Brock Beauchamp

Here is a brief tutorial. As a long time TD user, you can skim several of the early parts.

The Minnesota Twins Players Project is wrapping up its second week of existence. Here are the most popular players pages of the past week. Two weeks ago we launched the Minnesota Twins Players Project. We're nearing 50 players added to the project, let's look at some of the most popular of the past week. What is the Players Project? It's a community-driven, wiki-style project that focuses on Twins players of all stripes. It's open to all Twins Daily users and we've had contributions for current players, past players, and players who never even made the major leagues but played in the Twins farm system. 1. Royce Lewis Kudos to @CoasterProductions for being the first person courageous enough to add a popular and/or great Twins player. Up until the creation of Lewis, no one had created a page for a player of his caliber. That means we still need someone to create pages for current greats like Byron Buxton, Pablo Lopez or Carlos Correa and past greats like Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Rod Carew, etc... *hint hint* Unsurprisingly, the moment the Lewis page was created, it became wildly popular with users, collecting nearly 1,000 reads. But the page could use more video, trivia, and biography information. Feel up to the task? 2. Bobby Darwin While I love seeing people collect cool videos for current Twins players, guys like Darwin are what really got me invested in this project. Did you know that Bobby Darwin received a single MLB plate appearance with the Angels at age 19 and then didn't make another MLB appearance for seven more years? That's the kind of oddity that I love about this project. Props to @Greglw3 for digging up such an interesting tidbit on Darwin. 3. Jason Kubel Man, what could have been with Kubel. Once a pretty athletic corner outfielder on the cusp of being an MLB All-Star, he grenaded his knee in the Arizona Fall League and was almost immediately relegated to designated hitter duties for the rest of his career. Still, who doesn't remember that grand slam against Mo Rivera? While I created Kubel's page myself, a thanks goes out to @MMMordabito for coming back around and adding some interesting trivia I had forgotten, such as the fact that Kubel hit the first home run at Target Field! The Minnesota Twins Players Project is open to all Twins Daily users. If you're a Twins history buff or just want to dive into the background of your favorite player, come on board! View full article

Don’t see the upside in running a contact play with Buxton at the plate. He hits the ball too damned hard.

Josh Willingham was born in Florence, Alabama. He was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 17th round of the 2000 MLB Draft. He played in Miami for several years before playing two seasons with the Washington Nationals and another with the Oakland A's. On December 5, 2011 Willingham signed a three year, $21 million free agent contract with the Twins. Minnesota was coming off a disastrous 2011 campaign, with the team finishing the season 63-99 after winning the division in 2009 and 2010. In 2012, Willingham had what is probably the best season of his career, posting an .890 OPS with 35 home runs as the Twins continued their slide into oblivion, posting a 66-96 record. That offseason, Twins fans were torn between trading Willingham and going into a full rebuild or keeping the veteran slugger in hopes of staying respectable. Terry Ryan, now in his second stint as General Manager of the Twins, decided to keep Willingham. That decision was likely a mistake, as Willingham's back issues began to take hold of his career. In 2013, he played only 111 games and posted a 96 OPS+. As a left fielder with a bad back, that put him close to a replacement-player level of play. In 2014, Minnesota was once against the worst team in the American League Central and Willingham was dished off to the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline for right-handed pitcher Jason Adam, who never pitched in Minnesota. Josh Willingham retired following the 2014 season. View full player

I was including minor leaguers, who also qualify for this project (but obviously, will not be as popular to create).

Richard Warren Aguilera was born in San Gabriel, California and was originally drafted by the St Louis Cardinals in the 1980 MLB Draft. He declined to sign and instead attended Brigham Young University. He was drafted again in 1983 by the New York Mets and signed. He made his MLB debut in 1985 and the Mets used him primarily as a starting pitching from 1985-1988. In 1989, he moved to the bullpen and was later traded to the Minnesota Twins in the Frank Viola blockbuster trade at the trade deadline. With the Twins, Aguilera became one of the best closers in baseball, posting an ERA of 2.77 and collecting 149 saves from 1990-1993. As the Twins headed into organizational freefall through the mid-90s, Aguilera was traded to the Boston Red Sox at the 1995 trade deadline, bringing Frankie Rodriguez to the Twins. At the end of the 1995 season, Aguilera became a free agent and promptly returned to Minnesota. He started 19 games in 1996, posting a 5.42 ERA. In 1997, he returned to the bullpen and never started another major league game. In 1999, Aguilera was once again traded by the Twins, this time to the Chicago Cubs, with Kyle Lohse going to the Twins. Aguilera pitched with the Cubs through the 2000 season, at which point he retired from Major League Baseball. In all, Aguilera played parts of 11 seasons with the Twins and is second in all-time saves for the Twins, just behind Joe Nathan. View full player

Jason James Kubel, born in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, was drafted by the Twins late in the 2000 MLB Draft. Kubel broke out in rookie ball in 2001, posting a .922 OPS. He continued to skyrocket through the Twins system as a toolsy corner outfielder, culminating with him playing in the 2004 Futures Game on his way to a 1.022 OPS across Double- and Triple-A that season. He was such a force that year the Twins called him up on August 31st and he played 23 MLB games that season. Disaster struck later that fall as Kubel was playing in the Arizona Fall League and suffered a knee injury, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2005 season. Heading into that season, Baseball America had Kubel ranked as the 17th best prospect in baseball. When Kubel returned to baseball in 2006, he was no longer the same player. Once a capable athlete, lingering knee soreness plagued Kubel for the rest of his career and he quickly transitioned to being a full-time designated hitter. Nonetheless, Kubel was a left-handed force in the Twins lineup. During seven seasons of play with the Twins, Kubel posted a .794 OPS, good for a 112 OPS+. After reaching free agency, Kubel signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and also played briefly with the Cleveland Indians. In 2014, he returned to Minnesota where he played 45 games with the Twins, ending his MLB career. View full player

