Grading Every Player Who Appeared for the Twins in 2026: Position Players

[Coach Wheels]

23 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Except he’s a C- level player. They paid for C- production and he gave them what they paid for.

96 RBI's seem like more than a C- player but we can agree to disagree.

[RpR]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Any one of those players could have batted in Bell’s spot in the lineup. Someone else would have batted 9th, true, but they still would have driven in Buxton and Keaschall. 

Yeah they could have batted and and done like Buxton does, a lousy job.

[rv78]

5 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Any one of those players could have batted in Bell’s spot in the lineup. Someone else would have batted 9th, true, but they still would have driven in Buxton and Keaschall. 

They already drove in Buck and Keash a lot of the times when they were batting in the spot they already occupied. Doesn't work to give them credit twice. 

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, rv78 said:

They already drove in Buck and Keash a lot of the times when they were batting in the spot they already occupied. Doesn't work to give them credit twice. 

You can’t drive in the lead off hitter from the #7 spot in the lineup.

[annismark]

On 9/29/2026 at 12:13 PM, The Great Hambino said:

Re: RBI totals vs opportunities and the inherent knack for driving runners in, I found a fun little site that calculates the percentage of runners driven in (just the runners on base - no credit for driving in yourself with a home run) for any player going back to the 70s.  It's not perfect - a runner on first isn't the same opportunity as a runner on third, and not all runners are created equally (read: who's more often on base when you get up - the speedy lead-off hitter or the backup catcher?), but it's a pretty good approximation of how well players turn their RBI opportunities into runs.  For reference, average is roughly 15%

For this season, Bell drove in 18.47% of his baserunners.  This was good for 21st in the league among players with at least 100 runners on base.  He ranked 13th in raw RBI totals and roughly 34th in number of baserunners.  For comparison, Buxton was at 8.94%.  So this year, Bell certainly made more out of his opportunities on top of having more opportunities ...

 

 

So Bell did a really nice job iin the role he was given, batting 355 with runners in scoring position with a .599 slugging percentage in order to get those 96 RBIs.   Have to say that exceeds all expectations.  (larnach, Lee, Clemens and Keaschall were all pretty good too).  Buck on the other hand batted .150 with a .288 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position.  Yikes.

Of all qualified players, 4th best BA, 6th best SLG.  in the Yandy Diaz, Fernando Tatis, Yordan Alvarez stratosphere.

 

 

[Coach]

On 9/29/2026 at 9:55 AM, rv78 said:

Agree with your #2. Bell had the season they were looking for.... unless they were hoping he'd hold down 1B defensively. Only a fool would have expected that, but we didn't have a true 1B at the start of the season, so you can carry the assumption with that as far as you like. I'd be more than willing to give Bell another 1 year run if they pencil him in at the FULL-TIME DH spot. No more than 1 year though as father-time may start to catch up with him shortly. Unfortunately with the emergence of Jenkins, I can see them giving Buxton the DH spot at least on a 50/50 role or more, splitting time at one of the corner outfield spots. I think Buck's days in CF are all but over, barring injury to Jenkins, and I'm fine with that. Buck will get the first nod at DH, Bell will be an afterthought even though he out RBI'ed Buck by more than double. The Twins are committed to him for 2 more years and DH is getting to be the safest place for him outside of the Doctors Office. Funny how things work with this organization...... They stick with a guy that can't give them a full season based on his ability and not his production yet other players that outproduce him are let go. Happens pretty much every year. Watch.... Bell will be gone and Buxton will give us another half a season in 2027.

Buck will get the first nod at DH, Bell will be an afterthought even though he out RBI'ed Buck by more than double.

Last year whenever it mattered, Bell was clutch.  Buck clutched his throat. 

[RpR]

Buxton has never been good at DH, I doubt that will change.

[Coach]

On 9/29/2026 at 1:35 PM, DJL44 said:

I would say Roden is better than Jenkins right now, but I also think he won’t be able to say that by May of next season.

I am less optimistic about Emmanuel Rodriguez. It will be hard for him to adjust his batting approach. I don’t think he is ready for a full time role in the lineup but his glove should get him playing time in late innings.

Spot on about E-Rod.

[Coach]

On 9/29/2026 at 1:55 PM, Saxophone Joe said:

Ah man...I gotta do this, fully expecting plenty of 'down' votes. Bring it on!

Giving Tristan Gray an F was cold, Nick ☠️ Look, I agree he was on the roster for too long. But he gets a D in my book for being fairly solid (and RISP clutch) the first two months of the season. Lost his mojo once he returned from paternity leave after the series in Boston. 

 

Sax, I always enjoy your takes, but Gray should get a participation ribbon.😄 Funderburk went through the same problems after he became a father.  The "F" for Gray should have gone to the front office.

[Coach]

On 9/29/2026 at 2:18 PM, RpR said:

I wonder if pitchers adjust their style when there are runners on base and Buxton did not adjust to that as much as Bell did.

Buck would always take a full hack a low and outside off speed pitch, Bell would just poke it the other way.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Coach said:

Buck will get the first nod at DH, Bell will be an afterthought even though he out RBI'ed Buck by more than double.

Last year whenever it mattered, Bell was clutch.  Buck clutched his throat. 

65 runs scored for Buxton, only 78 for Bell even though Bell had 223 more plate appearances. Buxton scored over half the time he was on base. All Bell had to do was single and Buxton can score from first base.

[annismark]

36 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

65 runs scored for Buxton, only 78 for Bell even though Bell had 223 more plate appearances. Buxton scored over half the time he was on base. All Bell had to do was single and Buxton can score from first base.

Yeah, but if Bell (or whoever) was on 3rd with 2 outs 50 times, Buxton would have drove him in 3 times. 

[Peter Gravett]

On 9/29/2026 at 8:52 AM, rdehring said:

Interesting piece, Nick.  Very interesting, thanks.

Like a few above I don't see any difference between Jeffers and Buxton.  Buxton had a few more at bats, was better defensively and if memory serves, was as good as anyone in the league before his injury.  Both should be either A- or B.  Or is a B+ more appropriate for both?

See you appreciate that Roden had a solid year, although not a lot of big-league at bats.  I see him as a solid big-league player, either with the Twins or someone else.  Just don't know where he fits with the Twins, unless he unpacks the first base glove he had back at Creighton.

Will join those comments that Ross, Sabato and others with less than 25 at bats should be given an incomplete.

Agreed, this was a good read. IMO Roden is not athletic enough to cover much ground in the outfield. I like his bat though, so give him reps at first base in spring training. You might just find there's more power there with consistent at-bats.