Minnesota Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Designated Hitter

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last year, Josh Bell led the Washington Nationals in starts at designated hitter with 97. Trevor Larnach led the Twins with 78. Victor Caratini ranked third on the Astros with 29 starts at DH. This year, all three are poised to get a share for Minnesota, with others like Matt Wallner, Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis slotting in occasionally.  

For the 2026 Twins, designated hitter is a position of defensive tradeoffs and limited upside, albeit one with a reasonably stable veteran floor.

TWINS DESIGNATED HITTERS AT A GLANCE

Starter: Josh Bell
Backup: Trevor Larnach
Depth: Victor Caratini, Matt Wallner, Eric Wagaman
Prospects: Gabriel Gonzalez, Kala'i Rosario, Ricardo Olivar

Twins fWAR Ranking Last Year: 17th out of 30
Twins fWAR Projection This Year: 20th out of 30

THE GOOD
Bell is the kind of player you want at DH, so long as he can harness the offensive form he showed last year following his slow start. Bell's OPS was below .600 in late May before he turned a corner and slashed .278/.358/.478 with 16 homers in his last 95 games, anchoring the No. 3 and 4 spots in Washington's lineup in the second half. 

As a switch-hitter, Bell gives you a matchup-proof veteran bat to write into the middle of the order, and using him at DH prevents his sub-par defense from taking a negative toll. The position is designed for guys like him. 

It's an open question how often the Twins will be able to use him there, given the presence of Larnach on the roster and the lack of a clear starting-caliber first baseman. But no matter how things transpire around him, Bell is going to be available as a quality bat to plug into this bat-only spot.

 

Larnach offers another quality bat suited for the purpose. As we discussed in the left field breakdown, he's a reliably solid hitter against right-handed pitching, and like Bell, his value plays up when you don't have to use him in the field. Therein lies a bit of quandary, because playing one of Larnach or Bell at DH means accepting the defensive tradeoff with the other. Divvying up DH playing time will largely be a matter of deciding which guy gives the Twins more (or takes away less) by playing his position. 

I'd expect to see a fairly balanced mix of Larnach and Bell here (until one or both get traded), with Caratini — another switch-hitter — also mixing in sporadically. Against left-handed starters, we're probably looking at Caratini at DH and Bell at first base, or vice versa, to maximize righty bats in the lineup. Eric Wagaman also could enter the mix if he's on the roster.

All perfectly fine hitters. There's ample functionality to this experienced group that should make it easy to keep the DH position occupied by a respectable hitter with a non-terrible matchup every night.

THE BAD
Like several other positions for the Twins, this is one where a sturdyish floor is offset by a pretty unexceptional ceiling. Over the past two years, Bell's OPS+ is 104, Larnach's is 106 and Caratini's is 105. These are slightly above-average hitters who haven't shown much capability to rise above that in recent seasons.

They are also among the highest-paid players on the low-spending Twins, for whatever that's worth. By tendering a contract to Larnach for nearly $5 million while also signing Bell and Caratini for a combined $21 million, Minnesota's front office invested in having enough legit bats on hand to ensure the DH position is never totally wanting. That's worth something.

With that said, these investments didn't bring a great deal of upside, and the byproduct of spending on bat-first players is that you're not improving the defense or athleticism of the team. To the contrary: These are very slow runners who will clog the basepaths when they get on, and in the cases of Bell and Larnach, will hurt you in the field when they're not at DH. Hopefully they can deliver enough power to make up for it.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Pairing the lefty-swinging Larnach with multiple switch-hitting options gives Derek Shelton flexibility with the lineup and adds a certain amount of stability at DH. These are known quantities, for better or worse. Ideally you'd like to have a little more explosive potential in some of the bats rotating through the position, but there's something to be said for experience and competence. 

Catch up on the rest of our roster preview series:

• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Catcher
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: First Base
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Second Base
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Third Base
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Shortstop
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Left Field
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Center Field
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Right Field

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[JD-TWINS]

So, different slant here:

1) Caratini doesn’t slot at DH much but rather at 1B where he can be moved behind the plate, mid-game if necessary due to injury. He’ll need days off just like Jeffers to stay fresh behind the plate - already enough options at DH, IMO.

2) Larnach is a better hitter (shown clearly in ‘24) if he’s a platoon LH bat v. RH pitching. I see him at DH for 80-100 games. (20% plus of AB’s in ‘25 v. LH pitching & that sunk his stat line - he’s solid as a platoon guy)

3) Bell didn’t play 1B in Washington last year because they had GG first baseman Lowell playing every day, ahead of him, through July. Bell played more 1B after Deadline and hit much better as well after August 1. ……. Clemens is not Vic Power, defensively, at 1B!

