Kyle Farmer Refuted

 

[Like the Darkness one from earlier, sometimes the perfect pun lines itself up and I kinda have to take it]

Jose Miranda's career so far: a surprising breakout season at a corner infield spot during a decent year for the Twins, then an appalling sophomore season that he spends most of in the minors, resulting in him not making the team out of camp this year. Something that has plagued Miranda since coming up is that unlike other MLB 'nepo babies', he's not defined by his relation to a former MLB player but rather his relation to a celebrity, namely his cousin, playwright and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, who...suffice to say has some unnerving nepotism connections of his own if you know where to look. There's no proof that Miranda made it up in the majors, and got the opportunities he's gotten, solely because his cousin wrote one of the most profitable Broadway musicals of the last decade. But until this year, the gameplay wasn't outdoing the name.

Now, ultimately, Jose Miranda is succeeding as a major league force. He's hitting .299 this year with 100 hits in as many games, 46 RBIs and 9 homers. Clearly the Twins have been looking for someone to be that corner contact guy since parting ways with Luis Arraez, and while Miranda clearly is not the everyman Arraez is, he's been one of the best Twins performers this year, and he's currently their highest active WAR performer on the hitting side. Ultimately, plugging Miranda in at third has been a very helpful tactic, and the team has been better for it.

That's the other thing, despite the loss of Carlos Correa, this Twins team has a pretty impressive number of great infield machinations right now. Miranda, Carlos Santana, Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis are the designated starters, but all of Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer and Austin Martin are in play as well. Castro made an All-Star team as a utility man, and Farmer, while not what he was with Cincinnati, is still useful as a bench piece. But having Santana and Lewis in the same infield, while both are hitting home runs, is a pretty great thing. Lewis has cooled down a little, and has settled at 15 homers, but you never know when he'll get hot again. Santana, meanwhile, continues his streak of seasons with 18-homers or more [not counting pandemic-shortened seasons], and looks to crack 20 for the ninth time in his career. 

The Twins, ultimately, have been cooling down in the last week due to their schedule getting tougher. Matches against the Padres and Cardinals didn't go well, and now they play the Braves and the red-hot Blue Jays. The Royals have lapped them in the standings, and even if they're both looking at playoff spots, getting the higher position is crucial if the Twins want to win a playoff series for the second year in a row. I do think they have a good enough team to manage, but doing it without Correa, Buxton or Ryan will be an uphill battle. Hopefully one or more of them comes back before October. 

But still, if Jose Miranda can keep the lights on while the big guns are hurt, that's not a bad thing either.

Coming Tomorrow- I met him when he played for the Twins. He wowed me when he played for the Phillies. And even now, he's still one of the most surprisingly durable pitchers in the game.