Just when we thought the Twins’ lineup was more or less set for the upcoming campaign, a passing comment from Ron Gardenhire turned everything we knew on its head. Since the start of spring training, the common assumption was that the lineup would look something like this:
C: Mauer
1B: Morneau
2B: Casilla
SS: Carroll
3B: Valencia
LF: Revere
CF: Span
RF: Willingham
DH: Doumit
Bench: Butera, Plouffe, Hughes, Nishioka
That all changed on Sunday when Gardy made the following comment when asked about the Twins outfield “Let’s call Willingham my left fielder”. Boom. In one sentence, Gardy took what had been a fairly mundane and by-the-book spring training and made it extremely interesting as we have a little bit of a roster competition brewing in the last weeks of spring training.
Since Willingham was signed, it appeared that he was destined to play right field, despite being primarily a left fielder during most of his career. The thought was that Ben Revere (the supposed starting left fielder…more on that in a minute) didn’t have the arm strength to play right, thus forcing Willingham into right simply by necessity.
With Gardy changing things up and moving Willingham back to his natural position, the rest of the roster seems primed for a shake-up. Ben Revere, once thought to be cemented into a starting role (or at the very least in a platoon with Trevor Plouffe) has lost some momentum with management according to various beat reporters following the Twins this spring. In fact, when listing his right field options Gardy included surging hitter Chris Parmelee. In addition, Gardy has referred to Revere as likely being "the team's 4th outfielder" in a recent interview with Twins media members.
But wait – there’s more! The story keeps building on this one move:
For a majority of the spring, it was assumed that Parmelee was going to be the victim of a talent logjam, losing out a roster spot simply because Morneau, Mauer and Doumit all stood in his way. Being included in the right field race opens the door a little bit wider for Parmelee to make the team on opening day.
Even if Parmelee doesn’t make the team as a starting right fielder, he will likely make the team as the starting first baseman. In addition to the outfield shakeup, Gardy has been trying new things in the infield that could indicate his intentions to start the season. Over the past two weeks Morneau has been used primarily as a DH and there seems to be a consensus in the organization that Parmelee has essentially played his way onto the roster.
The Twins front office has been impressed not only with his power and ability to hit for average (around .600 this spring) but also Parmelee’s increased plate discipline. In the end, it may just be that Parmelee is playing too good to leave off the starting roster.
These moves have further trickle down effects. It was originally assumed that Doumit was going to be utilized as primarily a DH, meaning the Twins would have to carry 3 catchers to accommodate days when Doumit DH’d and Mauer caught. If Morneau becomes the primary DH, that frees up Doumit to act as an outfielder (right field), back up 1B or even as the catcher for Mauer’s off days. Essentially, Drew Butera loses his roster spot because he is no longer necessary for “insurance” (The Twins offense just got better with that move alone…)
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| Sorry Drew... |
Between Revere’s falling star and Parmelee’s amazing spring play, this offense is starting to look more dangerous and is actually posing a few problems for the Twins (mainly too much talent, too few positions to play them. This is also known as ‘a good problem to have’). Assuming that things break the way we discussed above, I would theorize the Twins’ opening day lineup would look like this:
C: Mauer
1B: Parmelee
2B: Casilla
SS: Carroll
3B: Valencia
LF: Willingham
CF: Span
RF: Doumit
DH: Morneau
(Essentially the Twins would shift to a rotating platoon in RF based on the situation / other starters. Doumit starts in RF if Mauer catches, Plouffe or Parmelee fill in as needed in right when Mauer is at 1B and Doumit catches and Revere acts as a rotating OF / defensive replacement late in games).
This roster is something the 2011 roster was not; deep. The outfield has potential backups in Revere
It's also entirely possible that Plouffe starts the season on the DL due to a hamstring injury. In that case the Twins could be bold and let Joe Benson start the year in the majors and platoon him based on where Doumit is playing, but I'd wager they would likely fill the spot with Brian Dinkleman in the short term.
Further more, how much more formidable is this offense now that a third catcher is unlikely to be a necessity? Parmelee, Morneau (when healthy) Doumit, Willingham , Valencia
Following 2011, it was easy to feel a little down on the Twins. Suddenly, however, this logjam of talent has this fan in particular even more optimistic about a turn around in 2012 and at the very least watching a competitive team for most of this season.
[1] Hughes is out of options but would likely make the team anyway with his play this spring. He swings the bat well and is a capable infield backup for both Casilla and Carroll.
[2] The Twins want to keep Doumit's bat in the lineup, so I could see RF as being the best destination for a majority of his games. On days where Doumit is catching or DHing, look for Plouffe or Revere to start based on the starting pitcher matchup.
[3] I see the Twins using Revere Revere
[4] Burroughs has swung the bat well and can play nearly every infield position. He beats out Dozier only because the Twins want Dozier to see everyday at bats.
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