Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Designated Hitter

[Nick Nelson]

Unless they stumble across someone like Nelson Cruz, the Twins have made it pretty clear they prefer to use the designated hitter position as a revolving door, leveraged mostly for situational matchups and partial rest days. 

We'll likely see that philosophy embraced to the extreme this year, with nothing resembling a clear-cut regular at the position.

Image courtesy of Sam Navarro–USA TODAY Sports

Last spring, the Twins were shoehorned into a plan at designated hitter that was far from ideal, with Byron Buxton's physical limitations restricting him to DH-only availability. It looked to be working for a while, as Buxton jumped out to a hot start at the plate in April, but as his performance deteriorated, he became a liability in this offense-driven position. As Buck himself acknowledged, by a certain point he "wasn't really helping the team." 

It doesn't seem like an experiment that Buxton or the Twins are interested in repeating, so while I do expect to see him rotate through a decent amount, I can't envision any scenario where he's starting 80 games at DH again. Instead, the Twins figure to go with a fairly diverse mix of players at the position, giving opportunities to bat-first players and regulars who could use a day off their feet. Let's take a look at how this group shapes up, and where the strengths and weaknesses lie.

TWINS DESIGNATED HITTERS AT A GLANCE

Starter: Alex Kirilloff
Backup: Edouard Julien
Depth: Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, José Miranda, Trevor Larnach
Prospects: Gabriel Gonzalez, Kala'i Rosario

Twins fWAR Ranking Last Year: 8th out of 30
Twins fWAR Projection This Year: 16th out of 30

THE GOOD
Kirilloff is currently lined up as the primary DH against right-handed pitchers, at least to start the season. He could be very well suited for the task, as a former first-round draft pick and top prospect renowned for his hitting ability. Even through injuries he's posted a decent .274/.329/.440 slash line in the majors against righties, and last year he elevated that to .300/.373/.485, which would be stellar production from the strong side of a DH platoon. Coming off shoulder surgery, Kirilloff has had a very encouraging spring at the plate, piling up extra-base hits.

 

Julien also figures to get some of those DH starts against RHP, though the frequency may be influenced by how his defense looks at second early on. Wallner will probably get used here a decent amount on days where Rocco Baldelli wants to inject a bit more range into the outfield via Willi Castro or Manuel Margot. 

That leaves Larnach buried on the depth chart and waiting for some sort of opportunity to materialize, either here or in the outfield corners. Having a Triple-A contingency like that on hand is a fine luxury for the Twins; he's slashed .230/.331/.411 against righties in the big leagues and like Kirilloff, the former first-rounder exhibits clear potential for more. 

The Twins are organizationally very deep on quality left-handed bats, so they shouldn't have much trouble plugging a good one in at DH in those majority of RHP matchups. The flip side of the platoon is where more uncertainty exists.

THE BAD
If Buxton is healthy and frequently rotating through DH against left-handed starters as a matter of maintenance, the Twins will be in solid shape. But if Buxton's too hurt to play center field he's probably not going to be a great option at DH, even against lefties (last year he batted just .180 against southpaws). Beyond him, the lack of clear right-handed options for this spot is one of the few noticeable shortcomings on a generally well-rounded position player corps.

When the Twins face a LHP on Opening Day in Cole Ragans, who gets the nod at designated hitter? One of the catchers? Not the most exciting proposition, coming off the year Christian Vázquez just had, though he did show some power against lefties. Miranda? He's probably not on the roster to start the season, though he could vault himself into this mix easily if he hits. Guys like Margot, Castro and Carlos Santana can plug in against left-handers, but they're known more for their gloves than their bats, making them less than ideal fits at DH.

Beyond their core nucleus of Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis, the Twins are much more lefty-heavy in terms of their makeup of bats. This puts a special emphasis on two upcoming prospects specifically: Gabriel Gonzalez and Kala'i Rosario, ranked fourth and 13th on our top prospects list. These are promising righty sluggers with the potential to flat-out mash southpaws. Gonzalez, headliner of the Jorge Polanco trade, slashed .310/.360/.556 against them in Single-A as a 19-year-old. Rosario slashed .275/.362/.549 versus LHP en route to earning Midwest League MVP honors for Cedar Rapids. 

