Minnesota Twins: Jose Miranda is here, but is he here to stay?

The Minnesota Twins made another big move today, calling up Jose Miranda along with Jovani Moran, optioning Jose Godoy and Cole Sands to Triple-AAA, and sending Kyle Garlick and Miguel Sano to the injured list.

Godoy and Sands were only up temporarily, so neither is a surprise, Garlick and Sano could be out a while, and Moran is our No. 28 prospect but had already made his MLB debut last season. The big news is the call-up for Miranda.

Jose Miranda was called up for the Minnesota Twins, but can he stay in the majors?

Miranda is the No. 93 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com, with 50 grades for his arm and fielding, but 60 and 55 grades for his hitting and power respectively. He was seen as solid but unspectacular prospect prior to 2020, but after posting a huge breakout year in 2021, he shot up the prospect ranks.

He was named the Minnesota Twins minor league player of the year in 2021 after slashing .344/.401/.572 and blasting 30 homers at Double-AA and Triple-AAA. He also struck out just 74 times in 121 game with a 42-74 BB-K ratio.

In 2022, he struggled to start the year, but has been very hot recently, slashing .333/.350/.611 over the last week and batting .300 over the last two weeks. He’s making 2021 look more and more like the real deal.

He’s making his major league debut tonight, batting sixth and playing third, but his defensive versatility is one of his best aspects. He can play third, second, and probably most importantly first, a position the Twins need a little more production from.

It’s very exciting to see him finally be called up, and I believe he’ll be successful. The big hope is that he’ll be as successful as Trevor Larnach has been since being recalled, but even if he is, will the team keep him up at the major league level?

The Twins love to use platoon matchups, and Miranda is an ideal platoon matchup to start against lefties over Luis Arraez, but will he succeed enough against righties to stay at the top level? That part remains to be seen.

Regardless of what happens, Twins fans should be ecstatic. The team’s next big wave of top prospects (Kirilloff, Larnach, Miranda, Lewis, Winder, Ryan, Duran) is arriving and injecting the team with youth and talent. This team feels like it could be special.