Ranking the Twins' Biggest Disappointments in 2023

I probably would bump Buxton to the fifth spot, I didn't expect hardly anything from Mahle with the shoulder issues last year being unresolved. I did expect a bit more offensively from Buxton and a looooot more defensively. Once the weather warmed I though he'd be around a 50/50 split out in center and have 15-20 games out there at this point. He's a streaky hitter in a lineup of them and without the consistent defense it's harder to feel good about it in those two week stretches he struggles to make contact.

I would list management. They seemed to lack process in their develop plans, log-jamming a group of left handed corner out fielders, 1st/3rd basemen and few gold star relievers. Of course there are exceptions and the MLB draft is akin to on-line dating, still I have a nagging doubt that we have failed to maximize our development opportunities.

Buxton is at the top of the list if the knee is now completely shot and he is a DH for the remainder of his careeer.

Correa will turn it around and hit fine not worried.  
 

Can I add Kepler to this list?  I thought with the shift ball his approach would go back to trying to pull the ball hard and more balls would be hits and HRs.  I guess I drank too much of that koolaid.
 

Miranda I was never sold in last season I figured there was going to be a sophomore slump but after the big spring training I was starting to come around.  
 

Mahle might work out if they can sign him long term for I big discount now that’s he is going through TJ.

Buxton still leads the hitters in win probability added.  I'm not saying that's predictive of what's going to happen going forward in clutch spots, but he's found a way to help the team above and beyond his overall stat-line.  He's also been a plus on the base paths.  He'll surely have another hot streak soon enough.

It's disappointing that there's been so little time where everything has lined up with the health but he's hardly been a disappointing player to me.

I do think that it's probably beyond just keeping him healthy and that he must still be dealing with inflammation or something in the knee on a semi-regular basis, so it's discouraging that he might not get to the point health-wise where he's even a half-time CF for the regular season.  I do think he will at least get out there some in August or September.

Mahle was a positive for the brief healthy stint he had.  Injuries happen in baseball, especially to pitchers, so I disagree with him being on this list because of it.

I'd say Jorge Lopez may be creeping onto the list at #5 for me.  He's not too negative on the WPA list right now because he had some early saves, but it's hard to put any trust in him right now.

And at what point does it become a fluky good half-season with Baltimore versus a disappointing end to last year and start to this year?  I remember a lot of arguments at the time of the trade that we could ignore all of his stats prior to the start of last year, which always seemed absurd to me.

Well, the career high K rate disappeared and he's back around his prior norms.  Same with the career low HR rate.  The only thing making him look good at the beginning of the year was his ridiculously high GB rate, but that's back to just moderately high now.

I'm pretty worried about him going forward.

1 and 1A are Correa and Buxton if you would have told me they would both have played 50 and has an OPS of .671 and .771 I wouldn't have believed you.

3. Pablo Lopez, in no scenario did I see him having an ERA above 4.5

4 and 4A Larnach and Miranda, didn't have high expectations for them but higher than they performed. Just about everybody else has played about how I would have expected (maybe Lopez deserves to be on this list next) or a tid bit above or below,, except Ryan he has exceeded all my expectations.

54 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

3. Pablo Lopez, in no scenario did I see him having an ERA above 4.5

this is an interesting one, I don't think I'd throw him on the disappointing list as I don't think he's been as bad as his ERA, although I am starting to get concerned with him looking like our fifth best starter two months into the season. Some of that is some really impressive pitching out of Varland and Ober that I didn't expect as they worked their way in, but trading for a guy to pitch on opening day and watching him slide behind a lot of other arms is concerning.

7 minutes ago, danielp19653 said:

this is an interesting one, I don't think I'd throw him on the disappointing list as I don't think he's been as bad as his ERA, although I am starting to get concerned with him looking like our fifth best starter two months into the season. Some of that is some really impressive pitching out of Varland and Ober that I didn't expect as they worked their way in, but trading for a guy to pitch on opening day and watching him slide behind a lot of other arms is concerning.

