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This one was purposely nebulous: is an unsung hero an underrated player? Was it someone who stepped up in another’s absence? We allowed our writers to interpret the term independently before sending in their answers. Here’s how the voting broke down:
Honorable mentions (all of these players earned a vote):
Caleb Thielbar
Emilio Pagán
Ryan Jeffers
Carlos Correa
Griffin Jax
Kenta Maeda
Royce Lewis
Kyle Farmer
Christian Vázquez
Alex Kirilloff
5. Jorge Polanco
It’s a little weird seeing a veteran rank so highly on this list, especially considering that Jorge Polanco—because of his 2014 cup of coffee—is the longest-tenured Twin. He played with Kendrys Morales and Josmil Pinto. Yohan Pino made 11 starts. Let’s just move on.
I think timing is the key here: Polanco hit the IL halfway through May, came back for a week in June, and then returned at the very end of July. The team entered its “rookies dominating the lineup phase” right around this point, making it easy for Polanco’s contributions—which was a fifth full season with an above-average OPS—to be lost in the hype. There’s no glory in boring consistency, I guess.
4. Bailey Ober
Bailey Ober wasn’t even a Twin to start the year. First considered a depth piece, Minnesota sent him to St. Paul to marinate, hoping that they would only need him in case of an emergency.
He was up before April ended. Pitchers did as pitchers do, a little bit of badda, a little bing—ligaments tore and aches became extreme—and suddenly, Ober was back to being a Twin. It was only for a while, they said. After some time, it was clear the elongated righty was simply one of their finest starters, so he stayed with the Twins for most of the year, only going back to St. Paul for some rest at the beginning of September.
It’s clear why he ranked so highly; it’s uncommon for a team to be able to reach in and extract a 3.43 ERA over 144 1/3 innings when in need. Who knows what kind of eccentric pitching experiments we would see if Ober wasn’t there to stabilize the rotation.
3. Donovan Solano
“Donovan Solano???” Thought every Twins fan when news of his signing broke late in February. Perhaps you remembered his 2020 silver slugger with the Giants—and maybe the more sick amongst us even recall his time as a Marlin—but none expected the 35-year-old to be the line drive, on-base machine he was in 2023.
Solano hit righties and lefties; he hit at home and when playing on the road; he hit in April, May, June, July, August; he hit in low leverage, and he hit in high leverage. He wasn’t one for slugging—the indulgence of extra-base brutishness—but, no matter the situation, Solano hit. Remarkable consistency seemed to follow Solano, whether he manned 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, making him our 3rd place Unsung Hero.
2. Michael A. Taylor
When the Twins dealt for Michael A. Taylor over the offseason, I wrote an article titled Twins Make Boring, Necessary Trade for Michael A. Taylor, likening acquiring the veteran to the team eating their veggies. Snarkiness lost out today; Taylor was even more than expected.
Taylor has over seven years of MLB service time, and he technically broke out in 2017 with an .806 OPS as a National, making him an atypical selection for this award. He would at least provide competence when Byron Buxton had to rest, we all thought; with visions of Jake Cave and his optimistic dives running across our minds. What we didn’t envision was Buxton never stepping foot into Target Field’s outfield, necessitating 129 games for Taylor in an effort to curb any center field leakage.
He was tremendous. Putting up the 2nd highest OPS+ of his career, Taylor bashed a career-high 21 homers, pairing his typically excellent defense with a power prowess unusually potent for a 9th-hole centerfielder. Minnesota likely would have struggled without Taylor—he’ll take home our 2nd place honors today.
1. Willi Castro
You’d be forgiven if you thought Willi Castro simply apparated onto the roster in spring training. He had some oxidized prospect luster from his time in Detroit as a man on their top-10 list in 2019 and 2020, but he couldn’t hit much with the Tigers, and the team cut bait following an uneventful 2022.
And the Twins are ecstatic that they did.
Castro made the opening day roster as an afterthought—the kind of player who sticks around for a little, is thanked for their services, and then subsequently Ryan LaMarres his way out of usefulness around the time someone else gets healthy. This kind of player is a baseball tradition. But, unlike those of years past, Castro hit, played quality defense at nearly every position on the diamond, and utilized his legs to steal bases at a rate unique amongst Twins of the modern era. He was suddenly valuable; he’s now a critical weapon for Rocco Baldelli to use in the postseason.
The zenith of Castro’s powers had to be his game on September 20th, when he halted Hunter Greene’s dominance with a two-run homer, before kickstarting a 9th inning rally with a bunt hit and madman baserunning that sent him to 3rd. He scored the tying run on a Kyle Farmer single.
At just 26, Castro looks like a quality contributor for years to come, and—for his efforts in 2023—Twins Daily has named him their Unsung Hero.
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