Should the Twins Stop Benching Alex Kirilloff Versus Left-Handed Pitchers?

If a Twins fan were granted three Twins-centric wishes that would come true for the 2023 Major League season, wish number one would be to end the 18-game playoff losing streak that has plagued this franchise for 19 years, wish number two would be that the Twins win their third World Series, and wish number three would be that the Twins organization and fans alike would finally get to see Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis play out the rest of the season with an outstanding bill of health.

In reality, wishes number one and two look very suspect right now, but wish number three appears to be on track to happen, which is a blessing in itself. Whether it be Lewis tearing his ACL twice in two years or Kirilloff undergoing wrist surgeries in consecutive seasons, these once highly touted Twins prospects have endured immense physical and emotional hurdles that they have been able to power through every single time.

Lewis has solidified himself as the everyday third baseman for at least the rest of the season. In contrast, Kirilloff has solidified himself as an almost-every-game starter who plays either left field, right field, designated hitter, or his best defensive position, first base, during any given game.

Lewis and Kirilloff are finally able to showcase the talents that had them both ranked as unanimous Top 50 prospects in Major League Baseball. Although Lewis and Kirilloff contribute to the Twins on a near-every-game basis, their situations differ. Lewis is in the starting lineup whether the starting pitcher throws left or right-handed. Kirilloff, on the other hand, is not. 

The Twins love to deploy platoon lineups as well as utilize in-game substitutions to get what is perceived to be the upper hand in every situation, even if the advantage is incremental. One of the more controversial ways the Twins deploy a platoon is by benching Kirilloff when they face left-handed starting pitchers and pinch-hitting for him whenever a left-handed reliever comes out of the opposing team's bullpen.

Some platoon players are performing well, as right-handed hitting specialist Donovan Solano is hitting .321/.357/.472 (.829) with 17 hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts in 56 plate appearances against left-handed pitching and left-handed hitting specialist Edouard Julien is hitting .279/.383/.544 (.927) with 19 hits, 11 walks, and 27 strikeouts in 82 plate appearances, but most are underperforming their career-split numbers.

For example, utility player Kyle Farmer, who has a career OPS of .829 versus left-handed pitching, has generated an OPS of just .730 versus left-handed pitching this year, a 99-point drop. Also, outfielder Trevor Larnach, who the Twins organization and fans alike had hoped would develop into a hitter that would hit right-handed pitching at an above average level, has only been able to muster an OPS of .728 this season, which is on par with his career OPS versus right-handed pitching of .726. 

With hitters who the Twins assumed would be effective platoon players struggling to thrive against the type of pitching handedness they were supposed to, one must ask themselves, should they stop benching one of their best hitters in Kirilloff every time they face a left-handed pitcher?

First, to add some context, it appears that the Twins are using games when they face a left-handed starting pitcher as a subsequent "off day" for Kirilloff so he doesn't put too much strain on his twice surgically repaired right wrist. Although this practice makes sense in a vacuum, why does Kirilloff often get pinch-hit whenever a left-handed reliever comes in? 

Let's take a look. 

Through his first 125 plate appearances, Kirilloff is hitting .288/.408/.442 (.850) with a wRC+ of 144 and an fWAR of 0.6, which ranks tied for sixth on the team for position players just behind Taylor (1.2 fWAR), Buxton (0.9 fWAR), Jeffers (0.8 fWAR), Castro (0.7 fWAR), and Farmer (0.7 fWAR).

Within those 125 plate appearances, Kirilloff has faced a right-handed pitcher for 113 and a left-handed pitcher for 16. In the 113 plate appearances against a right-handed pitcher, Kirilloff is hitting .301/.425/.441 (.866) with 28 hits, two of them being home runs, 18 walks, and 27 strikeouts. In the 16 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers, Kirilloff is hitting .154/.313/.385 (.698) with two hits, one of them being a home run, one walk, and three strikeouts.

Although 16 plate appearances is a minor enough sample size to the point where making any absolute judgments could be viewed as ignorant, it is hard not to notice the considerable discrepancy that is present. Kirilloff is a much better hitter against right-handed pitchers. Still, subtracting the player who is arguably the most consistent and overall best hitter from your lineup whenever a left-handed pitcher is set to start or come in for relief is hard to justify. 

The Twins have notoriously long leashes with some players (i.e., Max Kepler and Emilio Pagán) to the point where one starts to ponder if that metaphorical leash even exists. At the same time, the Twins have irrationally short leashes with other players, specifically younger players Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, and, most recently, Royce Lewis.

This phenomenon has been played out twice in grand fashion. First, during a game against the San Francisco Giants on May 11th, when manager Rocco Baldelli decided to pinch-hit right-handed hitting Solano for the left-handed hitting Julien in the bottom of the second inning and right-handed hitting Garlick for left-handed hitting Kirilloff in the bottom of the third, and second on June 13th when Baldelli decided to pinch hit the left-handed hitting Kepler for the right-handed hitting Lewis in the bottom of the ninth against Brewers and star closer Devin Williams.

Baldelli and the Twins front office's decision was justifiably instantly critiqued by Twins fans and reporters alike. These moves illustrated that the Twins highly value the marginal advantage platooning gives teams to what could be seen as a stubborn extent and that the Twins don't trust their young prospects to perform against same-handedness pitchers. 

This philosophy feels like a failure, and the Twins should look into reanalyzing their approach to handling platooning as it pertains to young talented prospects who many see as future career franchise cornerstones. Julien, Lewis, and Kirilloff should be trusted to perform against same-handed pitching, and if given an adequate opportunity, they more likely than not will. 

Correa and Buxton are immune to platooning. They are in the lineup whether the Twins face a left-handed or right-handed starting pitcher, and they don't get pinch-hit for if a same-handed relief pitcher comes in to face them. It is time to start thinking about doing the same with Julien, Lewis, and, most notably, Kirilloff. 

Should the Twins stop benching Kirilloff when they face left-handed pitching? What do you think of the Twins philosophy on platooning?