 season.

Then again, there are the magic words. If he stays healthy.

Buxton’s season came to a screeching halt with a torn shoulder labrum in August, but his health was fraying before he went flying into a wall at Marlins Park. After being hit by a pitch in June and suffering a concussion on a diving grab in July, Buxton was in and out of the lineup and the Twins speed on the basepaths and defensive ability were compromised through his absence.

That’s what makes spring training so important for Buxton. After having surgery on his shoulder, his availability for spring training has been up in the air but started swinging a bat last month with a chance he’ll be ready for the first team workout on Feb. 17.

Of course, the Twins would like to have Buxton’s services more this season, so if it takes a couple of weeks, it might not be the worst thing in the world. But having him on the field as soon as possible may allow him to get all the kinks out and figure out better routes in the outfield to avoid high-speed collisions with the ground and the fence.

After Buxton’s impact last year, the Twins need him on the field and the sooner he gets back on it, the sooner that process can begin.

Did the Twins do enough to address their starting rotation?

We’ve been alluding to this throughout the article and now it’s finally here where we talk about the Twins pitching staff. On paper, this looks like a group that improved over the 2019 iteration of the rotation, which was filled by a low-risk flier who had an ERA of 6.22 in 2018 and another pitcher who was battling E-coli and other stomach ailments.

Both Martin Perez and Kyle Gibson are gone and while the Twins didn’t replace them with a free-agent signee, they did fill those holes with Homer Bailey and Rich Hill, who both put up better numbers than their counterparts in 2019.

With the retention of Michael Pineda and Jake Odorizzi, the Twins have five players penciled into their rotation, but Pineda (suspension) and Hill (elbow) won’t be available until later in the season, leaving two spots open.

While training camp battles are more of a football thing, we could see an interesting one play out during spring training. Devin Smeltzer, Lewis Thorpe and Randy Dobnak all had their highs and lows last season and will look to fill those two spots until Pineda and Hill are available. But that begs the question if this trio will be up to the task.

Even with spring training around the corner, there’s still six weeks for the Twins to make a rotation move between now and opening day. While a deal would be jarring in the clubhouse, the Twins are not strangers to such a deal as they acquired Odorizzi in March of 2018.

In a perfect world, the Twins would be able to figure out their staff in short order, but if they run into trouble, they might want to get on the phone and try to make an eleventh-hour deal.