Grading the 2024 Minnesota Twins: Hitters

[Nick Nelson]

From the players to the coaches to the front office to ownership, we're assigning letter grades to the performance of everyone who played a role in the 2024 Twins season. Today, we start with the hitters.

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

 

Well, that was a baseball season. I'd say it was one to forget but sadly this epic disaster of a second half will not likely be leaving our memories any time soon. Now that all 162 games are in the books, it's time to reflect and evaluate the individual contributors. We'll start today with the hitters. Seventeen different players made at least 50 plate appearances for the Twins. Here I assign them all letter grades, in alphabetical order.

Byron Buxton: B
It got lost in the in the fact that he once again was sidelined by multiple injuries, but this was a big bounce-back year for Buxton. He reached 100 games played for just the second time in his career, and posted All-Star caliber production while on the field. Still, he did miss about two months of action, and showed some signs of diminishing athleticism at age 30. 

Willi Castro: B
Castro made his first All-Star team and led Minnesota in games played, setting a new MLB standard for positional flexibility (and a franchise record for HBP!). His durability and versatility made him an indispensable asset for the manager. Those positives solidly outweighed his power outage in the second half, although that did hurt.

Carlos Correa: B
On a rate basis, Correa would be graded an A or even an A+. He was hugely impactful while on the field, hitting as well as he ever has while playing stellar defense. Unfortunately, another bout with plantar fasciitis cost him nearly the entire second half, and his absence played a big part in the team's downfall.

Kyle Farmer: D
For most of the season, Farmer was about as bad as a player could possibly be. But he surged enough toward the end to bring his numbers back into the range of respectability, and to his credit, he did it at a time where the rest of the offense was in hell. Still, on balance, a poor campaign.

Ryan Jeffers: C
Jeffers failed to back up his stellar 2023 season, experiencing a major offensive backslide after starting strong in April. He completely disappeared in September. Jeffers was still an average MLB hitter and launched 21 home runs; that does have quite a bit of value for a catcher. But his defense behind the plate was generally pretty rough.

Edouard Julien: F
It's tough to shine any kind of positive light on Julien's year. He struggled in the majors, went to Triple-A, failed to dominate minor-league pitching, and then got called back up only out of roster necessity. Julien was so uninspiring in his second stint that, by season's end, he was mostly sitting even against right-handed pitchers.

Max Kepler: D
A sad end to Kepler's lengthy Twins career. Battling a sore knee for much of the season, Kepler produced a career-worst 91 OPS+ while also showing decline defensively in right field, and he missed all of September. 

Alex Kirilloff: F
He had a solid first couple of weeks, then went into a prolonged tailspin, and revealed only after being optioned to the minors that he'd been playing through injury – to the team's detriment. He didn't appear in a game after June 11th, batting .201 on the season.

Trevor Larnach: B+
Larnach was one of the few unclouded bright spots of the 2024 Twins. Putting several years of underwhelming, injury-impacted performance behind him, Larnach played in 112 games and was usually in one of the lineup's money spots against righties while producing at a well above-average rate (115 OPS+).

Brooks Lee: D
Ranked as one of the best prospects in baseball, fresh off torching Triple-A, Lee arrived on the big-league scene with a splash, batting .458 in his first six games. From that point forward he batted .182 with a .500 OPS in 44 games, showing minimal ability to drive the ball despite a contact-heavy approach. Better days are ahead for the 23-year-old.

Royce Lewis: C
Through his first 40 games, Lewis slashed .279/.356/.664 with 15 home runs, looking the part of an elite slugger. In his last 42, he slashed .191/.236/.256 with one home run as the team nosedived. On balance, his production was still certainly better than average, but he again missed tons of time with injury and his defense regressed noticeably. 

Austin Martin: D+
Martin played more than expected, and probably more than he earned, but his ability to handle center field somewhat competently kept him on the roster for much of the season, and his speed was an asset on a team that had almost none. But Martin was a punchless hitter, and not particularly sharp at any of the defensive positions he played.