4) Team, is better off v. RH pitching with Clemens in LF or Roden in LF or Outman in LF, with Bell at 1B, and Larnach at DH…….IMO.

[IndianaTwin]

With the relative paucity of full-time DHs around the majors, it seems that predicting success is about as difficult at DH as any position. At least in bWAR, if you take out three outliers, the range from top to bottom is only from 2.2 to -1.8. Only 12 teams even have a positive bWAR, with just six above 1.0.

Take out that Ohtani had all but 14 PAs at the position for LA, that the Yankees had Judge and the Phillies Schwarber and no team was above 1.6 at the position. It seems that if you have a stud it's helpful; otherwise it doesn't make a huge difference who gets your DH at bats. 

[rdehring]

How did the Twins get into this position?  I'll add Wallner to the list and you have three guys who should donate their gloves to some charity auction and come to the ballpark with only their bats.

Do you have a feel Nick that Management understands this problem and will do something about it prior to the season, which is now only two weeks away?  

[mikelink45]

It seems like we have a team full of DHs! And I do not think that is a good thing. Your analyses have been really good but the product you are analyzing is not. 

[jmlease1]

Quote

Like several other positions for the Twins, this is one where a sturdyish floor is offset by a pretty unexceptional ceiling. Over the past two years, Bell's OPS+ is 104, Larnach's is 106 and Caratini's is 105. These are slightly above-average hitters who haven't shown much capability to rise above that in recent seasons.

I think that's a little unfair to Bell, who crushed in the second half of last season and simply stripping that horrific start in March/April shows a hitter who is more than slightly above average, especially with Bell's earlier production in his career. It's notable that the only season bell was below average as a hitter was the weird pandemic season, and while I wouldn't expect him to return to 2019 form, a 120 OPS+ is certainly viable, and that's much better than slightly above average.

Larnach can produce some if he's protected from LHP. He can't hit LHP, he just can't. All his additional exposure (he got over 1/3 of his PA's against LHP in 2025 alone) didn't really help him: an OPS of .605 still stinks, even if it is an "improvement". But we simply don't have much room for a player like Larnach who has so little defensive utility and doesn't rake enough against RHP to be worth it for us.

Hopefully Bell carries is fine 2nd half over to this season and rakes. Would prefer Larnach be dealt for whatever we can get to open up the opportunity for other, younger hitters, since I don't see him as having much of a future here.

[D.C Twins]

This write up illustrates once again that the Twins' roster construction is atrocious. 

Trade Larnach already. 

Let the kids play ASAP 

[bean5302]

If you ignore the first 1/3rd of the season last year, sure, Bell is a good DH, but it turns out teams care about wins and losses in all the months, not just a few of them. Bell's been a league average bat generating no value above replacement level for 3 years now. He's also a poor defender at 1B so he's really a DH by default. He was likely a very poor signing by the Twins and represents just plain wasted money.

Larnach is in the same boat. A poor defender in corner outfield, and with no other defensive experience, he's really a DH by default. Larnach is best platooned to provide significant value vs. right handed pitching, but he's a black hole for run production against lefties based on his limited exposure.

Wallner is likely a good DH, but he has the physical skill set to excel in the outfield, too. Wallner's awkward adjustments during routes and indecision make him a candidate to move to DH if he can't improve. An average corner outfielder is worth 1 win over a DH with the same bat. It's a big difference.

Gio Gonzalez probably makes for a DH due to his conditioning issues, but word is he worked on being younger Eddie Rosario instead of older Eddie Rosario this past offseason. He could wind up being a solid corner outfielder as well. 

Personally, I'm in favor of giving Wallner some time in RF to evaluate how he's improved (if at all) before moving him to DH and opening the position up to somebody else.

[LambchoP]

We have too many DH type guys on the roster. We really should have made some trades by now to better organize the roster and open some playing time for some of our top prospects.

[Nshore]

Tom Kelly always preached a philosophy of "catch the ball, and get the outs that you're supposed to get." The Twins as an organization seem to have lost sight of that.  The only starting player with a stellar glove is Buxton.

