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When Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were hired to lead Minnesota’s front office instead of Terry Ryan, they were handed a holdover manager in Paul Molitor. It took two years for them to make their own hire instead, in the form of Rocco Baldelli, and he’s largely been a success story in terms of communication and results. Rudy Hernandez was a Molitor holdover, and while the front office has also brought in David Popkins and Derek Shomon to help out the hitters, the three-headed department now needs to be under a microscope.
It was well-documented just how bad the Twins were a season ago when it came to hitting with runners in scoring position. Failing to push runs across the plate is why the team found themselves hovering around .500 at the midway point, and it wasn’t until the Cleveland Guardians completely fell off that the division tilted in Minnesota’s favor.
Royce Lewis was eventually inserted into the Twins lineup, and so was hot-hitting rookie Matt Wallner. The production ticked upward, and Minnesota found themselves hosting postseason games and winning a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Ultimately, though, the lineup could still be inconsistent, and the same problems have reared their head to start the 2024 season.
Despite moving on from both Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda in the starting rotation, and losing big names like Caleb Thielbar, Jhoan Durán, Justin Topa, and Josh Staumont from the bullpen, it hasn’t been the pitching that has scuffled out of the gate. With a lineup unable to score runs, failure to execute with runners in scoring position again, and an overall lack of execution, it’s time for the specialty coaches to come under fire.
With Tyler Wells shelved after an elbow injury, the Baltimore Orioles called upon Albert Suárez to start the final game of a three-game series on Wednesday. Having not pitched in the majors since 2017, he nonetheless shoved against Minnesota. While he generated just four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, he got 14 whiffs on 75 pitches and his fastball was untouchable, as far as Twins batters were concerned.
Preparation and process are the responsibilities of position coaches, and putting Minnesota in a spot where the lineup can execute is the chief role for Popkins, Hernandez, and Shomon. It may be a communication problem, in that the players simply aren’t grasping or working hard enough to implement what they're being told, but that doesn’t make the situation any better. If there is an inherent issue with process, we have seen enough results at this point to conclude something different is needed as well.
It can’t continue to be on Lewis or some other hot rookie to prop up this lineup. The Twins' higher-paid, proven veteran talents need to produce. While Carlos Correa was among the best things going before his injury, Byron Buxton owns a 21/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio that would make Miguel Sanó blush. Ryan Jeffers has come on of late, but Edouard Julien has been slow to go, and Kyle Farmer has looked utterly worthless in his expanded role.
Where the Twins turn from here, and if they hire someone with a greater level of experience remains to be seen. The hitting coach triumvirate is not the sole reason for the slow start, but continuing down this path and hoping the slog sorts itself out would be an insufficient way to address the start. It’s time to make a change, in an effort to keep this season from going entirely off the rails. What shape that change takes is up to the front office, but there has to be one.
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