BALTIMORE — The Minnesota Twins are getting an extended look at some of their top prospects.
So far, they like what they see.
Mainly, manager Paul Molitor will have the opportunity to keep center fielder Byron Buxton and designated hitter Miguel Sano in the lineup. The two started for the second straight night in Baltimore and they had two hits apiece in the 4-3 victory Friday.
Sano has shown he could be a fixture in the lineup for years to come. On Thursday, he became the fastest player in club history to reach 10 home runs (41 games).
“He’s one of those guys that you start looking at the composite numbers and how it’s starting to add up in a relatively short time,” Molitor said. “I saw where he was the fastest Twin in history to 10 home runs and things like that. He’s comfortable and I think the fact that he’s had to adjust to the DH role and serve in a huge spot in our lineup, and nothing seems to slow him down. We all thought he was ahead offensively in his game rather than his defense and he’s just looked like he’s been here for a long time the way he takes his at-bats.”
Buxton was recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday after Aaron Hicks was placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. It is the second stint with the Twins for Buxton this season. He was originally called up June 13 but suffered a sprained left thumb almost two weeks later that forced him to miss more than a month of the season.
Buxton adds a new dimension to the lineup because of his speed and ability to steal bases.
“It’s going to be a big part of his game,” Molitor said. “I think as a whole, as an industry, I think we’ve seen the stolen base maybe kind of make a little bit of a resurgence here in the past few years. Guys that can do that and how it leads to opportunities to score runs when picking up that 90 feet. I know he’s studious enough to take advantage of opportunities and he’s gifted enough to have the speed to do it. It’s something that we worked on even in his DL time. It was something that he was able to work on. We got out there a lot and talked about leads and jumps and physically trying to get him in the best position to be successful.”
Hicks was batting .283 (28-for-99) with three doubles, one triple, five home runs, 14 RBIs and 16 runs scored in his last 24 games. The Twins are hoping for some of the same productivity from Buxton, who hit .400 (22-for-55) with three doubles, one triple, one home run, eight RBIs and 11 runs scored in 13 games for Triple-A Rochester.
Another young player that has looked solid is rookie Tyler Duffy. He picked up his second win and threw a career-high 7 2/3 innings against the Orioles on Thursday. He has also struck out 16 over three starts.
Rookie outfielder Eddie Rosario is batting .327 with three triples, two home runs and 10 RBIs in his last 12 games. This has only added to the optimism for the future.
“This is probably the best we’ve seen in terms of optimism about a young multiple group of players that are going to be really influential on where this team is going,” Molitor said.