[DocBauer]

(Sigh) Signing Bell for DH, not keeping Larnach, and actually adding a TRUE 1B would make this roster look soooo much better. My frustration overflows at ignorance of the obvious by the FO. (Sigh-again)

In an ideal world, the 2027 OF will consist of Rodriguez, Buxton, Jenkins, Gonzalez, Wallner, and possibly/probably Roden and Martin as part of the configuration as well. The primary, starting 3 are obvious. Wallner becomes the primary DH, while also being an OK occasional corner OF. The RH side of DH doesn't really matter as it's only a factor about 25% of the time, so a reserve or primary player getting a half day off works just fine.

But that's 2027, not this season.

I will again say that I like Bell unto himself as a DH. For his career he's been solid from both sides of the plate and usually pretty productive. But he's just not a good 1B. And if Larnach is on the team, he and Bell have to end up playing some defense as well. So what ever happened to getting faster, more athletic, and improving defense? 

(Sigh-3rd time)

It's too late to remake the roster at this point. You just have to figure out how to "use" the players on hand to the best of their ability, to create the best roster/lineup you can.

Again, I like Bell as the primary DH, who can play 1B once in a while here and there as needed. He's no Cruz, but he's solid and productive in his career. And the lineup needs that. 

There is simply no room for Larnach on this roster. Not unless you want his mediocre/poor defense in LF 75% of the time...where the Twins also seem to believe he wears down and gets injured...and just dismiss Roden entirely, plus (gulp) Outman. 

Larnach needs to go for Martin, Roden, and possibly Outman to play LF, improve team speed, athleticism,  and defense, provide 4th OF as a collection, and provide potential future value in the case of Roden and Martin. You also remove one roadblock for Rodriguez, Jenkins, and Gonzalez from arriving. 

Clemens, Wagaman, and Caratini to a smaller degree, can give the team a quasi functional 1B arrangement where Bell can be the primary DH. And that quasi functional platoon is no worse, and probably better, defensively vs Bell playing there daily.

Clemens can still play other positions, as can Wagaman, and Caratini is obviously your #2 catcher. 

This isn't ideal by any means. But it's probably the best configuration of a bad situation. And once again, Bell is a solid DH unto himself. This allows that to happen.

[rdehring]

Watching today's game which reminds us you missed one player who is going to get some time at DH, Ryan Jeffers.  Will probably be only 20-30 games, but his bat is going to be in the lineup most days.

[edit: at least until July 31.]

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

So, different slant here:

1) Caratini doesn’t slot at DH much but rather at 1B where he can be moved behind the plate, mid-game if necessary due to injury. He’ll need days off just like Jeffers to stay fresh behind the plate - already enough options at DH, IMO.

2) Larnach is a better hitter (shown clearly in ‘24) if he’s a platoon LH bat v. RH pitching. I see him at DH for 80-100 games. (20% plus of AB’s in ‘25 v. LH pitching & that sunk his stat line - he’s solid as a platoon guy)

I see Caratini as the obvious pinch hitter for Larnach in late innings. There is a very small chance they have a catcher injury and they can still move Caratini to C but they lose the DH for maybe one at-bat. At that point you use your last position player to pinch hit for the pitcher.

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Watching today's game which reminds us you missed one player who is going to get some time at DH, Ryan Jeffers.  Will probably be only 20-30 games, but his bat is going to be in the lineup most days.

I've found it a fun exercise from time to time to create a spreadsheet and try to plug in how I'd try to start the season in game allocation. (Queue the "spreadsheet manager" comments, but I think every team does some version of this going into the season, knowing it's going to change with injuries and performance. The Dodgers know how many games they are targeting getting from Ohtani, the Brewers how many they are targeting for Yelich, etc.).

So yeah, I'd slot the catchers at 108/54 between Jeffers and Caratini and add a couple dozen to Jeffers at DH so he gets to about 130-135 total. I think they'll use a regular pattern rather than trying to match platoon situations. They were very systematic in alternating Jeffers and Vazquez. To me it makes sense to have Caratini catch the second game of every series. There will be a few cases where Jeffers starts back to back days, but with off days between series, he'll often have a day off between starts. In that pattern, maybe Jeffers then DHs in a lot of the Caratini games with a LHP for the opponents.

I was going to suggest a dozen or so for Lewis, but in the five games after last year's All-Star Break that he didn't start, they gave him the whole day off (or maybe pinch hit him, but he didn't start as the DH), so maybe not. 

[Doctor Wu]

I wasn't that excited about the Josh Bell signing at first, but reading more about him, and seeing the positive results so far in Spring Training have me feeling much more optimistic ... about him as the DH in any case. Still not sure how he's going to handle first base.