However, Smith and Gardy chose to call up Span over the likes of Ruiz, Knott, or Buscher, who would all be a power threat off the bench (Buscher not as much, but far more than the slap-hitting Span).
There are a few reasons they may have chosen Span.
First, if Span can have a few decent weeks in the majors, maybe they can trade him to a team as a 4th outfielder with some range, some speed, and decent defense. They probably wouldn't get much back, but maybe he could be a piece in a larger deadline deal.
Second, perhaps they're wondering if Gomez will be up with the Twins the entire season and are interested in how Span can perform against big league pitching. Gomez has had a few great games, but he has also looked absolutely awful at the plate at times. For every game 3-for-4 game with 2 steals and 2 runs, there will be two or three games where he goes 0-for-4 with 3 Ks. There could be some rough patches ahead for him, and maybe they think Span could replace him while Gomez learns more in the minors.
Finally, it could've just been a nice gesture to Span to give him a taste of the major leagues since he only posted a .678 OPS as a 23-year-old at AAA last year, and doesn't look to be anything more than a 4th outfielder in the bigs. if even that.
For comparison, as a 22-year-old at AAA, Jason Kubel posted a .958 OPS over 350 ABs. He was promoted to AAA that year after crushing AA pitching to a tune of a 1.120 OPS over 138 ABs.
Instead of calling up someone who could actually be a threat off the bench in the late innings, the Twins called up a no-pop 4th outfielder. This means the Twins now have the following outfielders: Gomez, Young, Monroe, Kubel, Span.
So, in reality, Span is the 5th outfielder on the team.
A more sensible thing to do would have been to call up a Ruiz or Knott to add some pop to the bench, and then alternate between Kubel/Monroe in RF while Young and Gomez manned LF and CF. If Gomez needed a day off, then Punto could play in center. Gardy would like that. If Young needed a day off (which seems unlikely since he played 162 game last year), Kubel and Monroe could man LF and RF.
All in all, however, Cuddyer's injury, while unfortunate, will provide Kubel with ABs to prove to Gardy that he belongs in the lineup every day.
1 comment:
My knowledge of this years Twins is small compared to my love for the game and all of its valuable lessons. I seem to always go for the underdog or unproven guy and pick my favorites with heart instead of mind, example Span - reckon I should find a happy medium - nope too stubborn. I enjoy the numbers and history you are providing here. Kubel, if and when he comes of age might be on the first plane out of here possible as its presented here. Does Smith have the final say on who comes up or stays down in situations like Cuddy? Span was a big investment like Kubel, upkeep needs to be in place to protect those investments or you shelter your failed investment and try to trade as you mentioned - very interesting.
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