The Twins brought in Harrison Bader as a free agent to enhance their lineups against left-handed pitching, to provide excellent defense in center field as a backup to Byron Buxton, and to give them a boost on defense at any outfield spot when protecting a lead.
Bader, who turns 31 in June, is a high-motor guy capable of making five-star plays in the outfield. His bat has slipped in recent seasons, and while his career work against lefties is strong, he wasn't effective against them in '24, and he's not consistent there season to season. Manager Rocco Baldelli should protect Bader from overexposure in order to maximize his effectiveness — something he didn't do with utility man Willi Castro, for example, in '24.
Bader showed up to Twins camp ready to help, apparently over the nagging injuries that dogged him a season ago. Heading into play Tuesday afternoon, Bader was batting .300/.400/.433 in 35 plate appearances with a home run, five walks and five strikeouts. His supporting data is just as encouraging. He added a double and a walk against the Tigers on Tuesday.
Despite not feeling close to 100 percent in '24, Bader played in a career-high 143 games and got a career-best 437 plate appearances with the Mets.
His production at the plate was disappointing — a little better, but similar to down years in 2022 and 2023. He was batting .268/.308/.401 through the second week of August, but finished the season in a 10-for-85 tailspin over his last 41 games. Four of those hits were home runs.
Bader sustained an ankle injury in July, and earlier in the month he also ran into the outfield fence chasing a double by Nick Senzel. These events coincided with Bader's decline in production.
By contrast, his outfield defense was strong as rated by Statcast, with all of his appearances coming in center field. His fielding run value ranked ninth overall among CFs, similar to that of Jackson Merrill, Johan Rohas and Jarren Duran.
Of note: Bader's sprint speed dropped a season ago, and while it could be related to the injuries, it has gone like this since 2018: 99th, 98th, 98th, 97th, 92nd, 86th, and 74th in 2024. Bader was 17-for-25 stealing bases in 2024, with his caught stealings a career worst.
Bader for his career is a .249/.315/.461 hitter with 26 home runs and 48 walks in 676 plate appearances against lefties, but batted just .204/.261/.350 against them in 2024. It's a recurring pattern throughout his career. He's historically weaker as a right-haned batter, but has had strong individual seasons as a righty (2022 and 2021).
If Bader can reduce the time he plays with nagging injuries, makes the proper adjustments against lefties while not losing himself against righties, he's going to be very helpful to the Twins in 2025.