Analyzing José Miranda’s Improved Swing

I knew Miranda was a good hitter & wanted him to be part of the team when he broke camp. But unfortunately he was blocked. He's a strong player just starting his offseason conditioning 1 month before spring training & has quickly recovered. He has surpassed all my expectations & then some. Congratulations, Jose! on your record. Wish you many good years with the Twins.

I don't know what he did, and I don't care what he did...just don't take him out of the lineup!

Great to see him come back stronger after shoulder surgery. Some players don't.

He seems much more patient and locked in to what is a strike and what isn't.  He also isn't trying to do "too much."  He's not swinging for the fences, trying to lift the ball for a superior launch angle.  He's taking the outside pitch the opposite way, he's turning on middle-in pitches with a vengeance.  

Max Kepler had a couple of AB's a couple games ago where he just pushed the outside pitch into left-center field.  He picked up clutch RBI's on each hit.  If I didn't know better (and I don't) I'd swear the Twins have made a subtle change to their overall approach.

We're now seeing the Miranda that we all expected/hoped for after he had terrorized AAA pitching in St. Paul.  His first year was promising.  His second year was terrible, maybe due to health issues.  But this year he's a #3, #4, #5 hitter in a potent lineup.  A bat like that MUST stay in the lineup, defense be damned.  He should get the majority of his AB's as a DH but still fill in occasionally at 3B and 1B. 

Santana has played too well this season to give up AB's to Miranda, but starting in 2025, if Santana is a one-year rental, Miranda should be the primary 1B/DH.  Next year will truly be make or break for Kirilloff unless he's traded at the deadline or during the winter.  It pains me to say that, but the guy with the "Will Clarkesque" swing is running out of chances.  With Brooks Lee up now, and with Correa and Royce Lewis, SS, 3B and 2B are covered for the most part.

That leaves Miranda, Kirilloff and Julien to battle for 1B/DH.  Julien can fill in at 2B, Kirilloff in LF/RF and Miranda at 3B when not playing 1B or DH'ing.  That's SOLID flexibility, and I haven't even mentioned Castro.  Depending on the continued development of guys like Larnach, Wallner, Kirilloff and E-Rod, Castro could be starting in LF a LOT in the future.  This is a GREAT problem to have going forward.   

It does seem like the small crowd of "Miranda can't play defense and thus shouldn't be on the Twins" fans has gone silent.

Let's review!  Get rid of Catro.  Get rid of Kepler.  Get rid of Santana.  Get rid of Miranda. Even Correa was catching grief.  Seems they've all worked it out to some degree.  Now it's say goodbye to Kirilloff and Julien and Wallner.  Patience please.  I mean we have been extraordinary patient with Buck and now things are looking promising.  Maybe we can spread out the patience a little.

4 hours ago, CRF said:

I don't know what he did, and I don't care what he did...just don't take him out of the lineup!

Of course Rocco has Miranda on the bench today! Explain why the hottest hitter in baseball at age 26 needs a day off? He can’t DH a couple days in a row?! Pinch hitting for Miranda the other night was also a brilliant move. The manager should go manage another team please. His lineups, pinch hitting, and bullpen moves are frustrating (putting it politely) to watch. 

25 minutes ago, arby58 said:

You're joking, right? The pinch hitter (Martin) singled and scored on Correa's grand slam. The manager's 'lineups, pinch hitting and bullpen moves' have them 12 games over .500. 

You’re going to defend pinch hitting for the hottest hitter on the team, and turns out in baseball?! Go ahead and explain why that was a logical move. Explain the logic of Miranda out of the lineup today. Then tell me why no other manager in the league pinch hits for their starters in the 5th and 6th innings. Today, Margot PH for Wallner in the 6th against their LHRP. Houston followed with two RHRP afterwards. So Baldelli  benched Wallner bat for Margot. Wallner could have hit against the two RHRP in later innings. 

1 hour ago, arby58 said:

You're joking, right? The pinch hitter (Martin) singled and scored on Correa's grand slam. The manager's 'lineups, pinch hitting and bullpen moves' have them 12 games over .500. 

The PH, Martin, was apparently injured. He went on the IL today with an oblique injury, retroactive to June 6th. Baldelli PH an inferior RH bat for Miranda..

The other PH in that game, Margot, struck out twice in the 9th inning. In a one run game. Nice moves that clearly help the team win games. I’ll wait for your examples of all the PH moves that have won games and put the team 12 games over .500. 

10 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Poor yourself a cool drink……the comment on MLB the next morning was they pulled Miranda after 10 hits in a row in a blowout so he wouldn’t get plunked. ……oddly enough, his first AB in Saturday he did get hit. Don’t really think it was intentional but the pitch “in” was meant to be IN.

Martin got an AB in a game where the Team was getting torched…..he got on & scored. Seems like a deep dive above to just complain.

They lost by one run. His ph moves do not work and his explanations are dumb. I’ve never heard any manager pull their best hitter to avoid getting plunked. If you buy that story, that’s on you. He threw in the towel on a game he shouldn’t have. 

5 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

They lost by one run. His ph moves do not work and his explanations are dumb. I’ve never heard any manager pull their best hitter to avoid getting plunked. If you buy that story, that’s on you. He threw in the towel on a game he shouldn’t have. 

Interesting thread on why Rocco should be fired, oh wait I mean Miranda's swing