He has given up more earned runs in 12 starts and 71.1 innings than he did in 2021 in 20 starts and 102.2 innings.

I still like him and think it was a good trade, but never did I expects an 4.54 ERA, he hasn't been terrible like Correa but I had pretty high expectations for him. Like what Ryan and Gray have been doing

Easy decision for me.  Would begin with the one who is paid the most, Mr. Correa.  Love this kid's defense, fantastic.  But for the hundreds of millions they will be paying him, he has to get it done with the bat.  So far this year he has contributed very little offensively, heck Royce Lewis has contributed more and he has only played three games.  

For my next candidate, simple, go to the man making the second most money.  And I am not going to throw stones at Buxton, rather the Twins/Manager for not utilizing his biggest strength.  OK, I understand breaking him into the season slowly and putting him at DH for a month or so when the weather made playing in the field more risky.  But the time to get him out in the field was at least a month ago.  Also have read elsewhere today that he tends to hit better when playing center.  So he would be second on my list, although little of the damage is in his hands.

Won't go beyond these two as I am already to down today because I can't watch my team tonight as they are on Apple TV.  Booooo!

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

3. Pablo Lopez, in no scenario did I see him having an ERA above 4.5

June - September last year (22 games) he posted a 4.69 ERA with a 4.10 FIP. 

Sad that we have so many good candidates:

1) Correa 2) Miranda 3) Kepler 4) Gordon 5) Mahle HM) Lopez, Lopez, Buxton, Vasquez, Larnach

10 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

June - September last year (22 games) he posted a 4.69 ERA with a 4.10 FIP. 

So he should be better going forward, doesn't take away from my opinion that he would be better than he has been so far.

if you expectation for him was a run of

5.2 - 6 ER

5.2 - 4ER

6 - 2ER

4.2 - 5 ER

and two other games with 5ER and 6ER

That's great, Mine was his first 4 starts and 7th and 8th start.

Darn I didn't realize the season is over

18 minutes ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

So he should be better going forward, doesn't take away from my opinion that he would be better than he has been so far.

if you expectation for him was a run of

5.2 - 6 ER

5.2 - 4ER

6 - 2ER

4.2 - 5 ER

and two other games with 5ER and 6ER

That's great, Mine was his first 4 starts and 7th and 8th start.

All I'm pointing out is that right now he isn't too far off of where he was for the final 4 months of last season, i.e. for a team that has probably underperformed as a whole, I don't think Lopez is one of the biggest disappointments. That doesn't mean he has met expectations, rather, others have come up far shorter. 

18 minutes ago, Tibs said:

Darn I didn't realize the season is over

2 month's in and it's a disappointment,  it's not great baseball  but it should get better ,  one can hope  ... 

We'll have this same discussion  probably around the deadline and at the end of the season  ...

It's the vets that are a disappointment to me as the rookies or younger players are performing better  ...

When they signed Gallo  , I said he is just another Sano  only he bat's lefthanded  , he swings at everything outside and just like Sano strikes out  .... 

When we needed right handed bat's we sign a lefty so FO is also a disappointment  to ...

Has anyone or has  the media seen the wiz kids during this win one game lose one game  plan of baseball  ...

No , always in hiding when things don't go the way they want , no accountability   , but get a ten game winning streak and they can't wait to jump in front of the camera  for the credit  ...

Overall, the biggest disappointment has to be the play of our position players as a unit.  The FO put together a mix of supposed stars (Correa, Buxton), a couple of returning from injury long term Twins (Polanco, Kepler), emerging young talent (Jeffers, Kiriloff, Miranda, Larnach, Gordon), retreaded vets looking for new life (Gallo, Castro, Solano) and a couple of solid vets to play key roles (Vasquez, Farmer, and Taylor).