Manuel Margot: F
His modestly good numbers against left-handed starters were not enough to offset his general lack of production, his shoddy defense, and his almost inconceivable ineptitude as a pinch-hitter. One of the more annoying Twins players to watch in memory.

Jose Miranda: D+
What a weird season for Miranda, whose hot hitting in June and July – including an MLB record-tying string of 12 straight at-bats with a hit – gave way to a .543 OPS with no homers in the second half, during which he may have never been healthy. He again looked poor defensively at third and first.

Carlos Santana: B
The veteran first baseman proved to be an excellent addition in the context of his modest price tag, delivering a number of clutch hits while leading the team in home runs and providing defense worthy of a Gold Glove. A .748 OPS from a first baseman is ultimately nothing to write home about, but Santana was a quality contributor all-around.

Christian Vázquez: D
To his credit, Vázquez rated well defensively again, but rather than rebounding from a horrendous season at the plate in 2023, he was somehow even worse offensively, ranking among the worst hitters in the league. Even for a role with low offensive standards, Vázquez came up well short of expectations for a second straight season. 

Matt Wallner: B+
He stumbled badly out of the gates and spent most of the first half in Triple-A as a result, but after returning from the minors, Wallner was the team's most productive player for the remainder of the season, blasting 13 homers with a nearly .900 OPS in 75 games.

 

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[VivaBomboRivera!]

A tad harsh with Farmer, Martin, Miranda, Lee and Vasquez. Otherwise in full agreement.

Leave out the injuries. That's out of player control. Unless it would be to give more credit to Larnach (and others) for finding a way to overcome their hurts.

[Patzky]

My vibe ranking (from a batter coming up with RISP going from oh **** we're done, to hey something could happen here) agrees with you. Who would I most like to see up in that spot? Correa. Wallner. Buxton. Santana. Who least? Jeffers. Vazquez. Miranda. Julien. It often seems like we were just one tinker of the batting order away from getting the right guy in the right spot in the lineup. Rocco's whack a mole lineups be damned, it was near impossible to get it right on a nightly basis or even occasionally by the season's end.good news is that some of the dregs won't be around in 2O25. Bad news is they can be easily replaced with the anticipated funding levels. 

Is Eeles the answer? Rodriguez? 

 

 

 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

I agree that injuries should not be part of the equation.  That being said:
Correa = A
Buxton = A-
Santana = B+ (factoring in his defense, he basically anchored the team this year)

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't our catching unit rank in the top third on offense in baseball this year?  Interesting that you gave out C/D grades for that...

What also scares me is that Julien (F), Miranda, (D+), Martin (D+) and probably Lee (D) are all currently penciled in to start or be heavy rotation players next year...

[TheLeviathan]

Nothing encapsulates this season like the idea that Royce Lewis gets a "C" and that feels a bit high.

In July....who would've thought that?

[insagt1]

Buck and Correa had decent seasons, but again, both missed too many games at a time when they were needed most.

Santana was a surprise contributor IMO but his baserunning blunders in the final games were bothersome. Players who regressed real bad: Julien, Lewis, Miranda, Kirilloff. Lewis and Miranda especially troublesome since they are supposed to be our future. Both were invisible in August and September. Jeffers hit 21 HR's but his weak weak weak AB's while the Twins still had a shot at a WC were aggravating.

Wallner and Larnach were fun to watch. Castro tailed off pretty badly down the stretch which corresponded with so many others disappearing from the radar as Twins completed an epic choke.

Overall, a total team 'effort' caused their demise. Even the 3 listless games they played against the Orioles at home were mostly hard to take.

[LambchoP]

Pretty concerning pattern with a lot of these guys. Long stretches of mvp type production followed by prolonged slumps of DFA type numbers. Where's the consistency and what is the answer to try and find it? Hopefully some of our AAA prospects like Eeles, Mccusker, Lee and Keaschal pan out, because it sure sounds like we're not going to free agent sign our way out of this mess....

