Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Hitter of the Month - July 2021

[Matthew Lenz]

As a team the Minnesota Twins hitters ranked 22nd in all of baseball accruing 2.8 fWAR in the month of July. Individually, the Twins had some solid month long performances including one familiar name who is vying for Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Hitter of the Year.

After Mitch Garver and Nelson Cruz took home the prestigious title in May and June, respectively, we will have a new award winner for the month of July. Before we announce the winner, let’s look at a group of honorable mentions for the month.

Honorable Mention #3: Luis Arraez

Arraez missed some time in July, otherwise he’d be higher on this list, but he was still one of the most productive Twins of the month. In the month of July, he had the highest batting average (.373) and on-base percentage (.415) of his career in months where he had at least 40 at-bats. Due to the time he’s missed this year, he’s currently about 50 plate appearances short of being a qualified hitter but he would rank 13th in the league in batting average if he had the minimum number of plate appearances. He gets bonus points for the crafty slide he showed on July 19th against the Chicago White Sox

Honorable Mention #2: Josh Donaldson
At 35-years-old, it’s safe to assume that Donaldson’s MVP days are behind him but that was probably an unfair bar to hold him to in the first place. Over the last two months, Donaldson has been one of the Twins best hitters smashing 11 homeruns with a .929 OPS. Although Donaldson slowed a bit in July and missed some time, he still accrued 0.5 fWAR with three homeruns and a .854 OPS. Included in his three home runs from the month was this 446 foot moon shot against off of José Cisnero where he broke through some career milestones.

Honorable Mention #1: Max Kepler
Kepler has struggled since his impressive 2019 season, but he hit well in July hitting one double, one triple, and a team-leading eight homeruns. He ended the month slashing .228/.290/.522 with a wRC+ of 118. Most notably, he became the all-time leader in walk off hits with this bloop against the Tigers that scored utility pinch runner Kenta Maeda in extras.
 

Many thought that Kepler might get traded at the deadline and it even sounds like they had some preliminary talks with the Yankees. Alas, he’ll keep manning Centerfield and Right Field for the foreseeable future as the Twins begin a (hopefully) mini rebuild.

Hitter of the Month: Jorge Polanco
This was quite easy. In the month of July, Polanco slashed .327/.366/.548 with a wRC+ of 149 and this is now two plus months of solid play from the Twins second baseman. 

It seems that part of Polanco’s rebound can be thanks to a healthy ankle, and I wonder if shifting to second is a little easier on the joint. Regardless, this is an important development for a player who is under contract until 2024-2025 and could theoretically be a contributor to the next competitive window for the Twins.

View full article

[ashbury]

He's so easy to root for.  Glad his bat has bounced back!

[wsnydes]

I'm also wondering if the move to 2B is simply more comfortable for him, allowing him to relax a little bit more.  SS always seemed like a stretch for him defensively.

[mikelink45]

Good choice - I am fascinated by his future as we look at Simmons who I do not believe will be back.   

[joefish]

Something is working for him. I hope they do not push him back over to SS next year. 

[AceWrigley]

He definitely has that left-handed homer swing grooved.

[DocBauer]

I was never down on him when he slumped. He's had a very, very odd career if you step back and really look at it. 

He was signed as a glove first SS with a questionable bat. And then the bat developed so well he was often slid down to the 3 spot on his milb team. And then the Twins, desperate for infield help, brought him up to the ML way too early and burned an early option while also bouncing him around the infield instead of being allowed to concentrate on SS. Molitor believed he could play SS and put him out there. And let's face it, all of us have seen far worse SS at the ML level than Polanco. 

And he mashed. Then he had a personal tragedy that really affected him. Then he had a suspension due to a masking agent and some wanted to say "see he's been juicing". But then again, he comes back and shows what he can do in a big way.  THEN, he has not ONE, but TWO ankle surgeries! His 2020 was miserable defensively, but a bad ankle also effected his defense surely. But he was a gamer and was in the field day after day. He started slow this season still recovering, still getting his stance and approach and timing down. 

He has played a fine 2B, overall, and shows real potential at the spot. He's gotten better and better. His bat has come alive after a slow start. He is a talented, versatile, and dangerous hitter. And he is absolutely one of the best players in this team. And he is young enough to believe he is part of the future. 

If I wasn't feeling a bit tired and lazy I'd copy and paste my entire comment to the OP about Polanco being a future leader for the franchise. Forgive me if I find the time to do so.