What happened to Jose Miranda

[MABB1959]

What happened to most of the line-up?  Too many  strike-outs, too many slumps, too many injuries?  

[JD-TWINS]

On 7/5/2023 at 9:05 AM, High heat said:

What has went wrong with him!?  
He looks completely unrecognizable at the plate taking half hearted swing and rolling over balls down the middle.  His time in St. Paul he didn’t even put up decent #s against AAA pitching.  
 

Now back in the bigs because of injury he is a below average defender at 3B and if he can’t hit why is he up.  Stick with Farmer at 3B full time.  Hoping Lewis isn’t out long term with that oblique injury.

 

What do you do with Miranda now and going forward.?  Was he just a flash in the pan?  Did the twins hitting coaches try something different and mess him up completely?  Do pitchers have a book on how to get him out and he can’t adjust? 

Agreed - he’s gotta go. Tapping rollers to 2B & popping up & playing defense worse or on par with Solano. Can’t be on roster.

Send him to AA & get some confidence rolling. Maybe wake him up a little as well not being across the river from the Big Club.

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, Linus said:

The problem with Miranda (and Julien) is they can’t field. That means they have to hit at a very high level to be a dedicated DH. I don’t see either doing that so they would be my bait at the trade deadline. 

Julien already hits well enough to DH full time, and I'm willing to see if he can field better. If the whole team hit like Julien this would be one of the best offenses ever. 

[JD-TWINS]

On 7/5/2023 at 10:41 AM, Mike Sixel said:

And one of their best young hitters, in Julien? 

IF Julien could play 3B we would have seen him there previously……..can’t wait for Polanco to come back to move Miranda…..that could be another month. Option Miranda & bring up Wallner to see if he’s still MLB ready for the 2nd half. The guys below, with Polanco coming, are just fine for our infield.

Julien/Farmer/Solano at 2B

Farmer/Castro/Solano at 3B

CC gets 5 out of next 8 days off - should help his back. Kind of surprised there’s little to no talk of the fact that he has a brace on lower back in dugout all the time - assumption is it provides heat as well. His bat sure looks like it has heated up last 3 weeks - particularly last 6 games & ability to go hard the other way!!

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

IF Julien could play 3B we would have seen him there previously……..can’t wait for Polanco to come back to move Miranda…..that could be another month. Option Miranda & bring up Wallner to see if he’s still MLB ready for the 2nd half. The guys below, with Polanco coming, are just fine for our infield.

Julien/Farmer/Solano at 2B

Farmer/Castro/Solano at 3B

CC gets 5 out of next 8 days off - should help his back. Kind of surprised there’s little to no talk of the fact that he has a brace on lower back in dugout all the time - assumption is it provides heat as well. His bat sure looks like it has heated up last 3 weeks - particularly last 6 games & ability to go hard the other way!!

Where does Wallner play in your scenario? Wallner is not a replacement for Lewis on this roster. 

[JD-TWINS]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Where does Wallner play in your scenario? Wallner is not a replacement for Lewis on this roster. 

Wallner gets AB at PH, DH, and playing RF. Better off having Castro or Solano at 3B and opening a spot for Wallner on the roster………Miranda’s defense (in a snapshot to be fair) isn’t a replacement for Lewis at 3B either. We have 3B covered with Farmer/Castro/Solano.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, JD-TWINS said:

 

So Buxton sits? Kepler sits? If the Twins wanted that, they could do that regardless of Lewis and Miranda.... They clearly don't. 

[Unwinder]

I'm kind of hoping that the player-led meetings that have seemingly been waking up some of the other struggling hitters are what Miranda needs.

[JD-TWINS]

Just now, Mike Sixel said:

So Buxton sits? Kepler sits? If the Twins wanted that, they could do that regardless of Lewis and Miranda.... They clearly don't. 

Shake yourself…..Buxton can’t play everyday. Kepler can’t play everyday. Who would you rather have in the 6th or later to Pinch Hit against a RH reliever, Miranda or Wallner? I’m not in love with Wallner but Miranda looks like a teenager playing MLB since 3rd week of the season.

