Is José Miranda the Twins' Best Option at First Base?

[Shaitan]

Given Lewis' injury history, it's likely he gets the Buxton treatment of playing the field 4-5 times per week, max.

Lots of room.

Who goes to AAA? This is overly dismissal, but does it matter that much? Twins Daily acts like every transaction is final when, in truth, there will be a second promotion/demotion of another player within a week.

I personally don't think it will be Margot, since his whole purpose on the team is to play OF and neither Miranda nor Lewis does. And if they do cut Margot, I predict they make a second move within the week and promote somebody who plays OF.

[JD-TWINS]

7 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Considering the FACT that Santana has been unproductive for the last several years against RHP pitching and especially brutal this season (.183 avg/.599 OPS)--I absolutely agree the time has arrived for Miranda to be a daily fixture in the lineup at 1B against a RH when Lewis returns.  

Santana was supposed to be late inning D, pinch hitter, & everyday 1B v. LH pitching.

Wallner absolutely collapsed, Buxton out hurt, so Kirilloff has to play Left field v. RH pitching & Larnach is DH - gotta fill out the line-up with Santana hitting left handed at 1B.

If Buxton can play CF & Castro can man left field - Kirilloff at 1B - Larnach as DH v. RH pitching, it’s all good!!

To me, for a brief 3-4 week reset, Julien is the guy to go down. He hasn’t hit a HR since April 25th!!!

Miranda plays 3B twice a week and is DH once or twice per week - couple shots at pinch hitter if appropriate. That’s his level right now.

Putting a poor defender at 1B isn’t smart.

[DocBauer]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Santana was supposed to be late inning D, pinch hitter, & everyday 1B v. LH pitching.

Wallner absolutely collapsed, Buxton out hurt, so Kirilloff has to play Left field v. RH pitching & Larnach is DH - gotta fill out the line-up with Santana hitting left handed at 1B.

If Buxton can play CF & Castro can man left field - Kirilloff at 1B - Larnach as DH v. RH pitching, it’s all good!!

To me, for a brief 3-4 week reset, Julien is the guy to go down. He hasn’t hit a HR since April 25th!!!

Miranda plays 3B twice a week and is DH once or twice per week - couple shots at pinch hitter if appropriate. That’s his level right now.

Putting a poor defender at 1B isn’t smart.

Generally agree.

I can see a re-set for Julien. I'm just thinking he gets a little more time to get out of his funk. He may honestly have a better eye than any umpire, but at some point, he has to compensate and take a few more cuts, IMO.

I don't want a butcher at 1B. I think defense at 1B is undervalued by many. But it's also an offense first position by nature, and probably the easiest spot to hide a mediocre glove. I'm worried about winning NOW, of course. But I always have an eye to toward the future as well. And Santana is not part of that future and he's been so up and down with the bat we really don't know what's left in the tank. Hard work can get Miranda and AK better at 1B. But don't they also have to actually play the spot to get better?

[JD-TWINS]

2 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Generally agree.

I can see a re-set for Julien. I'm just thinking he gets a little more time to get out of his funk. He may honestly have a better eye than any umpire, but at some point, he has to compensate and take a few more cuts, IMO.

I don't want a butcher at 1B. I think defense at 1B is undervalued by many. But it's also an offense first position by nature, and probably the easiest spot to hide a mediocre glove. I'm worried about winning NOW, of course. But I always have an eye to toward the future as well. And Santana is not part of that future and he's been so up and down with the bat we really don't know what's left in the tank. Hard work can get Miranda and AK better at 1B. But don't they also have to actually play the spot to get better?

Santana makes a really good play or two every other game at 1B……completely agree, offensive position though!

I just think he needs to play v. LH pitching for sure and on defense as needed from there. RH pinch hitter as well. With Wallner hitting zero & Larnach being hurt early, forced Santana to start v. RH pitching - then Buxton went down & Castro had to play CF & Kirilloff in right.

The $$ are spent on Santana and that carries some weight. …….Kirilloff could play as much as 65% of games at 1B if desired.

Miranda, if the goal is to platoon him at 1B with Kirilloff going forward, needs to PLAY 1B in St. Paul to learn the position to become adequate defensively. He can work there in the winter and in Spring Training. To me, learning a position in the Show when your Team is in a Pennant race/Division race is not a good idea.