Neither outfielder is considered much a defender, so an opening against left-handed pitchers at the DH spot in Minnesota could be a great ticket to the big leagues for either. But Gonzalez and Rosario are both probably at least another year away from making an impact. 

THE BOTTOM LINE
The Twins have assembled a lot of good bats and we'll likely see a bunch of them filter through the DH spot this year. Between Kirilloff, Julien, Wallner and Larnach, they're going to have plenty of juice against right-handed pitching. 

Against lefties? That's a bigger question, although there are a number of bats capable of stepping and and producing here. Expect to see a wide distribution of starts at this position, with heavy platooning to provide advantageous matchups on a daily basis.

Catch up on the rest of our position previews:

• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Catcher
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: First Base
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Second Base
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Third Base
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Shortstop
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Left Field
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Center Field
• Twins 2024 Position Analysis: Right Field

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[Rod Carews Birthday]

They look to be in great shape against right handed pitchers.  Hopefully they can get some traction vs. lefties as well.  This may or may not relate to the DH position (although it could), but they are going to need to let some of the potential platoon guys (Julien, Wallner, Kiriloff) bat against lefties occasionally.  Maybe they discover that one or more  of them could develop some lefty/lefty batting skills.  You can't do this all the time, but not all of the positions in the lineup are going to mash everyday anyway, so a little strategic lineup construction could have some long term benefits, even if the short term isn't so pretty.

[Doctor Gast]

I imagine Jeffers can DH against LHPs, as an extra RH hitter

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I imagine Jeffers can DH against LHPs, as an extra RH hitter

That's what I would do. 

[Jocko87]

That's no difference in having Jeffers/Vazquez DH, they both are in that lineup.

[MMMordabito]

Huh, Cole Ragans? WTFIT. Looks like Julien and Wallner might have to wait another year to be Opening Day starters.

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

That's no difference in having Jeffers/Vazquez DH, they both are in that lineup.

The Twins have shown they'll have Vazquez catch half the time. The question is.... When that happens and they face a lefty, who should DH?

[Riverbrian]

I'm beginning to think that the Twins will go with Vazquez at C and Jeffers at DH vs left handed starters.  

We still need a right handed handcuff for Kirilloff.

If they use Santana for that role. If will force Castro into an every day starter position and I don't think they will do that because Castro is going to be that plug and play move around guy. Castro is stronger against right handers so he doesn't make sense for the short side platoon. Therefore I don't believe that Santana will play the short side role with us and that leaves you with Jeffers for the role.   

vs R/vs L

DH - Kirilloff/Jeffers

C- Jeffers and Vazquez split/Vazquez

1B- Santana

2B- Julien/Farmer

3B - Lewis

SS - Correa

LF - Wallner/Margot

CF - Buxton

RF - Kepler

Castro - Plug and Play everywhere

That's a role for all 13 players

Just guessing of course but it makes the most sense to me. However... even if I'm right... it's only temporary... injuries are going to blow it all up anyway. 

 

 

[bean5302]

Kyle Farmer owns a career wRC+ 122 against lefties. 

[Doctor Gast]

6 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

The Twins have shown they'll have Vazquez catch half the time. The question is.... When that happens and they face a lefty, who should DH?

It makes much more sense to have Vazquez glove in the game yet have Jeffers bat at DH against LHPs

[mikelink45]

I like players who fill roles and DH is one of those.  I am not a fan of a rotating set of bats for the DH spot.

[John Belinski]

I am concerned about how poorly Wallner has hit this spring.  He is just not getting any hits and the Twins need an outfielder that can hit.  I was a big fan of his last year, but surprised that he is just not getting many hits.

[stringer bell]

FWIW, Kirilloff has had a quiet, but productive, spring thus far. He's hitting .324 with a .970 OPS. There doesn't seem any reason for him not to be in the lineup every day against right handed, whether it is as the DH, the first baseman or maybe at a corner outfield spot.