Should We Be Encouraged by José Miranda's Spring?

spring training 23 - .325/.400/.825 = 1.225 OPS in 40 at bats he hit 5 doubles and 5 homers, with only 3 K's.

In the last home spring training game in 23 (3/27) (which was also his last spring training game) he played 3B for 6 innings, went 3/4, was declared healthy enough to be the Twins starting 3B for the season.

I don't buy that it was his only his injury that caused the horrible 23 season and for me he has quite a bit to prove.

Sure we should be encouraged and if he puts together a couple 1.000 OPS months in AAA we can be even more encouraged but he has to sustain this level of performance for a while to prove he belongs on the ML club.

As long as he's not striking out I'm encouraged. He has the power potential that should return in time. We need a strong RH bat to platoon at 1B/DH he could be it. Also, there are teams like MIA that'd like some offense at those positions.

Yes, a pretty good spring for Miranda so far, but as others have stated, he is most likely slated for AAA to start the season, and hopefully the hits continue to fall, and the Twins will either call him up in a month or two (depending on who else ends up on the IL), or possibly trade him to a team like Oakland that is willing to take a chance on his power. As MikeLink suggested, he could end up getting playing time for another team and put up numbers like Rooker, Steer or Raley. But hey, it's baseball and the fun part is not knowing what happens next. 

It is always good to look at the underlying numbers to see if it is likely to sustain the counting numbers.  It seems like that is unlikely for Miranda, unless he starts finding some barrels.  I am not one that feels exit velo is anything more than to test to see if the hits seem to be more luck than not.  Keep in mind exit velo does not equal hits, just the harder you hit it the more likely you get a hit.  However, guys like Arraez was attacked for his lack of exit velo despite his very high average, because he hit a ton of line drives and would hit where the defenders were not, despite not being hit super hard. 

Miranda though is a guy that will need to hit extra base hits to be valuable as he never struck me as a super high average guy.  I am not sold on him as a MLB player.  Hopefully he will tear up AAA and be a call up when needed, or possible trade chip, but if he has another poor year at AAA he will be DFA when a 40 man spot is needed. 

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Somewhat of a RH hitting Kirilloff?

That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, especially since they would often be platoon partners at 1B or DH. I'd love a couple guys that have good contact and discipline, and just enough power to make pitchers nibble.

With the exit velocity concerns, now we have something to watch for to see if a callup is warranted.

To do well is never a bad thing.  That said, he will start at St. Paul, where he has previously "raked" and if he continues to hit well, (again, that is not a bad thing), he could see himself back on the big league roster if needed.  I don't think he has a long-term future with the Twins because he's been surpassed by better players at the positions he would play.  I could see him being a trade chip to better the team in another area.  

21 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

A call up seems to be a real stretch though……unless Santana, specifically, gets hurt I can’t imagine Miranda in ‘24. Not to doom him, Santana hasn’t missed extended time since 2014.

It's also possible Santana's performance doesn't keep his roster spot all year. Last year, he may not have missed time, but he didn't have great stats for a 1B/DH as he starts to show his age

Of course - how could you not be encouraged.  A year ago we had him penciled in as our long term 3rd base solution - it he can get back to where he was we'll be a better team for it.

Hitting the ball hard is important, but getting hits is more important than speed off the barrel of the bat. Arraez comes to mind as an example. Let’s hope Miranda has an excellent season.

Miranda is blocked. By a 38 y/o with one average season in the past 3 or 4 seasons. I'm encouraged by his spring, and I'm sure he is too.

Miranda's job in 2024 is to crush the ball and improve his defense with the Saints. He needs to be doing that so he gets the call if an injury creates an opportunity with the Twins. When Miranda was called up, supposedly his defense was okay to below average. With the Twins, it was bad and didn't improve (unlike Julien who was supposedly bad on defense, showed he was bad on defense with the Twins at first and then improved as 2023 went on). Without injuries on the Twins, Miranda is getting ready for 2025, to force the Twins to open a spot for him because of his hitting and improvement on defense.

I believe that the only current roster position open is outfield between Larnach and Wallner, with Wallner having a poor ST.  Miranda is destined for St. Paul.  However, I think Miranda has gotten somewhat of a bad rap for his defensive abilities.  I looked at his 2022 OAA and he was a -4.  He was -3 at 2nd base, which was included with his 1st base summary.  I am wondering if some of this is shift related, that has been mitigated by the change of in the shift rules.   

He’s not going to turn into Luis Arraez. And will need XBH/HR’s to provide value...especially as a 1B/DH. Nice that he’s been putting the ball in play…but that’s not really been his issue. Not encouraging…at this early stage, I’d just call this ‘interesting information’.

Cautiously optimistic?
 

Let's see what happens when the season starts and things matter.

3 hours ago, jkcarew said:

He’s not going to turn into Luis Arraez. And will need XBH/HR’s to provide value...especially as a 1B/DH. Nice that he’s been putting the ball in play…but that’s not really been his issue. Not encouraging…at this early stage, I’d just call this ‘interesting information’.

 

Luis Arraez wasn’t expected to turn into Luis Arraez. 

3 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Luis Arraez wasn’t expected to turn into Luis Arraez. 

Well, no…and yes. He’s always been an extreme high BA guy with elite bat control throughout the minors. Not expected to have THIS level of success with it at the MLB level, no…but it’s always been his DNA.

Miranda’s never been that guy, good but nowhere near Arraez’s bat-to-ball skill…has to have some SLG to his game.

Getting timing back is hard for any hitter, not to mention hitters who essentially missed a full year. Kudos to Miranda.

He's on the 40. He'll get his chance.

Nice depth to have, although if he goes to St. Paul I would play him more often than not at first base. But the Twins also have Severino on the prospect bubble. Big year for both of them and where they will be playing come 2025.

Again, though, with Wallner striking out 50% of the time, and Kirilloff able to play the outfield...unless you trust Larnach, why not keep Miranda then and move Kirilloff fulltime to the outfield with Margot as the backup. Will be interesting to see how the Twins handle the one battle spot on the bench.

He is working his way back to MLB. He will be back when he is needed.