Do the Minnesota Twins Actually Have More Left-Handed-Hitting Corner Outfielders Than Other Organizations?

6 hours ago, ashbury said:

To paraphrase a very old baseball adage, "I don't want left-handed batters.  I want batters that can hit right-handed pitching."

So the "problem" might not actually be a problem.  Seems like that happens a lot around these parts.

14 minutes ago, arby58 said:

His role is understood to be a defensive replacement or pinch runner and the occasional start in CF when Buxton gets a day off or is DHing. My guess is if Buxton were to go on the IL, there would be a callup, probably  Emma, as he is a better CF than Roden.

Agreed, leaving Outman to still be the out man, both on offense and defense.

Good article . . . I think the complaints about Twins roster construction are about more than the player count though. Realistically a lot of it is frustration with offensive inconsistency, esp. of course Larnach and Wallner over the years. 

Strongly disagree about Outman however, Roden is 26 and may as well play part time in the Majors. 

There is a flaw in this whole study.  First, you are more likely to have a left handed hitting corner OF than any other position.  One is because some right handed people will learn to hit left handed, but rarely does a left handed person learn to hit just right handed.  Also, the only defensive positions for left handed throwers are 1st base and OF.  Left handed hitting people from other positions are always going to be the right handed guy hitting left. 

That being said, the issue with most fans is not that we have so many left handed hitting outfielders, it is that we have too many that are redundant and out of options, that go along with 2 of our top hitting prospects fitting the same roll in AAA.  

We have Wallner, who is clearly the top of the pecking order for team as he is not getting platooned, mainly because we do not have a platoon option for both him and Larnach.  Then we have Larnach as the next option, this is shown by getting all starts against righties.  Now this may be due to production, which is high right now, or could be due to fact we are paying what we are.  Then it is hard to say who falls next on the pecking order because we have Outman, who fills a different roll than Larnach.  He made team over Roden, who I would say most likely ranks ahead of Outman, but below Larnach.  Clemons is on the list only because he has played a little OF, but mainly on team to play 1st against right handed guys. 

Jenkins and E-Rod fall below, not because of talent but because they do not need to be called up yet.  E-Rod is on the 40 man and using options so he could get called up over Roden, Outman, or Larnach at any time, but he has yet to push the team to make that move. 

The issue I have is we have too many guy either near end of options, or blocking possible better guys because of what they are getting paid or lack of options. I do expect that if there is an injury to Wallner or Larnach, Roden gets the call and the starts over Outman, and he keeps doing his same roll of fill in, legit 4th/5th OF guy. E-Rod would be next in line. 

On 4/14/2026 at 2:43 PM, Jim H said:

I am not sure replacing Outman with Roden solves anything, directly. Using Larnach or Wallner as mostly fulltime DH,  and using Roden as a fulltime corner outfielder would perhaps be a better look than current useage. Also trading either Larnach or Wallner would also open a slot for Roden.  Replacing Outman with Roden without making other adjustments isn't the only choice here.

I would attempt to trade Wallner over Larnach