One exercise that is fun, and in the interest of full disclosure gets a lot of people reading and talking, is ranking things in order as a “power ranking.” No seriously, if you call something a “power ranking” you’re guaranteed to see traffic go through the roof. I’m thinking of calling my podcast “power ranking.”
OK, I’m kidding.
But it’s a fun exercise to apply to a team’s 25-man roster. My general theory — and this can be altered if viewers think there is a better way — is to base a player’s ranking on how they’ve played to date, with a bit more weight placed on recent performance. We’ll also consider myriad reasons why players might be doing better than others, such as role the player was used in and so on, but at the very least, this is to get people talking.
Ready?
- Miguel Sano
Maybe I’ll take some heat for this, but Sano has been incredible. Here’s a list of offensive players with a higher fWAR than Sano:
- Mike Trout
- Bryce Harper
- Paul Goldschmidt
- Freddie Freeman
If I get heat for him over Santana, I can handle it. The defense at third base has been a pleasant surprise, too.
- Ervin Santana
My #NotAnAce take has gotten me some well-deserved heat, but there’s no arguing that he’s been tremendous this season for the Twins. The results (1.80 ERA) don’t match the peripherals (6.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9), but that’s fine. They don’t have to in small sample sizes. Is he going to post an ERA under 2.00 all season? I wouldn’t even take odds on under 3.00, honestly. But he’s far and away the best pitcher on this roster, and that’s good enough for No. 2 on this list. Now, will he remain a Twin through the end of the season? That’s another contentious online debate for another day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN7tTqitcmg
- Max Kepler
He’s hitting a sturdy .270/.362/.468, playing a decent right field and has handled whatever batting order spot manager Paul Molitor has put him in. He takes walks, doesn’t strike out much and has good line drive pop. He’s not an All-Star, but could be in the near future.
- Brian Dozier
Was off to a bit of a slow start but has leveled out to a .253/.346/.430 line through 39 games. He’s been really, really good in May, too: .269/.383/.522. A Facebook commenter recently said “If Dozier didn’t hit home runs, he wouldn’t be very valuable!” Yeah, well if my aunt had…you know what, nevermind. Dozier is #very #good and that’s all you need to know right now.
- Robbie Grossman
We’re coming up on a full season worth of games for ROBBIE and he’s done a really nice job taking walks and still doing damage when he puts the ball in play. He’s walking more frequently (19.1 percent) than he’s striking out (16 percent) this season and is still slugging a respectable .415. He’s not a great defender, but he looks a bit better than last year out there. It doesn’t hurt to mix and match him at DH and left field with Rosario or Vargas, either. It might make sense for him to lead off, with Dozier batting lower in the order.
- Jose Berrios
I was almost tempted to put him higher, because he’s been really, really impressive. Not only is the 1.66 ERA through three starts with more than a strikeout per inning and 0.55 WHIP off-the-charts great, but he’s done so with three tough matchups. Cleveland and Baltimore in their home yards are never easy, and Colorado is one of the under-the-radar solid offenses in the game. Houston will be a tough challenge next time out, but so far he’s been up to the task. Lack of innings keeps him from being as high as No. 3 on this list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qpgzp45ePU
- Tyler Duffey
It’s not surprising that Duffey has taken to his bullpen role with aplomb, but he’s handled whatever Molitor has thrown at him while posting a 2.31 ERA with more than a strikeout per inning. He’s also walking no one (24-3 K/UIBB ratio) and allowing less than a baserunner per inning (0.94 WHIP). Pressly might be better of late, but the full body of work favors Duffey. Luckily, Molitor can choose from both.
- Jorge Polanco
The overall offensive line is subpar (.262/.317/.379, 88 wRC+), but oddly enough Polanco’s defense has solidified the Twins up the middle, which is very important. The approach is still good for Polanco, too, as he’s walking 8.1 percent of the time and striking out just 8.7 percent. The hits will come.
