Twins Minor League Report (9/17): Emmanuel Rodriguez Loves Reaching Base

And then there was one. Sigh. Just the inevitable almost-the-end of another minor league season. at least we still have one team left to follow. Thanks to everyone who contributed to these reports. They are always helpful and enjoyable. 

Rodriguez had a messed up season. Bunch of injuries, none of them major. Power production is way down, but the patience and eye for the strike zone remained intact. He's finishing the season...ok? Not great (again, where did all the power go?) but could be worse. Would winter ball help him by getting some more game ABs in, or does he just need a quiet offseason and opportunity to go to Spring Training healthy?

Gonzalez really does deserve consideration for minor league hitter of the year. He's done great at all three levels he played at, and while I'd like to see him show a little more patience at the plate again, the contact skills are shining and he's hitting the ball with authority. He's not some slap hitter and can punish mistakes. I hope the Twins give him a real chance to win a job in 2026. It's exciting to think about him paired with Jenkins, and a 5-man OF of Buxton, Jenkins, GG, Martin, and (eventually) Rodriguez could be a a really strong and flexible OF that hits, runs, and defends.

Don't know what to think about EmRod.  Want to believe he will report to spring training, play very well and win a job with the Twins.  On either opening day or soon thereafter.  But every spring we get all excited about him, then forget he exists as he is missing from his team's lineup for weeks or months. 

Personally, I question the people doing their national Top 100 lists that include him because he seems to never be on the field.  On the other hand, I pray the Twins will finally find some luck and this young man will put his injury problems behind him and play 140-150 games in 2026, most with the Twins.

I was watching the Saints game and cannot believe that Jose Miranda is still getting any playing time. He has totally given up, both at the plate and in the field. He doesn't even try to run any longer. This has been going on for quite some time. It makes sense he feels totally lost and has less than pleasant thoughts about the organization, but giving him any more time is not a good look.

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

I was watching the Saints game and cannot believe that Jose Miranda is still getting any playing time. He has totally given up, both at the plate and in the field. He doesn't even try to run any longer. This has been going on for quite some time. It makes sense he feels totally lost and has less than pleasant thoughts about the organization, but giving him any more time is not a good look.

does he have unpleasant thoughts about the organization? Or are we projecting something on a player who has really struggled over a year now. I mean, you're sort of suggesting he's tanking on purpose because of a beef with the Twins, and if that's true than I'd like to see some evidence beyond bad body language and poor effort.

Twins gave him chances this season and he stunk. I'm not really sure why he would or should be mad at the club. They've been giving him AAA opportunities to get himself back up, and he's been blowing it there too.

I mean, maybe they should have sent him home for the year with a "go get your mind and body right" message, but I have trouble faulting the Twins for how they've handled Miranda. (I can fault them for many other things, don't need to throw this on the fire)

5 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

does he have unpleasant thoughts about the organization? Or are we projecting something on a player who has really struggled over a year now. I mean, you're sort of suggesting he's tanking on purpose because of a beef with the Twins, and if that's true than I'd like to see some evidence beyond bad body language and poor effort.

Twins gave him chances this season and he stunk. I'm not really sure why he would or should be mad at the club. They've been giving him AAA opportunities to get himself back up, and he's been blowing it there too.

I mean, maybe they should have sent him home for the year with a "go get your mind and body right" message, but I have trouble faulting the Twins for how they've handled Miranda. (I can fault them for many other things, don't need to throw this on the fire)

I'm not faulting the Twins for how Miranda's career has gone. He had a ton of plate appearances.

Have you watched Jose Miranda play in the last month? 

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm not faulting the Twins for how Miranda's career has gone. He had a ton of plate appearances.

Have you watched Jose Miranda play in the last month? 

Yes. He's been awful. He looks nothing like the player who destroyed the minors a few years ago and had success in MLB in 2 separate seasons. I was trying to understand the "unpleasant thoughts about the organization" comment, which read like he was somehow faulting the Twins for his struggles. And possibly the implication that you felt like this was another thing the Twins had screwed up.

56 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Yes. He's been awful. He looks nothing like the player who destroyed the minors a few years ago and had success in MLB in 2 separate seasons. I was trying to understand the "unpleasant thoughts about the organization" comment, which read like he was somehow faulting the Twins for his struggles. And possibly the implication that you felt like this was another thing the Twins had screwed up.

