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. 

The Team Where It Happens

 

[Yes, I am allowed to make this joke, it's his cousin]

The Twins are an odd team. I feel like they've only been competitive when Byron Buxton has been healthy.

You look around that other teams that have great players and they don't have that issue. The Angels have had Trout and Ohtani healthy and have still failed to compete. The Phillies were able to compete even without Bryce Harper. But the Twins's status as a team to beat seemed to start and end with Byron Buxton. When he was here, the team was in first place. Now they're in third and under .500 and I'm not even sure he'll be back this season.

Look, people are gonna say what they will about the Angels wasting Trout or the Mets wasting deGrom, but Byron Buxton is gonna be 29 next year and the Twins have barely even sniffed a deep rung of the playoffs. Remember, they haven't had a playoff win since 2002 [they beat the Moneyball A's in the ALDS!], and have had so many great Baldelli teams that haven't amounted in anything tangible. It's looking like they're gonna miss the postseason this year as well, and even if Buxton is locked up for a while, a lot of people, such as Carlos Correa, Miguel Sano, Gary Sanchez, Sonny Gray, Chris Archer and possibly more, are gonna be leaving after this season.

The good news is the attempt made this year to replenish the team without completely bottoming out has worked. People like Joe Ryan, Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon have taken larger roles after being also-rans for a bit. Of course, the rookies have been helping as well. Jose Miranda came up as a potential backup corner infield piece and now is doing Miguel Sano's job better than he did, hitting .270 with 15 homers and 64 RBIs. Matt Wallner already has a homer in his first 4 games. Gilberto Celestino has blossomed into an above-average defensive outfielder. Josh Winder and Bailey Ober are both healthy and pitching well in starting spots. 

It's obviously not a perfect team, and I'm honestly intrigued how this team will look next year with a lot of these veterans gone. I wanna see who comes into their own and inherits the team. Moreover I wanna see how a lot of the sophomores who spent most of this year injured, like Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach and Ryan Jeffers, do after being activated. There's a lot that could just use a replenished year for this team, and with Baldelli managing, I guess we can't completely count the Twins out.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie pitcher for a team similarly trying to find its next chapter.