5 Twins that need to have a big season in 2023
In 2022, the Twins were in a position to win the AL Central and return to the postseason. However, a lack of depth in pitching and fielding, plus injuries and struggling offense, caused a September that ripped Minnesota out of contention with a pitiful 78-84 record.
So far this offseason the Twins have addressed many of those needs and made the massive move to re-sign Carlos Correa. What Minnesota has done is bought itself at least six or seven tries to contend with a healthy Byron Buxton and Correa in the same lineup, but other things need to click into place for success to happen.
Even Buxton and Correa have question marks around them as the Twins enter this new era, and the pressure is officially on.
While there is a mix of players that the Twins have that are returning from injuries last year, and ones that they resigned, there are five players on this current roster that will play a big role in the Twins 2023 season and need to step up for this new era to be properly ushered in.
. . Carlos Correa. 5. . player. 2. Shortstop
This one is a bit obvious. After a crazy offseason, the Twins were able to resign Carlos Correa for a six-year, $280 million deal -- the largest in franchise history. Correa didn't have the greatest season last year but the reason why the Twins re-signed him is because of the effect he has on this team.
While Carlos Correa struggled on offense, his defense was always there. The star shortstop had a .983 fielding percentage and he helped tally 51 double plays.
Correa wasn't offensively efficient last season, at least not compared to his normal standards. That was mainly due to the slow start he had. When he was able to break out of an early slump and ended up hitting .291 with a .366 OBP. Most of the damage that Correa made was in September. In the first 13 games of that month, Correa had a .373 batting average.
Carlos Correa has stressed all year how important it will be to play well in September. @TeamCJCorrea in 13 September games:
— Dustin Morse (@morsecode) September 16, 2022
.373 AVG
4 doubles
6 home runs
13 RBI
.429 OBP
.804 SLG
1.232 OPS
.394 BABIP#MNTwins sweep the Royals and head to Cleveland for 5 games. pic.twitter.com/YTZKV51z1p
Correa is the key to this season, with his defense, bat, and leadership that he brings. The Twins paid him the big bucks because of those characteristics and now they need to get more of what they saw from Correa in September.
Center Field. . Byron Buxton. player. 2. . 4.
This one is also obvious, as Byron Buxton has shown the ability to be an all-time player for the Twins but nearly every year an injury has sidelined him for a long period of time. It has not only caused his stats to plummet but the Twins have always struggled when Buxton is hurt. Buxton did play in 92 games last season (which was his most since 2017) and he was named to his first All-Star Game but was still overall limited due to a knee injury that occurred early in the season.
Byron Buxton turns on 101 🔥
— Inside Edge (@IE_MLB) April 9, 2022
He's the first Twins player to hit a home run on a 101+ MPH fastball since Kurt Suzuki (6/18/16 - Chapman).#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/x7qQFi9DgM
Now with the addition of Michael A. Taylor, Buxton will finally have a quality backup to be a substitute in center when Buxton needs rest -- or if he gets hurt again. It's an immeasurable weight to have off of his shoulders. With that being said, the Twins are going to need him to stay healthy for a good portion of this year because there will be no Luis Arraez to ignite this team at the top of the lineup. It will be up to Buxton and his counterpart at shorstop, Carlos Correa, to lead this team.
. Third Base | First Base. 2. . . José Miranda. 3. player
In 2022, it didn't take long for Jose Miranda to remind us of why he was the Twins top minor league prospect at the beginning of the decade. He started out slow with his bat but once he got that figured out, Miranda became one of the top rookies in the league. The young third baseman slugged a .268 batting average and had a .325 OBP.
Miranda also flexed his clutch muscle with his two most notable moments being a walk-off hit against Baltimore and a walk-off home run in a game against Milwaukee when he hit it off of one of the best closers in the league: Josh Hader.
José Miranda hits a walk-off bomb off Josh Hader! pic.twitter.com/JNTRvSSGDg
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 13, 2022
Miranda will start the season at third base but with the Twins trading away Luis Arraez they are asking him to take a step up this year. He showed he has superstar potential during his rookie season but now he's gonna have to be the man that gets the hits for the Twins.
. Starting Pitcher. player. 2. . . Joe Ryan. 2
Joe Ryan showed he has the potential to be the top pitcher for the Twins in the future but he has had one issue that has held him back. He struggled under the bright lights. Ryan crushed it against AL Central opponents, but in his six starts against non-divisional teams that made the postseason he allowed a combined 26 runs.
So Ryan will need to get used to playing in tough environments under bright lights. However it was also his first full year pitching in the Majors, and while there were those struggles he also had some big moments. In his start against the Kansas City Royals on September 13th, Ryan pitched seven no-hit innings.
With the Twins adding Pablo Lopez to the roster along with Kenta Maeda making his return off of the IL. Ryan will most likely start the season in the back end of the rotation.
Twins' rotation picture as of this moment:
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) January 20, 2023
Gray
Mahle
López
Maeda
Ryan
Ober
Winder
Varland
Woods Richardson
The top of the rotation is filled with veteran talent but there are questions when it comes to the health of some of the Twins top guys, mainly Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda. Ryan will need to come up big this year and provide depth in the rotation. Ryan will be tested with the new MLB schedule, as well, with the Twins not playing as many games against the AL Central than years past -- a test for Ryan to prove he can be a big-game pitcher for Minnesota and not another regular season star who is a letdown when it counts.
2. Starting Pitcher. Kenta Maeda. . 1. player. .
After spending nearly a full year and a half on the IL due to an elbow injury suffered in August 2021, Kenta Maeda will finally return to the Twins rotation but there will be a lot of questions when he does. The biggest one is how will he be able to pitch this season coming off of the injury and having so much time off. In 2021 before the elbow injury, Maeda still struggled. In his 21 starts that season he posted a 4.55 ERA, whereas a year prior he was a Cy Young finalist.
So he was already off before the injury, can he bounce back and be that Cy Young version of himself for the Twins?
3 free agents Twins should target to bolster bullpen in 2023. dark. More
This season Maeda will most likely not be pushed like he was in 2020 and '21. With the uncertainty of his arm, he will not be the "ace" of this staff to start the year. His time in Spring Training will decide where he'll be in the rotation but all he really will need to do is put up solid innings and keep the Twins in games in 2023.