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Twins' Escobar in the midst of a June to remember
Eduardo Escobar might not have a set position on the field, but he's finding a home at the plate.
Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor is finding ways to keep Escobar in the lineup, having started him in five of the last six games (missing just the second game of the June 17 day-night doubleheader), with three of those starts at third, another at short and last time out at second. And it's no wonder why.
Minnesota's super-utility player has been on quite a hitting tear lately, boosting his average to .296 and slugging percentage to .486 -- both of which would be career highs, as well as his .344 on-base percentage.
In June, Escobar has been, simply put, an offensive force. In 13 games (10 starts), the shortstop-third baseman-designated hitter-second baseman-outfielder is 21 for 42 with three home runs, giving him a slash line in the month (entering Tuesday) of .500/.543/.762. No one in the American League has a higher batting average or on-base percentage in the month than Escobar.
Escobar's OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) in June is a stratospheric 1.305. The only other Major League Baseball player with a better OPS in June than Escobar is Seattle's Mike Zunino, who is at 1.316.
If he can maintain this pace -- or at least close to it -- this will be Escobar's best month ever in the majors. His previous high OPS in any month was .952 in August 2015 in 88 plate appearances.
Other notes:
-- Thirty-three of Minnesota's 84 home runs have occurred with two outs (39.3 percent), the second-highest percentage of two-out homers in the majors.
-- Opponents are batting just .124 against Ervin Santana's slider this season. Only Washington's Max Scherzer (.063) has a better OBA with that pitch.
-- Since 2012, the Twins and White Sox have split their 52 meetings at Target Field.
Statistics courtesy STATS and baseball-reference.com
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