Twins Need Sagging Bats To Rev It Up

Players aren't getting any better so likely a big turnover in the coaching staff this winter.

Twins monthly wRC+ split

April 90

May 107

June 85

July 97

In the last month, most of the hitters have been good-to-OK; Polanco, Granite, and Gimenez are the only ones who have played poorly. But Buxton was the only one who hit like a Star (166 wRC+), and he only played 10 games (35 PA). Vargas seemed to be heating up with a 134 wRC+ in 9 games (38 PA), but they sent him down on 7/17.

In May, the month when the offense looked pretty good, they had several guys going then, as well, and Mauer was the one really tearing it up. Of course it helped that he wasn't hurt or demoted in mid-month.

Right now, the Twins lineup seems to have several regulars who are fine, respectable, average-ish players, and Sano may be better than that (his 2.3 fWAR is tied for 10th-MLB at 3B; the difference between that and 15th is just 0.3 fWAR), but nobody who can sustain an elite level of play for very long.

Maybe another year or two of development will change that, but I dunno. After next year, they'll probably need replacements for Dozier and/or Mauer, right? And I'm not sure that anyone in the org is a lock to improve on either of them (yes, even Mauer). Maybe Falvine will have to spend some money or make a clever trade to get a legit star on this team.

What are the flaws in Garver's game that suggest he projects as a backup?

Mauer batting cleanup.

Let's put together a lineup and stay with it.

Is Buxton or Granite leadoff material?

Where to bat Sano.

The Twins seriously lack a designated hitter (let's try Escobar or Rosario in that spot - only kidding)

Two hitting coaches and Vavra. Pickler doing what he does. Molitor one of baseball's best. You can call on Oliva and Carew.

What is not working here.

I think getting Buxton to a .750 or so OPS will make a big difference and we do seem to be short a hitter like a .270 with 25+ HR DH. Kepler could improve a little and i think that would be enough for our line up.

What are the flaws in Garver's game that suggest he projects as a backup?

My guess is that he will be 27 prior to the start of next season and his career minor league OPS is .782 and only 2 of his 6 minor league years he has shown any power.

His minor league stats (at the same age) look pretty similar to Chris Giménez.

Now I have hope he will have a better career, but...

The spots in the lineup the Twins need more production from are CF, SS, C and DH. If you remove the first 15 games of the season for Buxton where he had 4 hits in 49 at bats he's has a .250 BA, .328 OBP, .356 SLG and a .683 OPS. If he can increase his overall numbers to get his OPS to .750 I think everyone would be happy with that production based on the elite defense he provides.

SS has been a real disappointment this year. Polanco looked great the first month or two but has drastically fallen down. If Gordon is still in the organization next season he might be able to come up mid way through the season.  

As a few other's pointed out above Garver could have a big impact on this lineup as he's an ideal platoon with Castro. I'm hoping Gimenez is moved in the next week to two weeks and Garver is given plenty of playing time for the last six weeks of the season.

DH is the one position I'd like to see the Twins spend money on in the offseason. Get someone who has a high OBP and is going to hit 25 + homeruns.

A bench next season of Granite, Garver, Escobar and another FA could be a strong bench.

Seems the familiar end-of-season blues is hitting the Twins again.

We can hope they snap out of it and don't completely throw in the towel as the season winds down. Both teams ahead of them are on losing streaks. If the players are upset, there is time and space enough to prove their masters were wrong. The division is by no means decided. At the very least, the players can make things interesting.

By the end of the year if guess the Twins will have had about 150 different lineups. Need some consistency. And like mentioned above. They have multiple hitting/ex hitting coaches on the staff. Over the past, I don't know how many years, I can't remember seeing many players​ make significant improvement. Only Berrios comes to mind. Could be scary if the hitters don't have a turn around to match up with what COULD​ be better pitching on the way.

I wonder if having some many hitting coaches on staff is causing the problem.  Coach A says, do this. Coach B, says do that. Coach C says, do what Coach A told you but change this part to that.  At some point they need to let these young guys play baseball and be comfortable.

i still don't understand why Garver is in AAA, and not MN right now.

 

edit: well, SD right now

I agree he should be but my guess is because Polanco is out of options.