- Brandon Kintzler
He’s a non-traditional closer but he’s done a wonderful job. He’s inducing tons of grounders, has exhibited fairly good command of an evolving repertoire and doesn’t back down from anyone. He probably deserves to be higher on the list, but I favor the guy who works multiple roles (Duffey) over the guy locked into one. The difference between Nos. 7 and 9 is a coin flip, anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nKpIf7wzZA
- Taylor Rogers
Rogers has done a fine job this season in middle relief for the Twins — 3.52 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 7.0 K/9 — and oddly enough has allowed a lower OPS to righties (.649) than lefties (.733). He rewarded Molitor’s patience with him by retiring some righties in the eighth inning of Thursday’s sweep-clinching win over the Orioles, too. He may not keep up these splits, but he’ll settle into a more useful role the more he can get righties out.
- Ryan Pressly
The overall numbers haven’t been pretty (6.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP), but he’s settled in of late. Over his last five appearances, Pressly has eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings with a 1.69 ERA and .578 OPS against. The heat is looking good and both the slider and curve had made batters look foolish lately. With Belisle struggling, Pressly and Duffey are working closer toward setup work.
- Byron Buxton
He’s still working through a rough offensive start to the season, but his defense and speed have not slumped. He’s made numerous incredible plays in the outfield and is a big reason why the Twins are first in defensive efficiency so far this season. Buxton was dreadful offensively in April (.433 OPS) but has been markedly better in May (.241/.305/.407). With a full season line like that and how he’s playing defensively, Buxton could be a three-win player.
- Joe Mauer
Mauer is hitting a so-so .266/.338/.367, but like Buxton has turned it on in May (.912 OPS) after an abysmal April (.546). Buxton gets the edge here because his defensive plays have more impact than Mauer’s do.
- Jason Castro
Castro has done little offensively outside of taking walks (13.8 percent rate, .200/.317/.343 line), but he’s done a great job behind the plate. It’d be hard to quantify exactly how much he’s helped back there, but the Twins have sliced nearly a run (4.17) off last season’s ERA (5.09) without much in the way of altered personnel. Baseball Prospectus has Castro worth 2.2 framing runs — tied for 10th — which is pretty impressive since he’s still learning the staff.
- Hector Santiago
Hector has done fine (3.96 ERA), but it seems unlikely he’ll be able to keep it up (4.85 FIP). He’s consistently been a FIP-beater in his career, but he’s under 2.0 K/BB and keeps the ball in the air. Basically, he is who he is — a fairly good pitcher but not much of a needle mover.
- Kennys Vargas
A lack of walks has undermined his batting line (.270/.295/.527), and he only has 78 plate appearances so it’s hard to draw any real definitive conclusions. He did hit that home run against the Royals, though. That was awesome.
- Eduardo Escobar
He’d be No. 1 if the rankings were on guys who are fun in the clubhouse. Instead, he’s had trouble getting the bat going with sporadic playing time. He’s an excellent utility player. There’s nothing much more to say.
- Eddie Rosario
Rosario’s had a rough go of it, as he’s hitting just .248/.273/.380 through 41 games. He’s had stretches where it looks like he’s figured some things out, and others where he flails away as though he has no idea where the strike zone is whatsoever. The talent is here for a star. The execution is lacking.
- Craig Breslow
The numbers are good and he’s inducing grounders more than ever, but he’s not pitching in big spots. He’s made 17 appearances, and has only two where the leverage index (Baseball Reference) iwas over 1.0.
- Ehire Adrianza
He’s made some nice defensive plays and is 5-for-13 (.385). With that said, he’s only played in six games and doesn’t really have much of a bat track record to fall back on.
- Chris Gimenez
He’s great behind the plate and runs into a ball every now and then. He’s exactly what you want from a backup catcher. He’s also a good clubhouse guy.
- Matt Belisle
The 36-year-old has been wholly unimpressive through 18 appearances spanning 15 innings, though it’s been really feast or famine with him. Eleven of his 13 earned runs this season came in the span of two appearances (totaling one inning).
- Justin Haley
There’s nothing much to get too excited about here. The ERA is bad, Molitor doesn’t seem to want to use him and he’s battled some arm issues this season. He’s worked just three times this month, and just once in the last 11 days.
- Adam Wilk
He was pretty good in that mop-up outing. Otherwise: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Kyle Gibson
Gibson being bad automatically puts him in the bottom four, and what hurts him the most is the number of innings he’s thrown (31.1) in comparison to Wilk, Haley or Belisle (37.1 combined). The tools are here for Gibson to do the things non-2016 Rick Porcello does. He just hasn’t put it together.
Listen to Brandon on Midwest Swing