Lewis doesn’t/didn’t play everyday.

Wallner - Taylor - Kepler - Gallo are all OF with Castro in a swing spot between OF & IF.

Solano - Farmer - CC - Julien - Kirilloff are all IF with Castro in a swing spot between IF & OF.

Vazquez - Jeffers

Buxton

Pretty straightforward.

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Shake yourself…..Buxton can’t play everyday. Kepler can’t play everyday. Who would you rather have in the 6th or later to Pinch Hit against a RH reliever, Miranda or Wallner? I’m not in love with Wallner but Miranda looks like a teenager playing MLB since 3rd week of the season.

Lewis doesn’t/didn’t play everyday.

Wallner - Taylor - Kepler - Gallo are all OF with Castro in a swing spot between OF & IF.

Solano - Farmer - CC - Julien - Kirilloff are all IF with Castro in a swing spot between IF & OF.

Vazquez - Jeffers

Buxton

Pretty straightforward.

I want Wallner up, but it isn't happening without a trade or injury in the OF. 

[Jeff K]

4 hours ago, Linus said:

The problem with Miranda (and Julien) is they can’t field. That means they have to hit at a very high level to be a dedicated DH. I don’t see either doing that so they would be my bait at the trade deadline. 

I don't think Miranda will garner any interest.  I hate to give up on Julien's fielding as he looks like a fine hitter...that said, to get something, you've got to give something.  I think if Polanco comes back hitting, it might be wise to move him while he is still viable for a trade.  Of course, Polanco is one of my favorites...but the Twins need to continue to evolve.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Jeff K said:

I don't think Miranda will garner any interest.  I hate to give up on Julien's fielding as he looks like a fine hitter...that said, to get something, you've got to give something.  I think if Polanco comes back hitting, it might be wise to move him while he is still viable for a trade.  Of course, Polanco is one of my favorites...but the Twins need to continue to evolve.

Fine? He's hitting 25% better than league average.....

[Jeff K]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Fine? He's hitting 25% better than league average.....

you can quibble over the word; however, Julien passes the eye test (I know that is not quantifiable) and this is his first year spending time in the majors.   

[saviking]

With Lee available next year I don't think Miranda has a home. What about putting Polanco at third when he comes back so we can leave Julien on the roster.

[Twodogs]

If you look at his baseball reference page and look at his minor league stats he really only had 1 exceptional season and that was 2021.  Other than that he has a few seasons of .250 averages.  Usually .250 .260 in the minors doesn't normally cut it in the majors.  Not always, but it seems that as they come up the hitting goes down a little.

[Linus]

9 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Julien already hits well enough to DH full time, and I'm willing to see if he can field better. If the whole team hit like Julien this would be one of the best offenses ever. 

He’s a butcher in the field and we already have a dh. I do wish they would give him reps at first but apparently that isn’t happening. 

[stringer bell]

28 minutes ago, Linus said:

He’s a butcher in the field and we already have a dh. I do wish they would give him reps at first but apparently that isn’t happening. 

I think it's really tough to try to give him time at a new position while he is up with the Twins. Also, he probably needs as many reps at second to make himself "acceptable" as a second baseman at the major league level. Especially with a guy who hasn't shown any aptitude to play anywhere defensively, what do you do?

[stringer bell]

33 minutes ago, Linus said:

He’s a butcher in the field and we already have a dh. I do wish they would give him reps at first but apparently that isn’t happening. 

I would say he doesn't have a great arm or great instincts. His hands actually look okay to me.

[Linus]

34 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I would say he doesn't have a great arm or great instincts. His hands actually look okay to me.

That’s why he is worth a look at first but …. That’s why I wouldn’t hesitate to trade him. He has a better chance at first than Miranda if that is any consolation. 