You are correct to question my wondering if Miranda has internal thoughts contributing to his play. I watch some of most Saints games. I focus on watching specific  pitchers and certain batters. I'm not sure how many Saints games you have watched. Recently I began to wonder wth is going on with Miranda. At the plate he swings at everything (not new), but he doesn't just run slowly he jogs slowly. In the field he hasn't even made attempts on balls that weren't hit directly to him. He doesn't run on the few occasions he reaches  base either. In short his play and efforts are not representative of his worst slumps in this or any previous year. I'm not down on Miranda per se, and don't know what is going on with him. I am just wondering and thinking WTF when I see his actions. I don't think the Twins had any role at all. I also don't think about Miranda much and am quite sure he will be released. I'm responding to you to explain that I have wondered why he even gets playing time in consideration of his play. Surely the coaches and managers see him. Sorry if I confused you. I certainly wasn't trying to create any controversy. Enough about Miranda. I have empathy for him. He was looking like a potential regular for a MLB team just a short time ago. It is a sad story. Baseball is tough.

51 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

You are correct to question my wondering if Miranda has internal thoughts contributing to his play. I watch some of most Saints games. I focus on watching specific  pitchers and certain batters. I'm not sure how many Saints games you have watched. Recently I began to wonder wth is going on with Miranda. At the plate he swings at everything (not new), but he doesn't just run slowly he jogs slowly. In the field he hasn't even made attempts on balls that weren't hit directly to him. He doesn't run on the few occasions he reaches  base either. In short his play and efforts are not representative of his worst slumps in this or any previous year. I'm not down on Miranda per se, and don't know what is going on with him. I am just wondering and thinking WTF when I see his actions. I don't think the Twins had any role at all. I also don't think about Miranda much and am quite sure he will be released. I'm responding to you to explain that I have wondered why he even gets playing time in consideration of his play. Surely the coaches and managers see him. Sorry if I confused you. I certainly wasn't trying to create any controversy. Enough about Miranda. I have empathy for him. He was looking like a potential regular for a MLB team just a short time ago. It is a sad story. Baseball is tough.

I agree with you on Miranda. He's an utter mess. have to wonder if the back & shoulder problems have simply made it impossible for him to generate the kind of swing that used to work for him even with his lack of patience. And I really wonder if even an offseason of rest and strengthening can fix it. He had 2 seasons where he put up an OPS+ of 112 or better.

Outman (whom I don't like for the Twins) at least still crushed AAA pitching again when he got sent back down after crashing out. Miranda actually had a better overall track record as a hitter (Outman had one good season and hasn't hit in MLB since; Miranda had two solid ones as a hitter spaced out over 3 seasons) so his utter implosion in AAA is sort of wild. 

It's a bummer, and I have no idea whether he can get it together.

I'd say Julien and Outman have at least somewhat confirmed they're probably Quad A guys. Outman might be able to add enough on D and run into some homers, but the floor is low, the ceiling isn't high any longer and I'd say neither should be with the Twins in 2026. (and I was a big Julien guy. I was wrong. He's too easily exploited at the plate.)

48 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I'd say Julien and Outman have at least somewhat confirmed they're probably Quad A guys.

Julien really only has his bat. I was quite hopeful for him despite my longstanding belief that players need to be at least average fielding a position.

Outman has a chance because he can run, field, and throw plus he can hit for power. My best guess is that he needs to rebuild his swing to become shorter to the ball. We shall see how that plays.

Perhaps Miranda gets it all together again. I hope he at the very least saved some coin in the last few years. I thought he might make a decent DH when he was ripping line drives all across the minor leagues, with a chance to improve at third base. The lack of speed, not much for an arm, and a tough glove were always going to be a challenge. Now, like you say - he is a mess. Poor guy.

I'm in the Twins still need to add talent. The minor leagues are full of guys who can reach AAA some day. A few who will cap out at AAA are already there. One of the things that begins to stick out when one watches a ton of minor league baseball is talent. 

Rodriguez’s profile of taking pitches, walking a ton and striking out a ton is completely unsustainable at the MLB level, IMO. His AAA BB% is nearly 22. It won’t be anywhere within a country mile of that in the Majors. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto get walked at about a 18-20% rate. There’s hope…kinda, maybe, if his rare contact is resulting in a very high HR/XBH rate. Zero hope if he’s not hitting home runs and doing major damage with balls in the zone. And he hasn’t been doing much damage at all at the AAA level so far. 
 

To me, he doesn’t look even close to ready for the majors. He’s 22. I’m hoping for a comeback in 2026 with health, some tweaks, and the return of the power…don’t see how we could expect that to happen anywhere other than at the AAA level.