Has any one of them overperformed expectations? IMHO, Kiriloff, Farmer, and maybe Jeffers would be the closest.  But the others range from “Meh” to not even close. Here we are in June and the Twins don’t have a single position player even within the most remote consideration to make the All-Star team.  Moreover, as an overall unit, other than some fun moments, they have been pretty boring to watch.  All of that is pretty disappointing.  Not completely unexpected, mind you; but pretty disappointing nonetheless.

So almost 1/2 of the position players. Mahle at #5 is fair but injury compared to performance. Not much he or the team can do about that. I'd be tempted to put anyone of Buxton/Gallo/Kepler/Jax at #5. Agree 100% with the rest.

If I had to nitpick Vazquez has a part in how good the pitching staff has been. I might bump him down a spot or two. Definitely been disappointing on the offensive side of the ball and should be in the top 5 because of it.

Vasquez is doing exactly what he was signed for imho.

#1 has to be the homers on here. No, banishing the shift didn’t make Kepler an offensive juggernaut. No, Correa is not the best SS in MLB. (Might not even be the best SS on the Twins!). No, Miranda and Larnach are not certain HOFers. Buxton is Mauer at 1b. I won’t even go into all the FA pitchers that everyone was clamoring for the FO to sign. Almost none of them have been successful or even good. 

I was tempted to say Kepler....but he isn't a disappointment.  He is performing exactly how I expected.  It's MGMT's fault for not dealing with him in the offseason

Unfortunately lots of choices. FO has to be on the list for this bullpen and one dimensional lineup. 

Sorry but I can't put I can't place Mahle on this list. Disappointing YES. And I'm no expert, but a "tired arm" with some mild shoulder issues in 2022 is NOT related to a blown out elbow and TJ in 2023 unless someone can show me a medical condition that can relate these 2 things. He looked ready to go for 2023.

1] Miranda, easily. He finally showed in 2021 what the FO was expecting. He had a few rookie struggles in 2022 before settling in. He was ready to be an important part of 2023, especially with some hard work to get ready. 

2] Jax. We've seen what he can do. He got roasted early with crazy crap. And then he either lost confidence, OR, there was a wrong pitch mix. Either way, bad luck seemed to lead to bad performance. A lot of reasons to believe he can get right. 

3] Jorge Lopez. His stuff is great. He started the season strong. He's struggled in May. If he and Jax can get their sh*t together, we have a great BP with Stewart and Moran. 

4] Correa.  So he's a notorious slow starter who is usually OK, but not great. And then he ramps up. I get it. I'm OK with it. But this slow start has been a couple good games, and then nothing else. He's flashed at times, which is expected. And his defense has remained superlative. But I am wondering about his plantar fasciitis. It can be a temporary thing. It can be handled with a little rest and even an injection to settle the muscles and tendons down. And there is physical therapy to help as well. But unfortunately, it can be a lingering issue that lasts for months. HOPEFULLY,  Correa has a mild case and rest and therapy and a possible injection will get him right over the next few weeks.

5] My number 5 is the FO. If your intention was  to contend, I understand most of your moves. But keeping  Pagan and Kepler instead of looking at potential instead of a "safe" variable is Inexcusable at this point. At what point do you TRUST your OWN prospects? At what point do you realize Kepler...a perfectly solid ML player...is just an average player at best? And it's time for a new direction with Larnach, Wallner, etc. When nothing is produced by what you have vs a potential improvement of younger talent, when do you finally make the commitment to younger and better?

Very good article!!  I agree with your listing.  For me Correa is definitely number one.  Even last year he only played real well the last month of the season.  Buxton and Correa should be carrying this team.  I used to get upset when Rocco left one or both of them out of the lineup.  Now It doesn't matter because they have been a detriment to the team especially offensively.  At least the younger players show some life.

I agree with DocBauer with a little different order on the top 3.  Jax is my biggest disappointment to date.  He has been charged with runs in 9 of his 26 appearances.  6 of which he took the loss and the other 3 the Twins lost by one run.  He has had a hand in 9 of 27 of the Twins losses.  

J Lopez and Miranda are tied for a distant 2nd because of gap between expectations and results.