Offense Is Springing To Life

The general qualms about the team's run production last spring proved overblown, as the Twins ended up outscoring all but six teams in the majors during the regular season, but the dearth of power proved to be an accurate omen.

In 28 Grapefruit games last year, the Twins slugged .356 and hit a total of 16 home runs, second-fewest of any team in baseball. Oswaldo Arcia and Brandon Waring tied for the team lead with two.

Yes, Brandon Waring.

The Twins went on to hit 128 homers in 2014, ranking 11th in the AL, but this year's offense offered much more promise in that department, and we're getting an early preview now.

On Tuesday, the team went deep four times against the Orioles, pushing this spring's count to 14 -- just two short of last spring's total with two-and-a-half weeks left to play.

And these home runs aren't coming from the Brandon Warings of the world; they're coming from key players that the Twins are actually relying on to be power producers in the lineup.

Chief among them is Kennys Vargas.

Paul Molitor was quick to downplay the long ball barrage that took place at Ed Smith Stadium on Tuesday, pointing out that it's one of the smaller parks in the circuit and there were some favorable winds at play, but he couldn't hide his fascination with Vargas' team-leading third dinger, which cleared the wall in right-center field.

"Vargas' was a strange one," the manager said. "At that particular juncture [the wind] was kind of blowing in from right, and he got an off-speed pitch that he hit a little bit off the end of the bat. It still got out."

A big, lumbering specimen with ridiculous strength, Vargas has always offered tantalizing power potential, and whether or not the runs matter, it's great to see that playing out on the field.

The same goes for Miguel Sano, who was cut from camp on Sunday after hitting two majestic blasts in the previous week. Something tells me he won't be in the minors for too long.

Sano is a wild card down the line, but the lineup that the Twins will trot out on Opening Day has plenty of juice up and down. In 2014 the club got an above-average OPS from regulars at every position, and that could be the case again, with steps forward in a few areas.

Even the players who are expected to regress are hardly major causes for concern.

Sure, Danny Santana probably won't replicate that incredible rookie output (though he does have a 1.036 OPS this spring), but he's shifting to shortstop and looks pretty slick there defensively, so he doesn't need to hit a ton.

When Kurt Suzuki inevitably regresses, you've got Josmil Pinto's potent bat waiting behind him.

Eduardo Escobar hit a grand slam as part of Tuesday's onslaught. His OPS last year was higher than all but five qualifying MLB shortstops. And he currently projects as a utility man.

It seems like everywhere the Twins might potentially project to have a weakness, they've got a contingency plan or prospect in the wings. That was always the blueprint, and now it's coming to fruition.

I'd be remiss not to mention the guy whose offensive production this spring overshadows all others. Brian Dozier hit two doubles on Tuesday and is batting .556 with a ludicrous 1.635 OPS in Grapefruit play.

Meaningless numbers, yeah yeah. But he's hitting everything hard right now, and that's great to see as he enters his age-28 season coming off back-to-back strong campaigns. It gives Molitor a ton of flexibility as he contemplates his lineup.

"So far it hasn't really mattered where I've hit him, he's swung the bat well first, second or third," Molitor said, "so we're just mixing it up because I'm sure that given match-ups and different scenarios and who's playing on a given day he's probably going to have to fill all three at some time or another."

When everyone's hitting the ball as well as they are right now, Molitor can do no wrong. And if that continues into the regular season, the rookie manager is going to look like quite the genius regardless of how he fills out lineup card.