[DJL44]

52 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Santana = B+ (factoring in his defense, he basically anchored the team this year)

His offensive contribution was about the same as Royce Lewis. Are these grades of the position player as a whole or just the bat?

[Whitey333]

I agree with your grades for everyone but perhaps Buxton is graded a little to high for my tastes.  Anyway as I go through all the young players that are on the list it causes me to wonder if they aren't as good as they were panned out to be.  For this year anyway just a lot of disappointments there.  Hopefully they will all improve next year.  Just because they played for the Twins or are on their roster doesn't make them a major league wallpaper.  Good article.

  

[mickster]

58 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I agree that injuries should not be part of the equation.  That being said:
Correa = A
Buxton = A-
Santana = B+ (factoring in his defense, he basically anchored the team this year)

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't our catching unit rank in the top third on offense in baseball this year?  Interesting that you gave out C/D grades for that...

What also scares me is that Julien (F), Miranda, (D+), Martin (D+) and probably Lee (D) are all currently penciled in to start or be heavy rotation players next year...

Hoping we sign Santana, keep Julien and Martin in the minors and possibly trade Lee for a SP

[S Bart]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I agree that injuries should not be part of the equation.  That being said:
Correa = A
Buxton = A-
Santana = B+ (factoring in his defense, he basically anchored the team this year)

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't our catching unit rank in the top third on offense in baseball this year?  Interesting that you gave out C/D grades for that...

What also scares me is that Julien (F), Miranda, (D+), Martin (D+) and probably Lee (D) are all currently penciled in to start or be heavy rotation players next year...

I am a Santana fan. Yes, he is 38 but his experiences behind the plate (#1 in RBI's and HR's) and at first base (Gold Glove favorite) were a big plus. I am concerned about the team not renewing his contract for one more year. Taking a chance at the low hitting and sometimes bobbling ball youngsters Miranda or Julian in an important new role for either, gives me the jitters. Kiriloff was a possibility earlier but is now off the table

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

A tad harsh with Farmer, Martin, Miranda, Lee and Vasquez. Otherwise in full agreement.

Leave out the injuries. That's out of player control. Unless it would be to give more credit to Larnach (and others) for finding a way to overcome their hurts.

Complicated question on injuries. yes, they're out of the player's control and certainly none of them wanted to get hurt...but in terms of actually evaluating what they did there's a fair argument that you have to consider them because of what they did to their performance or how much of an absence they created.

That said, I would say too harsh on Miranda, who finished with basically the same OPS+ as Larnach. Larnach's consistency (good for him for finding that) shouldn't so completely outweigh Miranda's earlier production. feels like recentcy bias with how bad Miranda was down the stretch (when he was trying to play through injury?), and for all the issues with Miranda's defense, he finished with a better bWAR than Larnach who contributed little defensively as well.

I probably would have graded Jeffers out higher as well; he may not have hit like 2023 for the full season (too many slumps) but last season was an A+, this was more like a B or B-. Another guy who really struggled in Sept. If Castro rates a B with his power outage and equally horrific September, I'd tick Jeffers up as well. (Probably meet in the middle: B- for the both of them, lol)

The utter collapse of the offense in September was tough; by the time Buxton & Correa came back (and they hit through the end), Lewis, Miranda, Jeffers, Julien, and Castro had all fallen off the map. 

[bean5302]

Buxton (wRC+ 98 through all May) and Castro (wRC+ 85 August-Sept) get their two months of sucking ignored.

Lewis, Farmer, Miranda get dinged for their 2 rough months.

Side note, Larnach gets an A from me. For a career wRC+ 96 guy coming into the season, putting up wRC+ 121 is outstanding. The guy resurrected his career.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

His offensive contribution was about the same as Royce Lewis. Are these grades of the position player as a whole or just the bat?

