Biggest surprise so far?

[rwilfong86]

What has been the biggest surprise at this point of the 2022 season?

[Major League Ready]

Arraez is no surprise and Urshela played great defense in NY so that's not really a surprise.   I voted for team ERA but Smeltzer's performance starting in spring training has been surprising.  I would have voted for him if the sample size was 8 or 10 starts was a sub 2.00 ERA.  He might emerge as the best surprise of 2022.  Let's hope so.  The same could be said for Joe Ryan in terms of sample size but he is getting to the point where I am believing he is a #1.  It's just not as surprising because he was so good at the end of last year.  

How about Celestino or Duran?  We knew Duran had the potential, but I was not expecting this right out of the gate and Celestino looks like a different player.

[tony&rodney]

This is a hard question in some ways because not too much is surprising. The past few years it has seemed like the Twins were willing to choose bats at the expense of defense. The use of Celestino and Gordon has made the outfield defense better and having Buxton and Kirilloff out there is huge. Correa is the best shortstop the Twins have had since Greg Gagne and Polanco looks good too. So I like the improved defense.

Another thing I like is that the Twins are giving innings to their younger pitchers (Ryan, Ober, Winder) and have a pretty tight limit on the vets (Archer, Bundy). I'm good with increased opportunities to arms with talent as opposed to using the tired arms that struggle against good hitting.

[Vanimal46]

I’m with MLR and will say Duran being the most dominant reliever in baseball is the biggest surprise. As well as Celestino’s hot start showing he’s a more than capable 4th OF. 

[Squirrel]

I voted ‘something else’, meaning my answer is ‘yes’. The whole team surprises me. I thought we were going to have another dreadful season and for all the reasons mentioned, and a few more, it hasn’t been dreadful. We may not win the WS this year, but I don’t put it completely out of the scope of possibilities. But the team is much more fun to follow for a host of reasons.

[rwilfong86]

28 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Arraez is no surprise and Urshela played great defense in NY so that's not really a surprise.   I voted for team ERA but Smeltzer's performance starting in spring training has been surprising.  I would have voted for him if the sample size was 8 or 10 starts was a sub 2.00 ERA.  He might emerge as the best surprise of 2022.  Let's hope so.  The same could be said for Joe Ryan in terms of sample size but he is getting to the point where I am believing he is a #1.  It's just not as surprising because he was so good at the end of last year.  

How about Celestino or Duran?  We knew had Duran had the potential, but I was not expecting this right out of the gate and Celestino looks like a different player.

Celestino is a great choice, thanks for making that suggestion, that would have been a great option to add as well. 

[cHawk]

Devin Smeltzer looking like a good pitcher IMO. I never thought that he had the tools to make it in the majors.

[DocBauer]

I almost selected "something else" simply because there were more than a couple good choices listed, and some not listed, such as Duran and Celestino having breakthroughs. So it was kind of hard to pick just one. Always the optimist, I actually thought the Twins would put 2021 behind them and have a winning season this year, and challenge for the playoffs.

I selected Buston's BA at this point. Even if he was out or more banged up than he's been, etc, I never saw a slump that would take him that low. Granted, he's probably about ready to go on a tear and destroy the opposition and get that BA right back up again...hopefully starting today...but I'm still surprised by that number and his recent dip.

[lecroy24fan]

Up until the last week I think Joe Smith being dominant would have been a fit.

[bean5302]

How lousy attendance has been, even on great weather weekend days. That's the biggest surprise to me. As far as players, unquestionably Royce Lewis' performance.

[TopGunn#22]

GREAT Topic RWilfong86 !!  You picked a lot of good considerations.  I voted for the team ERA.  We knew Arraez could hit but his BA and OBP so far are tremendous.  We knew Correa was a Platinum Glove defender but only 3 HR's to date is surprising.  We knew Urshela was a good defender but he's been Brooks Robinson level.  THAT'S saying something. 

Celestino and Larnach have looked VERY good.  They obviously worked hard this off season and it shows.  They are completely different looking hitters.  Smeltzer is what we had hoped Dobnak would be.  What a story he's been.  Duran really looks the part of dominant closer.  I think we all "hoped" that would be the case and maybe our hopes are being realized.  

I thought Joe Ryan would be "good" but he's been "Ace" good.  I didn't expect that to be the case THIS year already.

Buxton hitting .201 was my second choice.  I just think this idea to play him no more than 100 games is STUPID.  I thought if he just played, good things would happen.  Now, I think he sits too much and he has no rhythm or flow.  It may be that the knee is not quite there yet, but heck, if he's healthy just PLAY HIM !  It's like the Twins are setting this up to lower expectations.  They worked out a contract with incentives that protect both Buxton and the team, but for Pete's Sake, just play him.  No team has ever gotten the most out of a superstar player by wrapping him in bubble wrap and not playing him.  

[RpR]

Buxton was interviewed recently and said he hate the DH assignment, it totally screws up his timing as a player sitting on the bench rather than being in the field.

Larnach interviewed same day, said he likes being DH, it gets him into the game and that helps him improve, the this is great, get me out there, tone of voice he had was the opposite of Buxton's this is the pits.