Minnesota went ahead and made some sneaky good offseason moves to make what could be a very good lineup for 2019. Eddie Rosario continues to be one of the better bats within the lineup, and is projected to hit leadoff most games. Jorge Polanco missed half of last season with a suspension, but when he came back he showed off his above average contact skills. Miguel Sano was a major disappointment in 2018, and he will look to try and rebound. This year the Twins have some contingency plans if his bat disappears again. They signed Nelson Cruz and C.J. Cron, who both have strong power from the right side of the plate. The Twins also added Jonathan Schoop, which is a nice replacement for Brian Dozier who they traded last season. If Byron Buxton can take a step forward and also run like the wind, this is going to be a very well rounded offense.
2019 Minnesota Twins Pitching Analysis
The Twins might be another solid arm or two away from being a real threat to the Indians this season. They were in the bottom ten in ERA last season, but that mainly came because of the lack of depth. They added Michael Pineda two years ago, but he missed last season with surgery. Having him back this year would help if he can resemble the same guy that came out of New York. Jose Berrios is the stud arm in this rotation, and he pitched 192 innings last season, which is a big positive for durability. Berrios also showed above average strikeout stuff, but his consistency was the biggest plus of 2018. He will headline this rotation again this season, hoping to push them back into postseason contention. They have added on the offensive side, but are hoping these names can take another step forward. Kyle Gibson upped his strikeout stuff last season, and finished with a 3.62 ERA. It might be tough to ask him to repeat, but these numbers next season would be a big help for this staff. Gibson keeps his groundball rate high, he should be able to duplicate these results.
Minnesota signed Jake Odorizzi last season, who played with Tampa Bay in his prior seasons. Odorizzi is a flyball right-hander, who started to even out his splits. He finished with a 4.49 ERA, and struggled more often than not. He is what he is that this point in his career, so expecting sudden change would not be wise. He should flirt with a mid four ERA again, and have some blowups. Pineda is due back, although coming off two major surgeries in the last season, we have to temper expectations. Pineda was a little bit erratic during his time in New York, and we have yet to see him pitch in Minnesota yet. League average numbers seem to be where most of his projections sit for this season. Adalberto Mejia is expected to take a major jump in innings as the number five starter. Not sure this is a huge positive, but the Twins need a fifth arm. Mejia has shown below average strikeout stuff in the majors, and through 122 innings in the major he has a 5.15 xFIP.
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