Fair question.  Using hitting only:
- He greatly exceeded pre-season expectations
- Second on the team in Games and PA (not injury related, but an important factor in his numbers)
- Led the team in HR and RBI

I think the expectation piece is a huge part of this.  We expected Lewis to provide more, but his second half destroyed his numbers.  Lewis first half = A, second half = D. the C grade feels fair.

If you don't think expectations are part of this discussion, then feel free to lower Santana's grade.

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I think the expectation piece is a huge part of this.  We expected Lewis to provide more, but his second half destroyed his numbers.  Lewis first half = A, second half = D. the C grade feels fair.

If you don't think expectations are part of this discussion, then feel free to lower Santana's grade.

I expect 1B (or LF/RF) to be the best hitter on the team. Santana fell short of those expectations.

[Rhyno006]

2 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Somebody has to figure out how Correa gets these foot injuries.  That's 2 years in a row (I know different feet) so something he is doing in training must be contributing.  They need to figure this out.

I might be able to lend some info regarding plantar fasciitis (PF), given I treat this almost daily at my job. It's caused by a combination of many things, and it can be seemingly very random. You actually were in the ballpark (pardon the pun) above: PF can affect both feet, sometimes both at one time and sometimes one right after the other. I have a hunch this may have played a part with Correa's situation, and also why everyone was like WTAF?! when it happened again this season. PF affects everyone differently and this is only an attempt to give info. 

Example: a long time ago my mother in law had PF really bad in one foot for almost a year. Then one day she woke up and it was gone... but had flared up big time in her opposite foot. Another year goes by and it went away and... it's been gone for over ten years now. I've seen this plenty of times in clinic. 

It wasn't surprising to me when it came out he was dealing with PF in his other foot. Regardless, this is just one guy with a clinical background giving some factual and personal observations. And there's a lot more to it than just this as well depending on the situation. 

[Mike Sixel]

Fair grades all over the place. They just can't carry a guy like Margot given Buxtons health. Well, even if he was healthy they shouldn't. 

[karcherd]

2 hours ago, S Bart said:

I am a Santana fan. Yes, he is 38 but his experiences behind the plate (#1 in RBI's and HR's) and at first base (Gold Glove favorite) were a big plus. I am concerned about the team not renewing his contract for one more year. Taking a chance at the low hitting and sometimes bobbling ball youngsters Miranda or Julian in an important new role for either, gives me the jitters. Kiriloff was a possibility earlier but is now off the table

Santana led the team in home runs and RBI's because he had more AB's than any other player other than Castro.  And the next player had over a 100 less AB's with nearly identical production.  Santana is league average or below against RH pitching.  Can we raise the bar at some bar and ask for real production,

[jmlease1]

28 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Fair grades all over the place. They just can't carry a guy like Margot given Buxtons health. Well, even if he was healthy they shouldn't. 

I agree. I think they expected Margot to be a more able option in CF going into the year and failed to course correct when it became clear he was much more of a "break glass in case of emergency" there. Of course, I'm sure they didn't expect him to have a career-worst hitting season at 29 and essentially become helpless against RHP, instead of just not very good. But with Buxton's injury history they simply don't have room on the roster to carry specialists like this, and Margot certainly wasn't good enough at his "one job" to make him worth keeping.

They've got some real work to do on the hitting side considering how poorly the season ended for Jeffers, Julien, Miranda, Castro, Lewis, and Lee at the plate. I'm curious to see what the analysis is on why all them struggled so much in September. Hopefully it's fixable.

[Parfigliano]

3 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Somebody has to figure out how Correa gets these foot injuries.  That's 2 years in a row (I know different feet) so something he is doing in training must be contributing.  They need to figure this out.

As for the young guys (not actually so young though) they need to determine this off season if any of them can be fixed.  If not, then trade them, albeit at low value, for another team's young guys in hopes that we can make them work.  For some of these guys (not Lee) the sample size is getting too big to ignore.

I thought Correa changed shoe brands to help his feet then came back to play.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

I expect 1B (or LF/RF) to be the best hitter on the team. Santana fell short of those expectations.

