Minnesota Twins

StaTuesday: Minnesota Twins in the World Baseball Classic

Published Mar. 28, 2017 11:51 a.m. ET

Ryan Lund

It may have been satisfying to watch the United States roll to an 8-0 win over Puerto Rico in the finals of the World Baseball Classic, but with several members of the Minnesota Twins’ organization on the receiving end, wasn’t it a little bittersweet?

The title game featured five representatives from the Twins’ organization: starting left fielder Eddie Rosario, starting pitcher Hector Santiago, Triple-A (for now) pitcher Jose Berrios, potential designated hitter Kennys Vargas and Single-A pitcher Dereck Rodriguez.

Elsewhere, three members of the Twins suited up for Australia, while two more took the field for Colombia.

Check out the final stats from the WBC below, as well as some notes about these Twins’ players performance.

TWINS WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC STATS: HITTING

Player	POS	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SO	SB	SLG	AVG
Eddie Rosario, PR	OF	6	19	6	2	1	0	5	3	2	.526	.316
Kennys Vargas, PR	1B	3	9	2	0	0	1	2	4	0	.556	.222
Reynaldo Rodriguez, COL	1B	3	14	2	0	1	0	0	3	0	.286	.143
Aaron Whitefield, AUS	OF	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000

TWINS WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC STATS: PITCHING

Player	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	WHIP
Hector Santiago, PR	1	0	2.08	3	8 2/3	9	2	5	9	1.62
Jose Berrios, PR	1	0	8.10	2	6.2	3	6	2	10	0.75
Yohan Pino, COL	0	0	0.00	1	3	1	0	1	2	0.67
Lachlan Wells, AUS	0	1	13.50	2	2 2/3	3	4	1	4	1.50
Todd Van Steensel, AUS	0	0	0.00	1	1	2	0	0	1	2.00
Derek Rodriguez, PR	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

NOTABLES:

-- Rosario posted respectable numbers at the plate, but he shined in the outfield, where he put the rest of the league on notice in Puerto Rico’s second-round win over the Dominican Republic. Rosario gunned down Jean Segura on a one-hop laser from right field in the first inning. The bases were loaded. Puerto Rico won 3-1. Do the math.

Santa Maria! This game is gonna be good... #WBC2017 ??? pic.twitter.com/4qmvLz7R1i

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 15, 2017

-- Santiago declared his devotion to Puerto Rico and the WBC by coloring the tournament’s logo into his bleach-blond hair -- apparently with Sharpie markers -- prior to their win over the Dominican Republic.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRofl6JjRPZ/?taken-by=hectorsantiago53

-- Vargas had just two hits, but one of them was a rocket of a home run during Puerto Rico’s big win over Venezuela that reached an exit velocity of 114.4 mph. It was the hardest-hit home run that MLB’s StatCast has ever recorded for a Twins player.

-- Berrios sacrificed a chance to win the No. 5 spot in the Twins rotation after appearing in just 6 2/3 innings for Puerto Rico, and will instead start the season with Triple-A Rochester.

-- That 13.50 ERA looks nasty on paper, but Wells was solid in his first outing for Australia. He retired all six batters in two innings of work in a loss to Japan, prompting manager Jon Deeble to tell an Australian newspaper that he thinks Wells has a shot in the majors. Things took a turn for the worse against Cuba, as Wells gave up a grand slam after allowing three hits and a walk.

-- Former Twins reliever Pat Neshek pitched for the U.S. in the final. He grew up in Brooklyn Park, and spent four seasons in Minnesota after being drafted by the Twins in 1999.