Twins bet on Latino bats to return to the top in the Major Leagues

Redacción Deportes, 25 Mar The Minnesota Twins have decided to return to being a contending team in the 2022 season and have therefore bet on the power of the bats of Latin players in their offense. In the major league free agent market, Minnesota's ninth made one of the least predictable moves, adding Puerto Rican shortstop Carlos Correa for three years in exchange for 105.3 million dollars. The Central Division team of the American League also acquired through a change from the Yankees, Dominican receiver Gary Sanchez and Colombian third party Gio Urshela, by former MVP Josh Donaldson and torpedo boat Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The newcomers join the talent of those who were already there, such as Dominicans Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sanó, who arrived in the majors with the Minnesota team. Correa, Polanco, Sanó and Urshela are projected to occupy the title in the shortstop, middle, initial and prelude respectively, while Sanchez will divide his time between catching and as designated hitter. Last season the Twins finished with the worst record in their division, with a record of 73-89, ranking 17th among the 30 MLB teams in collective batting average, with an average of .241. Despite hitting a large number of home runs, finishing in fifth position with 228 full lap shots, the Twins had trouble scoring runs, ranking in the fourteenth step in this department, with 729 and to produce them, towing 690 collectively. With Correa's hiring, the Twins will improve their contribution in the offensive. Among the American League torpedo boats, Correa was second in home runs (26), scored (102) and RBIs (92), a sample of how productive his bat was, among the defenders of this position. The stellar Puerto Rican batsman showed his best results as runners in a position to score and two outs, responding with an average of .306 (85-26), with seven doubles, four home runs and 33 RBIs, showing that he can handle the pressure and produce when it is essential to hit a hit to add to the cause of your team. In the case of Polanco, the power of his bat has placed him among the most productive second-pad defenders of the smallest of the circuits, ranking third among his colleagues in RBIs (98), scored (97), doubles (35) and home runs (33). Last season Polanco was the main man on attack by the Twins whom he led in the main lines of offense, including batting average (.269) and unstoppable (158), a production that Minnesota management is betting he can maintain for this campaign. Sanchez has struggled to achieve a respectable batting average in recent seasons, something that is attributed to his concern about improving his defense behind the plate, a factor that will change positively in Minnesota, given the possibility of serving more frequently as a designated hitter. Despite dealing with the lack of play, which limited him to 117 games last season, Sanchez chartered 23 home runs, while pushing and scoring 54 runs, a production that could improve in a much less pressure scenario like Minnesota. Sanó is another low-average power bat, which comes from hitting his highest total of home runs in a season in his major league career, with 30 home runs, in addition to bringing 75 runners to the plate. The initialist is a fundamental bat in the middle of the lineup and his protection work is key to the aspirations of the Twins. Urshela may not have the home run power of Donaldson, who chartered 26 home runs, against the 14 hit by the Colombian third player who has the greatest ability to make contact with the ball. Donaldson hit just one more hit (113-112) than Urshela, despite having participated in 19 more games (135-116) than Colombia's and exhausting 37 more turns (457-420) than the former Yankee player. Despite not being a home runner, Urshela showed that he can be extremely productive with his full-length hits, since 57% of his home runs, that is, eight of his 14 full-lap shots were with runners at the bases, towing with them 43 of the 49 races he produced in the campaign. Minnesota's goal is to return to the top of the Central Division of the American League and that these Latin bats can respond to the level they have shown, it is vital to achieve it. CHIEF hr/car