[jorgenswest]

At the start of the season Baldelli had Jeffers starting in the more favorable match ups and the majority of the few lefties. It allowed Jeffers to find success after a struggle last year. He can also pick his spots for Miranda right now. Miranda showed enough promise in 21 and 22 to give him plenty of time to work through this struggle. He doesn’t need to play everyday to do that work. 

[stringer bell]

10 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

At the start of the season Baldelli had Jeffers starting in the more favorable match ups and the majority of the few lefties. It allowed Jeffers to find success after a struggle last year. He can also pick his spots for Miranda right now. Miranda showed enough promise in 21 and 22 to give him plenty of time to work through this struggle. He doesn’t need to play everyday to do that work. 

There were precious few lefties to face early and Jeffers(pretty much like everyone else) didn’t do that well against them anyway. 

[jorgenswest]

11 hours ago, stringer bell said:

There were precious few lefties to face early and Jeffers(pretty much like everyone else) didn’t do that well against them anyway. 

His slash stat performance didn’t change Baldelli’s plan. Jeffers saw more of the lefties and missed more of the better right handed pitchers early on. I also am not sure how he did against lefties. Was he striking out? Was he hitting the ball hard? Was he staying in the strike zone? That is the data that would better describe how he did and the kind of at bats to build on. Baldelli also gave him a pinch hit opportunity in his second game against a position player where he hit a home run. That early home run off Stallings made his OPS look good for quite a while if somehow a slash stat early in season had any meaning to anyone.

The same can be done for Miranda. He doesn’t need to play everyday. They can pick spots where he is more likely to be successful and build on those at bats. 

[USAFChief]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:11 PM, stringer bell said:

I would say he doesn't have a great arm or great instincts. His hands actually look okay to me.

Julien?

His hands look as soft as concrete blocks to me.

 

[Parker Hageman]

Miranda got exposed a bit. 

For the Caretakers, I detail his late season slide that coincided with teams adjusting and him losing the platoon advantage when the lineup shifted and him having more success. 

The other part is he added a slightly larger hand pump as part of his load process. 

This year teams started to elevate a lot more fastballs and he could not lay off. The idea was he would get to St. Paul and work on not swinging at those pitches. Word is that has not gone well. 

 

[RpR]

On 7/6/2023 at 10:44 PM, jorgenswest said:

At the start of the season Baldelli had Jeffers starting in the more favorable match ups and the majority of the few lefties. It allowed Jeffers to find success after a struggle last year. He can also pick his spots for Miranda right now. Miranda showed enough promise in 21 and 22 to give him plenty of time to work through this struggle. He doesn’t need to play everyday to do that work. 

Without serious fielding drills, he will never work through his struggle, although his Minor League fielding numbers say, for him to do so, would actually be a miracle.

[jorgenswest]

I think this is part of the process a lot of young players go through. The league adjusted to him and now he has to adjust. That might be done better at AAA but the work can also be done at this level. Change is hard. Expect a drop in performance before a gain.

As for 3B the numbers suggest that he has been close to average this year? His numbers are nowhere near the negatives Julien’s posts at 2B. He has a positive DRS and only Castro is better among Twins 3B. His UZR/150 is slightly negative but also only bettered by Castro. Farmer, Solano and Lewis are much worse. His RAA is a -4 but that stat for 3Bs is less sticky than the other two. By less sticky it varies more from year to year and less predictive. Castro again has the best RAA. The numbers suggest that he can play a passable 3B.

The Twins could sell low on Miranda and try to bring in a reliever for him. I wouldn’t sell low. I would try to develop this asset. He needs that opportunity to adjust and that can take time. They can send him down to do this work by giving Castro a lot of play at 3B and bringing up an OF. I am encouraged by Celestino’s high walk rate and very low strike out rate. He has walked 50% more often than he has struck out in AAA. He might be ready for another opportunity. These Lamont Wade type skills are not ones that seem to be favored by the management.

 

[nicksaviking]

The one positive about Miranda, is that while he's making terrible contact, he is making contact. Only one strike out since his recall. Whatever this current hitting philosophy is, is probably doing as much of a disservice to Miranda as anyone.