The new Twins

We’re up to May 11th, and the season is now over a month in. It’s a good time to rank the new Twins (just the ones that came from outside the organization) and their impact so far versus the expectations coming in.

7. Adam Everett – Everett has had problems with injuries thus far this season, surely limiting his effectiveness. He was never anticipated to be a big bat, but he hasn’t been as spectacular at short yet as we had hoped. He hasn’t been bad, either, and he’s mostly flown under the radar.

6. Mike Lamb – Lamb has been mostly disappointing, but with his game winning hit two nights ago, and a career average of .280, he’ll climb out of this season starting slump. Surely, his average has climbed substantially over the past couple of weeks, and given the stability he provides at third base, he’s certain to turn things around.

5. Delmon Young – Young has really suffered thanks to the change in approach from Tampa to Minnesota. In Tampa, they were teaching him how to hit home runs, while in Minnesota they are trying to give him an even more aggressive slap hitter mentality, and it’s turned into just 4 extra base hits and way too many strikeouts.
4. Craig Monroe – Monroe only rates this low because he has to split time with Jason Kubel, but when he’s been in the lineup, he has shown the skill that made him such a Twin killer when he was with Detroit. He actually is keeping his strikeout total down, which is great, and now he is a threat to hit homers again. Oddly enough, his splits are almost exactly the opposite of what one would expect.
3. Brendan Harris – Anyone who says they expected Harris to be as solid as he has been is a filthy liar. He’s one of only a few Twins with multiple homers and has been pretty good at second base with the glove. He went an 8 game stretch with only 2 hits, so his average isn’t where it was earlier. A two hit game last night though will hopefully provide a return to the form we saw in April.

2. Carlos Gomez – I really thought that Chuck was over valued, given his atrocious batting average, but unlike Young, the Twins were certainly the right environment for him. He’s finding a way to get on base, rather than to get 4 bases with one swing. He is learning how to use his speed to his advantage, something that wasn’t as encouraged in New York, since the Mets had Jose Reyes at the top of the order. I would still love to see Gomez take more pitches, but so far, he’s proving me wrong.

1. Livan Hernandez – I heard all sorts of moaning and groaning when Hernandez was inked, but he has done exactly what was expected. He’s eating innings and winning games, all while providing a dose of veteran stability in a rotation that is very young and has thus far been dinged up. On top of that, he is 5-1 with a 3.83 ERA, which is pretty much in line with what one expected from Livan about 5-6 years ago. Not bad.