Will Caution Matter for Twins Key Pieces?

[Ted Schwerzler]

The Minnesota Twins are more than two weeks into spring training action this season, and a few of their key players have yet to show up on the diamond. This is by design, but the question as to whether it will matter or not remains.

Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rocco Baldelli has been putting together lineups during 2023 spring training for over two weeks. We have seen Carlos Correa and new additions like Joey Gallo and Christian Vazquez. Notably missing from the lineups, however, have been the trio of Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, and Alex Kirilloff. They missed significant time last season and are returning from offseason rehab.

Having brought in a new head trainer in Nick Paparesta, Minnesota is looking to distance itself from injuries that all but sank their 2022 season. The Twins have held their key pieces out of action in practicing caution and looking to have them ready for Opening Day. Not all three of them are in the same place, though.

For Buxton, he is coming off of a knee surgery that addressed an issue sustained early on last year. Despite producing at an MVP level, he found himself constantly in the training room and needing fluid drained from his knee. Undergoing surgery and ultimately sitting out the end of the season, Buxton should be all systems go for 2023.

The hope with Buxton is that a lessened spring workload would give him the maximum amount of time to build strength and be available. However, a cautionary exercise is in play here, as his injuries have often been fluky. Buxton suffered his 2022 knee injury on a slide against the Boston Red Sox. There was nothing abnormal about the play, but it changed the entirety of his season. Minnesota’s thinking in keeping him off his feet and working in multiple starts as the designated hitter in 2023 is reasonable. For now, it remains to be seen how it will work.

At second base, Polanco dealt with soreness related to tendonitis. He missed substantial time last year and lacked plenty of the power he displayed during the 2019 and 2021 seasons. Before the 2022 season, Polanco had largely been a pillar of health, and his tendonitis-related issue is unfortunate. With the reality that tendonitis can be consistently recurring, the goal is to strengthen the area to withstand the rigors of a season.

This is an important year for Polanco as he’s in the last year of his contract extension. A vesting option is available should he hit plate appearance thresholds, but to do that, he must be both effective and healthy. All parties involved want to make sure the second baseman puts his best foot forward on Opening Day, and for Polanco, he’ll need to stay ahead of the competition.

Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien, and a now-injured Austin Martin could all be potential replacement options. If Minnesota has Polanco healthy out of the gate, it gives him the best chance to sustain a high level of performance. Keeping the tendonitis at bay through a slowed process is a reasonable bet. This may be the most straightforward scenario regarding a delay in helping the cause.

For Kirilloff, things couldn’t be worse over the past few seasons. He has been dealing with wrist issues for some time, drastically changing the production level he can contribute. A power hitter with a smooth stroke, Kirilloff has been neutralized at the plate. He may be a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, but it isn’t a position that can afford to have nothing come from the bat.

Undergoing a second, more drastic wrist surgery, Kirilloff is still not ready. In fact, despite not being shut down as he was last fall, Kirilloff is behind schedule. He was expected to be the club’s Opening Day starter at first base, but it’s looking like that could be manned by Gallo. Michael A. Taylor was brought in as outfield depth, but he could see starts pretty regularly if Kirilloff is going to miss time.

It’s a disappointing outcome to again see Kirilloff’s stock trending down. There had been so much excitement regarding his prospect status, and an injury that has yet to be alleviated continues to hold him back. Slow-playing this issue may help the long-term prognosis, but each time he ramps up, it reappears. How Kirilloff comes through this, and if he is ever effective, remains to be seen.

Regarding each scenario, caution could help but only to varying degrees of effectiveness. Polanco may only need a few game at-bats to be ready to go. Buxton should be near full strength, and avoiding flukes is pretty tricky to do. It’s a waiting game for Kirilloff, and it’s hard to see the end of the tunnel.

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[Karbo]

AK should start in St. Paul. When he is ready physically, he needs to be ready mentally, and that requires him to play thru it all. Better to have him in AAA for a few weeks to convince himself that ha can get thru the stiffness or ache that he seems to be feeling. Its a long season, so giving him an extra 2 to 6 weeks would be best for him and the team IMHO.

[JD-TWINS]

Kiriloff isn’t going to be ready in 15 days.

Who’s the roster replacement? Larnach &/or Garlick depending upon amount of power shown over next 2 weeks.

Gordon - Buxton - Kepler - Garlick/Larnach - Taylor

Gallo at 1B - Farmer - Miranda - CC - Polanco - Solano

Jeffers - Vázquez 

…………….

Polanco & Buxton seem to be just being conservative!

[rv78]

It's one thing to bring players along slowly to avoid further set-backs but it is also not good if those players are not ramped up and ready to contribute due to insufficient at bats in spring training. All of which may cost the team potential wins in April. Being ready to play in games that count should take precedent over being cautious. You can be the most cautious person in the world and still have something bad happen. It is better to find out in spring training if they are ready to play than waiting until the first week or two of the season and then have it blow up in your face costing you games on top of it. Quit playing the AAA squad and get the main roster ready for Game 1.

[LonelyseatinMOA]

2 hours ago, rv78 said:

It's one thing to bring players along slowly to avoid further set-backs but it is also not good if those players are not ramped up and ready to contribute due to insufficient at bats in spring training. All of which may cost the team potential wins in April. Being ready to play in games that count should take precedent over being cautious. You can be the most cautious person in the world and still have something bad happen. It is better to find out in spring training if they are ready to play than waiting until the first week or two of the season and then have it blow up in your face costing you games on top of it. Quit playing the AAA squad and get the main roster ready for Game 1.

