May 30th, 2024
Do-Hyoung Park
@dohyoungparkThis story was excerpted from Do-Hyoung Park’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS -- With Royce Lewis playing third base for Triple-A St. Paul on his rehab assignment for the first time on Tuesday, it seems that it’s only a matter of counting down the days until the Twins will have to find room for him on their roster.
How exactly will they make room? Now, that’s a good question.
Often, these sorts of situations tend to sort themselves out due to injury -- but that hasn’t happened yet. That could leave the Twins with a fairly thorny decision, with the difficulty of that call highlighted by how they earned their victory over the Royals on Tuesday, when RBI knocks from Jose Miranda, Manuel Margot and Edouard Julien accounted for all of their runs.
Those three are among the many possibilities who could create room for Lewis’ return, which could help to stabilize the offensive ebbs and flows that have caused the Twins’ Jekyll-and-Hyde routine throughout the season.
How could the Twins’ decision-making go when the time comes? Here’s some early thinking as to four potential scenarios.
1. Option Miranda
This would, on paper, be the easiest roster fit -- starting third baseman for starting third baseman. But it’s feeling less and less likely by the day that this would be the move, because the Twins very much need Miranda’s productive right-handed bat to balance their lineup.
Miranda’s two-run single on Tuesday and knock on Wednesday gave him a hit in 11 of his last 13 games, a span over which he’s hitting .302 with an .846 OPS and three homers. He has essentially been the everyday third baseman at this point, even against right-handed pitching, seemingly indicating the Twins could be willing to find him at-bats alongside Lewis.
“No, not really, I don't think about stuff like that,” Miranda said. “I just go out there and play. That's the only thing I can control, you know? Go out there and play, do my job and play hard. That's the whole thing I can take care of.”
2. Option an outfielder
This would perhaps be the option of least resistance, considering both Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach have Minor League options. There had been arguments for both: Kirilloff had severely struggled for much of the season, while Larnach had been almost exclusively limited to DH by lingering issues from the turf toe in his right foot.
But the last week-plus might have changed things. Larnach is feeling well enough to play outfield regularly -- and when he does, he’s the club’s primary leadoff hitter against righties. Kirilloff’s dormant bat has started to show signs of waking up, with a 1.103 OPS and three homers since May 17.
The Twins have made difficult option calls in the past -- but these guys are both hitting in the top three lineup spots on many days at the moment.
3. Option Julien
Julien was supposed to be the Twins’ leadoff hitter most days and a core fixture of their 2024 lineup, but he has deeply struggled against offspeed pitches, watching many go by for called third strikes in particular.
The Twins would be covered at second base with Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer able to platoon at the position -- but manager Rocco Baldelli has also indicated that his preference would be for Julien and his plate discipline to play his way out of the rut.
“He’s going to have to work his way through this,” Baldelli said. “There is no way around that. I’m not always a believer that sitting guys down and putting them on the side is the answer to getting them back to where they need to be.”
4. Part ways with a veteran
The Twins don’t like to make irreversible moves, but the deep struggles of both Manuel Margot and Kyle Farmer to start the season are getting more difficult to ignore -- and the organization has already broken the DFA glass this year in the move that got Jay Jackson off the 40-man roster.
Both Margot and Farmer have been relegated mostly to defensive replacement and platoon depth roles, with Austin Martin still available in Triple-A to backfill a spot in either the infield or outfield. Would the Twins be willing to make that call in June?
“It's good to have tough decisions like that,” Carlos Correa said. “It says a lot about the depth we have in this organization. When Royce comes back, unfortunately, he's going to take somebody's place. But I'm very excited to be playing next to Royce again. He's a generational talent that we need on the field.”
