 |
| Escobar and Hicks could play key roles for Twins |
The saying goes, ‘hit and we’ll find a spot for you,’
what if you do everything but hit, is there still a spot available? Hicks’
fielding percentage in centerfield is .995. He already has a short list of
highlight reel catches and stolen home runs. He’s 25-years-old and a defensive
wizard on a team where the previous two staples in centerfield were gold glove
winners Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter.
Defensively, he’s the best option. His top
competition in center is 28-year-old Jordan
Schafer who has a comparable .992 fielding percentage in five major league
seasons. Last year’s rookie phenom Danny
Santana had a .977 fielding percentage, not bad for a shortstop playing out
of position, but certainly inferior to Hicks and Schafer’s defensive skills. On
top of that, Santana is expected to become the everyday shortstop in 2015.
Santana finished seventh in Rookie of the Year
voting in 2014 hitting .319 with seven home runs and 40 RBI.
That leads us to Eduardo Escobar who would fit nicely into a utility role, mainly
serving as Santana’s backup at short. Thing is, Escobar dating back to late
2014, has been arguably the Twins best player.
Last year Escobar finished with the second-highest
doubles total among MLB shortstops. This spring, he's picked up where he left
off. Through five games he’s hitting .400 with a 1.067 OPS. A .986 fielding
percentage at short makes for a rarity in baseball, a solid fielding shortstop
who can hit. By comparison Santana on a smaller sample size fielded at a .983
clip.
If things weren’t getting cluttered enough, enter Eddie Rosario, a top Twins prospect who
early on this spring has shown signs of being ready for the show.
Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony has said about Rosario, “He's a guy that can play center field. He's a guy that could jump right
into that competition with the Schafers and Hicks and of the world. So keep an eye
on him as spring progresses."
Rosario is hitting .313 with a .750 slugging and two
home runs in seven games thus far in spring ball while playing the centerfield
spot. A guy who was looked at as the future second baseman of this franchise,
up until Brian Dozier cemented his spot as one of the game’s best at the
position.
What makes the Hicks situation all the more
challenging is his mental makeup. After his rookie season in the big leagues,
he decided against playing winter ball because he wanted some time away from
the game. A point where most guys, after a taste of the show, would work harder
just to stay there, Hicks pumped the breaks much to the dismay of former
manager Ron Gardenhire.
He has already caught the ire of new manager Paul Molitor with a mental lapse and
base running blunder.
On Tuesday, Hicks was on first base with two outs
when Eddie Nunez lofted a fly to right. Instead of running all out, Hicks went
halfway between first and second. When the ball was caught for the third out,
he ran back to first. It was his second mental mistake in as many days. The day
before, he got caught too far off second base and was picked off by the catcher.
So the scenario goes, should Hicks live up to
expectations, the centerfield spot is his for the taking, should he falter, be
it at the plate or mentally, the Twins have options with Schafer who is steady
and reliable, but limited talent wise. Or do they give the young star to be
Rosario his first taste of big league action?
As for shortstop, the Twins have two strong
candidates, should Hicks struggle and Escobar continue to overachieve, perhaps
they revert to 2014 and send Santana back to centerfield.
It’s quite a quandary Paul Molitor has inherited. As
he builds his team up the middle, we’re left wondering, are the Twins deep at
two key positions, or thin at both? The answer rests upon on the shoulders of
Aaron Hicks.
No comments:
Post a Comment