Buxton, Polanco, Kirilloff, and Gordon (if you can believe it) were all taking Live at bats off of Maeda today according to Do-Hyoung Park. Its not like these guys aren't getting at bats, they are getting more at the fort myers complex than they would at a spring training game (2 or 3 in 2.5 hours). 

[Parfigliano]

Im worried most about Kirilloff.  For almost two years whatever they try his wrist remains a problem.  Not good for a guy whose main contribution is with a bat.

[Brandon]

Well with AK continuing to have health issues it’s clearly time to cut bait with Pagan.  The sooner we do that the better AKs situation will be.  
 

[jimbo92107]

At least this season, the Twins are pretty well stocked with replacement players. Gallo, Farmer and Taylor should help prevent the team from depending on rookies and defense-only veterans. 

[terrydactyls]

34 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Well with AK continuing to have health issues it’s clearly time to cut bait with Pagan.  The sooner we do that the better AKs situation will be.  
 

?????  What does Pagan have to do with Kirilloff?

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, jimbo92107 said:

 Gallo, Farmer and Taylor should help prevent the team from depending on rookies and defense-only veterans. 

Taylor would be the illustration you'd find if you were to look up "defense-only veteren" in The Baseball Dictionary. 

[ashbury]

8 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Taylor would be the illustration you'd find if you were to look up "defense-only veteren" in The Baseball Dictionary. 

He turns just 32 in a week or two.  I feel like he's ready for an offensive breakout at last.

[Doctor Gast]

Last year they over played players when they were really hurt and they rushed players into the line-up only for them to make a u-turn back to the IL. Using a little caution is a breath of air, especially w/ the depth we have. IMO it'll pay big dividends.

[jkcarew]

If putting Lewis in CF caused his injury, can’t we just ask Buxton to avoid getting on base…you know, to be safe? I mean, we have it pretty narrowed down…Lewis get hurts when he runs, Buxton when he slides, and Kirilloff when he swings. Should be simple to eliminate.

Or…

…once they get healthy…and that means “as healthy as they’re going to get”…let them play the —— game. In Buxton’s case, he has WAY more value as a regular CF as opposed to a primary DH. It’s like having two separate players with drastically different value, and you’re choosing to play the guy with inferior value so the one with superior value won’t get hurt…except the guy with the superior value can still get hurt. It’s a self-fulfilling formula for mediocrity. And dumb.

[mnfireman]

Buxton suffered his 2022 knee injury on a slide against the Boston Red Sox. There was nothing abnormal about the play, but it changed the entirety of his season. 

You are correct, there was nothing abnormal about the play, instead of hustling out of the box he jogged to first and had to "turn on the jets", leading to the awkward slide at second that caused the knee injury. Todays players are just as much spectators as the fans in the stands.

[jkcarew]

“(Kirilloff) may be a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, but it isn’t a position that can afford to have nothing come from the bat.”

Agree. But, are people really that high on him defensively at 1B? He’s made less than 100 appearances there over 7 years in pro ball, so not much of a sample size. If true, it could, at least slightly, or at least in the relative near term, lower the bar a bit on what he needs to produce offensively.

[DocBauer]

Buxton is working out and getting his work in the batting cages, which he prefers. Correa doing much of the same. Polanco had no surgery, rest and rehab and strength building. His issue is not his ankles, but tendinitis. Yes, it can reoccur, but I'd rather have rehab on that against a surgery rehab. He's also working out.

While AK is a very important piece of the Twins future, I've never been concerned if he was ready Opening Day. It would be nice. But I'm more concerned with the long game and if he's ready come May or even June.

[KirbyDome89]

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Taylor would be the illustration you'd find if you were to look up "defense-only veteren" in The Baseball Dictionary. 

The fact that he could very easily be in the starting lineup for 80-100ish games in CF seems to fly under the radar here. 

[Reptevia]

6 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Taylor would be the illustration you'd find if you were to look up "defense-only veteren" in The Baseball Dictionary. 

He also appears under: “The MN Twins starting CF.”

[Brandon]

7 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

?????  What does Pagan have to do with Kirilloff?

It’s satire. The reader was expecting me to write its time to cut bait on AK but Pagan blew lots of games last year and is having a terrible spring so any reason is a good one to dump him.  

[weitz41]

Does caution matter? Does writing fragile on a package matter? I'd say no to both, but I feel better even if the package falls off the truck, conveyer and cart on it's way to it destination.

[jjswol]

Will Caution Matter for Twins Key Pieces?

The answer to that question seems simple, did it help last year?

[rv78]

16 hours ago, LonelyseatinMOA said:

Buxton, Polanco, Kirilloff, and Gordon (if you can believe it) were all taking Live at bats off of Maeda today according to Do-Hyoung Park. Its not like these guys aren't getting at bats, they are getting more at the fort myers complex than they would at a spring training game (2 or 3 in 2.5 hours). 

And a lot can be said for taking at bats in this scenario verses real game action against an opponent who is trying to get you out, including being ON THE FIELD for defensive purposes. I've seen the Twins baby their injury prone players for an entire season and it didn't go well. Now they are even doing it in spring training. Let's hope they don't stub their toe entering the stadium on opening day.

[terrydactyls]

8 hours ago, Brandon said:

It’s satire. The reader was expecting me to write its time to cut bait on AK but Pagan blew lots of games last year and is having a terrible spring so any reason is a good one to dump him.  

Good satire.  It just was too vague.  We need a satire emoji.