Minnesota Twins should have some concerns about Eddie Rosario
By Yeon Lee
As pitchers and catchers report, the Minnesota Twins should have concerns over one of their top performers in 2018
There were only three hitters with qualified plate appearances on the 2018 Minnesota Twins. The most productive hitter out of the three was Eddie Rosario.
He posted a slash line of .268/.292/.443/.735 with 23 home runs over 2015-2016 before breaking out in 2017. After his breakout, he has been more than solid for two years. He hit .289/.326/.493/.819 with 51 homers for the last two years, which is far better than his pre-breakout season numbers.
His 2018 stats are nearly identical as 2017 except for slugging percentage that is relatively reduced a bit. However, underlying stats are telling us that there are some negative signs about Rosario for 2019.
His breakout was considerably based on him being able to hit the fastball well. In 2016, he hit zero home runs off the fastball throughout the season. When he debuted in 2015, he hit .264 with 5 home runs off the heater.
In 2017, however, unlike previous seasons, he hit .289 with 11 home runs off the fastball. It helped him boost his slash line, especially slugging percentage. However, his 2018 numbers against the fastball came back to pre-breakout levels. He only hit .252 with 5 home runs.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
When you take a little closer look at it, it gets worse. After August, his batting average went down to .212. It is shown in Statcast data as well.
His Expected Slugging Percentage
significantly decreased to .419 from .473. Expected Batting Average also dropped down to .241 from .265. The distance of batted ball has negatively changed, too. The
changed to 378ft from 397ft.
Interestingly, as opposed to what statistics tell us, he tried to lift the ball more than ever. His FB% is 44%, which is a career-high while his GB% went down to 35.7% from 42.4%. His tendency to pull the ball increased to 43.4% from 39.3%.
He just tried to hit the ball higher but somehow result came out differently. The fact that his other stats such as LH/RH splits, K%, etc. look completely the same makes you feel more hopeful. However, his inability to hit the fastball seems like a red flag to his outcome in the upcoming season.
Next. 5 bullpen options for Twins. dark
Currently, we do not know which version of Eddie Rosario will show up in the next season. Surely, Minnesota Twins fans hope to see the 2017 version of Eddie Rosario. However, the probability of seeing the 2016 version of Eddie Rosario cannot be ruled out.