5 potential breakout candidates for Twins in 2024

Jose Miranda, 1B/3B

Back in 2022, José Miranda went on an absolute tear between early-May to late-July was that year slashing .335/.374/.571 and driving in 37 RBI in just 50 games. It was the sort of stuff that seemed to indicate that he was going to be a key piece of the team's core moving forward, so much so that he was part of the new uniform reveal later in the year.

That feels like ages ago after what Miranda went through last year.

Injuries slowed him down, and Miranda posted a -0.6 fWAR in 40 games with an anemic 56 OPS+ in 152 plate appearances. Not only was he bad at the plate but he was equally as disappointing defensively and ended up getting shut down before the season ended after being placed on the 60-day IL.

That ended a season where Miranda was also the victim of circumstance, as his struggles were juxtaposed against the rise of Royce Lewis. Once heralded as the third baseman of the future, Miranda has been boxed out of a starting role but he might still have a path toward being a reliable contributor.

He's proving as much this spring, hitting .455 with a 1.045 OPS in 11 plate appearances and looking every bit like the rookie we all got so excited about.

Miranda has seemingly lost his chance to be an everyday player but he figures to be an important depth piece behind Lewis and over at first base with all that's going on with Alex Kirilloff. A best-case scenario is a platoon at first that consists of Kirilloff, Miranda, and Carlos Santana; getting there means Miranda is breaking out like we saw him do back in 2022.

His spring production is an extremely small sample size but he's earned his way into being a guy Twins fans should keep an eye on as a breakout candidate this season.