3 struggling Twins players who need to turn it around before it’s too late
While things start to turn around in Minnesota, a few guys need to start figuring things out sooner rather than later.
It’s been a season of peaks and valleys for the Minnesota Twins so far, something that has been reflected in how spotty play has been at some key places in the lineup.
Certain guys have stood out as bright spots, with Carlos Correa looking every but like the $200 million superstar the team needs him to be. Max Kepler and Ryan Jeffers have also stepped up in big ways, while Trevor Larnach and Jose Miranda are unexpected successes in Minnesota’s youth movement.
That’s not the case in other areas of the lineup, though.
Minnesota bookended a 12-game winning streak with two losing streaks of five or more games. The team also started the season 7-13, and while it’s not solely the fault of a few struggling hitters it’s something that’s certainly not helped when potentially key players are underperforming in truly alarming ways.
3 struggling Twins players who need to turn it around before it’s too late
Kyle Farmer, UTIL
One of the more puzzling decisions that the Twins made this winter was re-signing Kyle Farmer. It's not that bringing him back was a bad idea, it was the fact that the team gave him $6 million and an option for another year. The theme of Minnesota's offseason was frugalness to the degree of preposterousness, as the team refused to make any meaningful external additions and cut the payroll by $30 million right out of the gate.
So giving Farmer that type of money raised some eyebrows and it's a move that has aged so poorly it's hard to comprehend.
Through 39 games Farmer is hitting .169/.274/.253 with a -0.2 WAR in 83 at-bats. It's mind-boggling how bad he's playing when he was a very solid contributor all over the lineup less than a year ago. Minnesota essentially made Farmer their big free agency signing, as he counts for more money on the books than any other players the Twins added. The fact that he's one of the lowest performing players on the roster is beyond frustrating, and there's really no way out from under his struggles other than him turning things around.
Minnesota isn't going to DFA Farmer, who can simply refuse a demotion and force a release, and there's a line of players who the team would dump first. The Twins could try to trade Farmer but it would be for pennies on the dollar and make little sense given his value when he's playing well.
The only thing the Twins can do is wait it out and hope that Farmer turns things around.
Manuel Margot, OF
No Twins player is getting as much direct heat from fans than Manuel Margot. He was acquired under questionable circumstances, as two other options seemed to make more sense than trading for him, and things have gone from a stall to a free fall.
The Twins traded for Margot with the idea that he'd be a more offensively powerful insurance plan for Byron Buxton than Michael A. Taylor. He also blocked Austin Martin's otherwise clear path to the 26-man roster, someone who seemed to be a perfect option to platoon with Buxton and start chipping away at making an impact as part of the team's youth movement.
Margot has repaid the Twins by hitting .198/.257/.250 with a -0.7 WAR while also becoming a defensive liability. Meanwhile, Taylor has remained as consistent as he was last year, except he's doing it in Pittsburgh, and Martin hasn't been given enough opportunities to remain on the MLB roster.
It's one of the most frustrating road blocks to success the Twins are facing, yet the team doesn't seem willing to cut bait on Margot yet. He's been rewarded for his struggles by taking starts away from Martin and has been handed the leadoff role more times than fans care to count.
Thankfully the Dodgers are paying most of Margot's salary this year, and his $4 million hit -- the only one he seems to be getting this year -- might be one the Twins feel like they can move on from.
Alex Kirilloff, 1B/OF
Things have been rough lately for Alex Kirilloff, which is even more of a bummer given how well the year started out for him. It seemed he couldn’t stop hitting triples and extra base hits out of the gate but he’s fallen back a bit recently and has joined the team’s slumping bats in rather frustrating ways.
After starting out the season as one of the lone offensive bright spots, Kirilloff was hitting .145 with a .470 OPS in his last 30 games. That started to change on Friday against the Rangers and hopefully his fourth inning home run was a sign of things to come.
He was hitting .203/.270/.374 with a .644 OPS coming into the series against Texas, which is by far the lowest marks of his career so far and a far cry from what he’s capable of. It’s not just what he did earlier this year; Kirilloff has consistently hit .250 or above in previous seasons and that’s the low-end of what he can do offensively.
Minnesota needs him to start figuring things out not only for his own sake but to help offset struggles by guys like Manuel Margot and Carlos Santana — the latter of whom is getting regular playing time at first base despite hitting worse than Kirilloff this year.
The upside is that Kirilloff can play a few different places defensively and the sooner he gets things right at the plate the easier things will be for everyone. What we saw out of him on Friday is more along the lines of the guy he needs to be, but whether or not he can harness the momentum is yet to be seen.
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