Improved outfield defense a major reason for Twins' turnaround
Two big reasons for the Minnesota Twins' turnaround from 90-game losers to a team with a winning record heading into July have been the improvements of the starting pitching and the defense.
The pitching, which has hit a few bumps as of late, is far improved from the last several years when Minnesota's rotation ranked near the bottom of the majors in combined ERA. The defense has also taken a step forward, particularly in the outfield, and the results have been noticeable.
Gone are the likes of Josh Willingham, Jason Kubel, Chris Colabello and Chris Parmelee, outfielders with limited range in the corners. Plugged into those spots are players like Torii Hunter (who has held up as a 39-year-old), Eddie Rosario, Aaron Hicks and Byron Buxton, who have had a much easier job covering ground in the outfield than previous Twins outfielders.
While there might have been concerns in years past about baseballs dropping into the outfield grass, that's not as much of an issue for the 2015 edition of the Twins' outfield.
"It's been fairly obvious, I think to most, that as we've changed personnel, it's gotten better," said first-year Twins manager Paul Molitor. "That's just the reality of having a little bit more team speed out there in the defensive outfield. I think it's been an asset for us where it was maybe a little bit more of a liability in the past, at least for the most part."
Defense isn't always easy to quantify by statistics or advanced metrics, but there are a few measurements that show just how improved the Twins' outfield defense has been in 2015. Ultimate Zone Rating, or UZR, is one of the tools used to measure the range of fielders. Minnesota's outfielders had a combined UZR of minus-36.2 in 2014, which ranked second-worst of all major league teams. Through 76 games of 2015, the Twins' UZR among outfielders is minus-1.6, 17th-best in baseball.
Before Buxton landed on the disabled list recently with a thumb injury, the 21-year-old speedster provided plenty of range in center field and made the jobs of the left fielder and right fielder much easier. He also showed off a strong arm several times, including an outfield assist in which he threw out a runner at home plate by getting the ball there on the fly.
Rosario, who began his career as an outfielder before temporarily trying to make the switch to infield, has also had no problem covering ground. With Buxton sidelined, Rosario has slid in seamlessly to center field but otherwise brought speed to both corner outfield spots.
"We had a good outfield back in the day with Hunter and (Jacque) Jones and (Bobby) Kielty and Dustin Mohr and Shannon Stewart," said Twins general manager Terry Ryan. "That was pretty good, although some of those guys didn't throw quite as well as this group here. Rosario throws, Buxton throws, Hunter throws. We've got a pretty good complement of guys that can cover some ground and also be a threat on the defensive side with their arm strength."
There were questions before the season about Hunter's range in right field at this stage of his career, but rarely has he been a liability in the outfield. Hunter's UZR of 1.2 is third-best among all Twins outfielders, although he does rank last on the team in defensive runs saved with minus-6.
Still, at 39, Hunter has started more games in the outfield (55) than any other Twin this year and 140 innings more than the next-highest player on the roster.
"I can play defense. I'm solid. I'm probably above solid, more than what people think," Hunter said. "I'm very confident I can play out there. The defense is a lot better."
The Twins still have some issues to figure out in the final three months to avoid slipping too far out of contention in the American League Central. Namely, they need to jumpstart a slumping offense and fortify a bullpen that has faltered as of late.
While those other areas are addressed, Minnesota doesn't have to worry about the outfield defense nearly as much as it did during the previous four 90-loss seasons.
"Guys are running balls down and making plays and throwing guys out. It's been a lot of fun," Hunter said. "You talk about Rosario: athletic. You talk about Buxton and Aaron Hicks, those two guys are athletes. So you just put them out there and let them run balls down. They're doing a good job of it."
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