Then your expectations for a 38 yr-old, $6 million veteran were slightly higher than mine.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

1 hour ago, karcherd said:

Santana led the team in home runs and RBI's because he had more AB's than any other player other than Castro.  And the next player had over a 100 less AB's with nearly identical production.  Santana is league average or below against RH pitching.  Can we raise the bar at some bar and ask for real production,

No issues with raising the bar, but that is a Pohlad issue, not a Santana issue.

Factoring in salary, the Santana FA signing was probably top 2-3 in baseball this past offseason.

[DJL44]

16 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Then your expectations for a 38 yr-old, $6 million veteran were slightly higher than mine.

Fair enough. If we're grading versus realistic expectations before the season began, then why does Brooks Lee, a 23-year-old rookie with hardly any time at AAA get a D grade?

Why doesn't Buxton get an A for his comeback season? My expectations for Buxton were that he would never contribute again due to a chronic knee injury and he blew past those expectations.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Mostly agree although if you're giving Miranda a D+, I don't see how Jeffers gets a C. Down the stretch, Jeffers didn't look like a MLB player either at the plate or behind it. 

Depending on how they feel about Camargo, I could see Jeffers' name dangled as trade bait. Not sure what they could get him for him but shedding the salary might be their biggest priority.

[Mike Sixel]

8 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Mostly agree although if you're giving Miranda a D+, I don't see how Jeffers gets a C. Down the stretch, Jeffers didn't look like a MLB player either at the plate or behind it. 

Depending on how they feel about Camargo, I could see Jeffers' name dangled as trade bait. Not sure what they could get him for him but shedding the salary might be their biggest priority.

Jeffers doesn't make real money.... He was above average as a hitter compared to other catchers, even with September. He's not going anywhere. 

[bean5302]

52 minutes ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Mostly agree although if you're giving Miranda a D+, I don't see how Jeffers gets a C. Down the stretch, Jeffers didn't look like a MLB player either at the plate or behind it. 

Depending on how they feel about Camargo, I could see Jeffers' name dangled as trade bait. Not sure what they could get him for him but shedding the salary might be their biggest priority.

I don't understand how a guy who wasn't even allowed to start the year on the 26 man who puts up a wRC+ 115 on the season gets a D+. I guess he needed to win the MVP to get a C?

[jmlease1]

31 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I don't understand how a guy who wasn't even allowed to start the year on the 26 man who puts up a wRC+ 115 on the season gets a D+. I guess he needed to win the MVP to get a C?

It's just recentcy bias, really. Miranda was absolutely awful down the stretch and was helpless at the plate when we needed him the most. It's easy for the recent crap-fest to get stuck in the memory. I think the grade is too harsh considering his earlier work and would probably match him with Larnach.

[S Bart]

3 hours ago, karcherd said:

Santana led the team in home runs and RBI's because he had more AB's than any other player other than Castro.  And the next player had over a 100 less AB's with nearly identical production.  Santana is league average or below against RH pitching.  Can we raise the bar at some bar and ask for real production,

No disrespect intended, but I laughed loudly at the term "Raising the bar."  The whole darn operation needs to raise the bar. The owner complains about not wanting to spend money, the manager makes some serious blunders....a highly paid player, Correa, makes degrading public comments about the young ones not putting forth efforts including batting practice when they need it....etc... RAISE THE BAR...that is an understatement. Regarding Santana, he will not be back. So, that matter makes no difference.  Due to his age and salary, he will not be considered. PLEASE compare his replacement (probably a newby at that position) this time next year and compare him to Santana from this year.

[S Bart]

Aaron Gleeman Puts Minnesota Twins Owner on Trial in Epic Back-and-Forth (msn.com)

 

[S Bart]

It sounds as if Lewis is firing back at Correa.

Did Royce Lewis Call Out Carlos Correa After Minnesota Twins Season Finale? (msn.com)

 

Lewis needs to work on his hitting in the offseason. His numbers are totally off since returning due to other teams knowing the pitches that will strike him out!