2002 Minnesota Twins Mid-Season Report

This first mid-season installment will deal with the position players. Second installment will deal with the pitching staff.

Player stats will be listed in this order (Avg, HR, RBI, Runs, SB, Total bases)

Catchers:
A.J. Pierzynski is having an All-Star year. Pierzynski’s stats stand at .325, 4, 27, 35, 1, 106). For most of the year Pierzynski has been hitting seventh or eighth. But in the latest series vs the Phillies he was moved up to fifth. This was partly done because of Pierzynski’s stats, but mainly because Koskie and Oritz have been awful the past month. Fantasy Spin- If you are hurting at catching, and nobody has snatched up Pierzynski, grab him. Tom Prince is the back-up catching and has been doing a fine job. Prince though, has no fantasy value.

First Base:
Doug Mientkiewicz was coming of a 2001 season where he batted over .300. He hasn’t come close to matching that average all season. He has not been seeing the same pitches as he did the first few months last year, but he also has not produced when pitchers have made mistakes. Mientkiewicz continues to hit third, mainly because he is third in the league in walks (right behind Thome and Delgado). Mientkiewicz is only hitting .255, but has an on base percentage of .399. Fantasy Spin- Right now Mientkiewicz’s only value is a back-up in very large, deep fantasy leagues.

Second Base:
Ofter missing 2 months with a broken wrist, 2B Luis Rivas is finally back playing. Last year Rivas had a solid rookie season, and is only now rounding into form in his sophmore season. Now healthy, I believe Rivas has a chance to be one of the top 2nd baseman in the AL. His biggest contribution will be in the stolen bases category. Once the Twins are done with interleague play, look for Rivas to attempt for SB’s. Hitting eighth, with the pitching hitting behind him, has not allowed him to try many SB’s. Fantasy Spin- Rivas is a definite starting in all types of fantasy leagues.

Shortstop:
SS Cristian Guzman has been the biggest disappointment among positional players. Guzman hit .302 last season, and has come no where close to that this year. Guzman has played with no passion or enthusiasm all year. Twins officials are quietly concerned about Guzman’s attitude. With as much talent as Guzman has, he could be a top 5 SS in the AL. Fantasy Spin- Guzman should not be your starting fantasy SS. He needs to be watched, however, because in the last two weeks, his average has slowly been climbing.

Third Base:
After Guzman, 3B Corey Koskie has had the most disappointing season. Last year he hit 27 HR’s, had over 100 RBI’s and over 20 SB’s. This year he is on pace to hit only .250, with 15 HR’s and 75 RBI’s. For the Twins to stay in contention, Koskie needs to get hot and stay hot for a long stretch of games. Fantasy Spin- Koskie should be benched until he starts heating up. Once he gets hot, he is a definite fantasy starter. Keep an one on his 7-10 day stats, and once you seem him getting hot, plug him back into your line-up.

Outfield:
The OF has carried the Twins not only offensively, but defensively as well. LF Jacque Jones is having a career year. Jones stats so far look like this- ..306, 11, 51, 48, 5, 147. Jones in in the league leaders in RBI’s and should hopefully get more opportunities with a healthy Luis Rivas batting ninth. CF Torii Hunter showed us last year what kind of talent he was, and has shown some improvement this year. Hunter is batting .295, 16, 50, 47, 10, 156. Hunter’numbers are good, but consider this stat: Hunter is batting .200 with runners in scoring position. Imagine if he was hitting only .250, his RBI total would be leading the league. Once Hunter starts producing in the clutch, he will be one of the top fantasy OF’s in baseball. RF was a huge question mark going into the season. It has now become the deepest position in the Twins organization. Dustan Mohr has taken over the starting job in RF. Mohr won the PCL batting title last year, but was considered a long shot to win the job for the big club this year. Well, he has proved all experts wrong. Mohr is a very good defensive outfielder and has show consistency with the bat. He his batting over .300 and has gotten clutch hits for the Twins. Fantasy Spin- Jones and Hunter are both must have’s and must starters in all fantasy leagues. Mohr may have some value in AL only leagues, or huge leagues 20 team leagues with deep rosters.

Bench:
The Twins bench has been doing a nice job this year. There hasn’t been much lost when a starter gets the day off and a bench player gets playing time. Both C, 1B, DH Matthew LeCroy and RF Bobby Kielty have given a boast to the offense. LeCroy has been shuffled back and forth from Edmonton to the Twins this season. When LeCroy gets an opportunity, he has produced. LeCroy posses great power. RF Bobby Kielty has also solidified the RF position. Kielty is a switch hitter and has been hitting over .300 all season. IF Denny Hocking has gone back to his super sub status with Rivas now healthy. Hocking can play just about every position and always gives 100 %. DH’s David Ortiz and Brian Buchanan have not had good years. Ortiz just can’t seem to stay away from injuries. The past two years Ortiz has gotten off to good starts only to get injured. When he has come back, he has struggled. The same goes with Buchanan. Buchanan left spring training as the starting RF. But then a back injury occurred, and Buchanan lost the RF job to Dustan Mohr. Playing time has been tough to get the past month. Fantasy Spin- No Twins bench player is worth having on your team.

Minor League Position Players:
The Twins have three top positional prospects in their organization. Mid season update on how each of them is doing.

OF Michael Cuddyer (Triple A – Edmonton) - .335 avg, 17 HR, 40 RBI
OF Michael Restovich (Triple A – Edmonton) - .298 avg, 14 HR, 53 RBI
C Joe Mauer (Single A – Quad City) - .306, 3 HR, 35 RBI