Twins' Defense Revisited

[stringer bell]

With just five games to go, the Twins remain one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. They rank just ahead of Cincinnati, Philadelphia and the Athletics. For the season they have a -34 Defensive Runs Saved according to the Fielding Bible. That number is bad, but not epically bad IMHO. First of all, the Twins were over negative 20 DRS by midseason, so they have slowed the leak of runs allowed by bad defense. Secondly, the bad DRS numbers basically come from two spots--shortstop (-19) and right field (-14). If they were just neutral at those positions, they would be neutral for the entire team. Brooks Lee and Tristan Gray accounted for almost all of their deficit at shortstop and it looks like neither will figure at that position in 2027 or beyond. Matt Wallner accounted for half of the Twins negative score in RF and it looks like he's played his last game for the Twins. However, Luke Keaschall is -6 and it looks like he will remain an outfielder going forward. Keaschall has learned the Of on the fly and by the eye test has improved substantially. 

The Twins leading defender in just 97 innings (about 11 full games) is Emmanuel Rodriguez, who has amassed 6 DRS in a really short span. That level of D is not sustainable, but he has shown himself to be a good outfielder. Coupled with Walker Jenkins and Buxton or Keaschall, the Twins should have a much improved outfield defense in 2027. 

Using one source for fielding evaluation is a lousy bet, but the Fielding Bible seems to concur with what my eyes have seen. Catching is decent, but really struggles limiting the running game, Lewis and Clemens are decent on the right side and Lee has been good at third base. Clemens is okay at first, second or in the outfield and Ryan Kreidler is a good defender in the infield or outfield. 

Culpepper was a modest -1 DRS in 31 games. It would appear that he would be a neutral to slightly below average shortstop. Farm system jewel Marek Houston might be the long-term answer at shortstop, which could move the entire team north in defensive ratings. 

[Dave Borton]

Nice summary/analysis. Didn't realize the Phils were so bad as I don't follow NL that much except for Dodgers who are on a tear after being very cold post AllStar game.