If Julien goes down, Miranda as key pinch hitter - 3B twice a week - DH twice a week…… that’s 17-18 AB’s per week - projects to 306 more AB’s……,gets him into high teens for homers and a chance to show consistency.

[DocBauer]

8 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Santana makes a really good play or two every other game at 1B……completely agree, offensive position though!

I just think he needs to play v. LH pitching for sure and on defense as needed from there. RH pinch hitter as well. With Wallner hitting zero & Larnach being hurt early, forced Santana to start v. RH pitching - then Buxton went down & Castro had to play CF & Kirilloff in right.

The $$ are spent on Santana and that carries some weight. …….Kirilloff could play as much as 65% of games at 1B if desired.

Miranda, if the goal is to platoon him at 1B with Kirilloff going forward, needs to PLAY 1B in St. Paul to learn the position to become adequate defensively. He can work there in the winter and in Spring Training. To me, learning a position in the Show when your Team is in a Pennant race/Division race is not a good idea.

If Julien goes down, Miranda as key pinch hitter - 3B twice a week - DH twice a week…… that’s 17-18 AB’s per week - projects to 306 more AB’s……,gets him into high teens for homers and a chance to show consistency.

All good points. Agree with you ALMOST completely. 

Develop, unfortunately, is not always linear. SOMETIMES, the game itself presents opportunities or necessities of development AT the ML level. It's not a prudent or organic way of doing things, but it happens. 

Arraez was thrown in to LF a few years ago, basically told to touch the wall, and then march in a determined number of steps to find his placement. UGH! Horrible! But they needed him in the lineup and it "kinda" worked on a very limited basis. His sudden transition to 1B was a lot better. Which makes more sense as he was always a dirt player previously.

Miranda was, more or less, given the "Arraez" treatment by being tried at 1B in 2022...as was Sano to a degree previously, but I digress...and while the results weren't very good, I thought he got a little better as the season moved along. As an aside, I didn't think AK was that bad at 1B before his shoulder injury at the end of 2023.

I guess what I'm saying is I agree that milb time at 1B would indeed be optimal for Miranda, maybe Kirilloff as well, to learn and hone necessary skills there. #not running over an INF chasing a foul ball...HELLO Sano...or straying TOO FAR off of 1B to try and make a play you should let the 2B make and not leave 1B covered.

Unfortunately, stuff happens. And obvious changes happen. And you don't always have the luxury of having A meet B, when you're trying to keep the best players, the most productive players, on the ML roster while making transitions. 

I think we're speaking the same language here. There is optimal, and then there is the reality of "now what" in real time vs optimal. As someone else pointed out here, or in a different OP, even Mauer needed a little time to figure out 1B before he became a potential Gold Glove worthy 1B candidate. (Damnit, he SHOULD have won one, IMO). 

It's up to the coaching staff and the players, AK and Miranda, to follow the "Julien" way of doing things and just work your azz off in drills and prep to be able to be a solid 1B, if not a good one.

[terrydactyls]

20 hours ago, RpR said:

Triple A a good place to do that but right now his bat is over riding glove problems, and the Bigs is not a learning tool.

Very interesting comment.  AAA is where you learn, but his bat says he stays, but the Bigs are not where you learn?  So he stays at third?  He is only allowed to DH or pinch hit?  He gets sent down to learn?  I'm old and I can't remember last year, but did you not want Julien on the field at all?  Seems like most people have the opinion that he learned to play 2B while in the "Bigs".

[saviking]

Every year, we seem to pick up a couple of over-the-hill major league players they stick with all year and keep two promising Twins from getting at-bats in the bigs. What they did to Larnach last year was criminal. Now Lewis and Lee are about ready, with Larnach and Miranda playing well. What are the odds the Twins will let Margot and possibly Santana go to make room? I'd be fine with it just being Margot but if they hand onto him all year to the detriment of a young player I'm going to be as disappointed as I have been the last several years.  

[RpR]

12 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Very interesting comment.  AAA is where you learn, but his bat says he stays, but the Bigs are not where you learn?  So he stays at third?  He is only allowed to DH or pinch hit?  He gets sent down to learn?  I'm old and I can't remember last year, but did you not want Julien on the field at all?  Seems like most people have the opinion that he learned to play 2B while in the "Bigs".

He has not learned well enough.