One week into this ambitious project and we already have some great contributions to share. Six days ago we launched the Minnesota Twins Players Project. Since that time, we've seen about 50 people contribute to the project, adding players, editing biographies, and finding cool links to share about their favorite players. What is the Players Project? It's a community-driven, wiki-style project that focuses on Twins players of all stripes. It's open to all Twins Daily users and we've had contributions for current players, past players, and players who never even made the major leagues but played in the Twins farm system. Let's look at some of the most popular entries of the first week: 1. Willians Astudillo Is anyone even a little bit surprised that the most-read entry is of The Turtle? A fan favorite across baseball, Astudillo is just... fun. Everything about him is a little bit odd, a little bit silly and we love him for all of it. The highlight of the entry has to be this: "In a relief appearance, Astudillo threw 7 pitches too slow to be read by the normal radar gun." 2. José Miranda Miranda was once a jewel of the Twins farm system but he now finds himself on the outside, looking in. With the injury to Royce Lewis on Opening Day, many thought that Miranda would receive the call-up and take Lewis's spot in Minnesota. Instead, Austin Martin received the call and Miranda is still a prospect without a position. It makes sense why he has been a popular search recently and received the second-most reads in the project. 3. Lew Ford LEWWWWWWWWWWW. Did you know that Ford's first name is Jon? I didn't until @Cody Christie created this page and wrote a brief biography on the old fan favorite. Ford is still in baseball at the ripe old age of 47, having recently transitioned to become the manager of the Long Island Ducks. Several thousand players have played for the Minnesota Twins over the past 60 years. The Players Project only has pages for about 40 of them. The Twins have seven Hall of Fame players and not a single one of them has a page. Out of the 26 players currently on the Twins roster, only Griffin Jax has his own page. Want to get involved with the Players Project? If you have a Twins Daily account, that's all you need to get started. Kirby Puckett needs a page, folks! Or maybe Carlos Correa. Or maybe... Create Your Favorite Player's Page Today View full article

It sounds like even a minor version of Lewis's injury takes a player out for a few weeks. A moderate version of the injury could be six weeks.

Jose Francisco Miranda was born in Manati, Puerto Rico and was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft. After muddling through the minors for several years (posting an OPS of .760 or lower at every level higher than rookie ball), the Twins left Miranda unprotected in the Rule 5 draft following the 2020 season. Due to Miranda's weak offensive production in High A that season, he went undrafted. The following season he broke out in a big way, posting a .973 OPS across Double A and Triple A in 2021. He made his MLB debut in the 2022 season and posted a strong rookie campaign, posting a 114 OPS+ in 483 plate appearances. He was expected to play a large role on the 2023 Twins but suffered a right shoulder injury in Spring Training and then faced several setbacks throughout the season. He finished the 2023 season with only 153 major league plate appearances. View full player

Charlie Manuel was born in Northfolk, West Virginia in 1944. He made his major league debut with the Twins on April 8, 1969 against the Kansas City Royals. He played four seasons with the Twins, used mostly as a corner outfielder and pinch-hitter. In four seasons, he accumulated only 413 plate appearances and posted a OPS+ of just 53. Manuel retired after the 1975 season and went on to have an extremely successful coaching and managing career for decades. View full player

Randy Bush was the type of player we see consistently in modern baseball but was an oddity during his era of the 1980s and early 90s. Born in Dover, DE he went to the University of New Orleans before being drafted by the Twins in 1979. He would play his entire professional career with the Minnesota Twins. Bush was a strict platoon player throughout his career, never accumulating more than 466 plate appearances in a season. As a left-handed platoon player, he was used as a corner outfielder, designated hitter, and occasionally at first base. View full player

Willi Castro was born in Puerto Rico but went undrafted and was signed as an international free agent by the Cleveland Indians in 2013. Later traded to the Detroit Tigers, he made his major league debut in 2019. He struggled offensively with the Tigers, posting a .683 OPS (87 OPS+) and after the 2022 season, the Tigers declined to offer him arbitration, making him a free agent. He was invited to Spring Training by the Twins in 2023 as a non-roster invitee and narrowly made the Twins' roster on Opening Day as the 26th man on the roster. After receiving only 40 plate appearances in April of that season, Castro started to heat up and had what was far and away the most successful season of his career to that point, posting a .750 OPS (106 OPS+). He was also a threat on the basepaths, swiping 34 bags while being caught only five times. View full player

Shannon Harold Stewart was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 1992 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut in 1995. He played several seasons with the Blue Jays before being traded to the Twins for sabermetric darling Bobby Kielty on July 16, 2003. Stewart went on to be a critical part of the Twins' 2003 push to the postseason, posting an .854 OPS over 65 games with the Twins as they won their second consecutive American League Central championship. He was such a large impact on the Twins' second-half surge that he finished fourth in the American League MVP voting that season. A free agent after the 2003 season, Stewart re-signed with the Twins on a three year, $18 million contract. He concluded his Twins career after the 2006 season having played three and a half seasons in Minnesota and accumulating 4.9 Baseball-Reference WAR. Stewart retired following the 2008 season. View full player

James Griffin Jax was born in Phoenix, Arizona and attended Cherry Creek High School in Colorado. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013 but declined to sign and instead opted to go to the Air Force Academy. He was drafted again by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft. Jax made his major league debut on June 8, 2021. He was largely unsuccessful as a starting pitcher before transferring to the bullpen full time in 2022, where he broke out by posting a 3.36 ERA and 3.17 FIP on the season. Jax has continued to be a vital cog in the Twins late-inning bullpen since that time. View full player