Plouffe was consistent on offense, greatly improved on defense in 2014
Before a broken forearm ended his season Wednesday with four games to play, Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe was asked to give himself a letter grade for the year he had in 2014.
"A B minus. I think I did OK," said Plouffe, who just completed his fifth big-league season with Minnesota. "I think that there's a lot of room for improvement on both sides of the ball."
While some of the Twins' young, up-and-coming players have stolen the headlines in the latter months of the year, Plouffe has been one of Minnesota's most consistent players offensively from start to finish. Wednesday was his 136th game of the year, a new career high. His .258 batting average was also the best he's posted in a single season, slightly up from the .254 average he had in 129 games a year ago.
And although Plouffe's power numbers still haven't returned to the 24 home runs he hit in 2012, he did clear the fence 14 times this year, matching his total from 2013. Perhaps more importantly, though, Plouffe drove in 80 runs, which should stand as the most on the Twins by season's end and is currently fifth among all major-league third basemen. He also had a team-high 40 doubles and scored 69 runs.
"I just care about run production," Plouffe said when asked about the power numbers. "In 2012, I hit 24 home runs but I drove in 55 runs, so I'd rather drive in more runs and get on base more than just hit the occasional solo home run. For me, I think that I'm happier with how this year's gone offensively."
The same can be said about Plouffe's defense. The 2014 season was the first time in his big-league career that he played third base exclusively. Even last year he had a few innings at first base, and in 2012 he spent 15 games in the outfield.
Entering spring training, there was the notion that uber prospect Miguel Sano -- who also plays third base -- could challenge Plouffe for that job at some point in 2014. But Sano missed the entire year after having Tommy John surgery on his elbow before the season even started. That allowed Plouffe to settle in at third base without having to look over his shoulder throughout the year.
The result was a more consistent defender. Though Plouffe committed the same number of errors (13) as he did last season, he did so in way more chances at third base this year. Advanced metrics also show that Plouffe took a step forward defensively in 2014. His ultimate zone rating (UZR), perhaps one of the better fielding metrics, was -10.8 at third base in 2012 and -7.4 last year. This season, according to Fangraphs, it improved to 7.3, fourth-best among all MLB third basemen. Additionally, Fielding Bible estimated that Plouffe's defensive runs saved total was six; last year it was zero, and the year before that was -8.
Combine Plouffe's uptick in offense with his much-improved defense and the Twins feel good about the season their third baseman had.
"He had a heck of a year for us -- a great year," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "He really kind of did what you hope a guy that's been around a little bit here does, and that's kind of settle down, calm down and play the game the right way, and he did that for us this year all year."
It remains to be seen how Plouffe's broken arm -- which he suffered in the sixth inning Wednesday against Arizona while attempting to make a tag at third base -- will impact his offseason workouts. Plouffe's original plan for the winter was to take a few weeks off, like most players do after the year, before ramping up his workouts. He was also told by team strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano to add a few pounds in the offseason. Plouffe finished 2014 at around 214 pounds and plans to report to spring training at 220.
"It'll be an adventure for me," Plouffe said.
When a writer told Plouffe he wishes he had that problem of having to add five pounds, Plouffe laughed.
"It's a pain in the butt," he said.
When Plouffe's arm is fully healed, he'll be able to get back to the batting cages in his native California before reporting to camp in Fort Myers, Fla. And though he felt as if his 2014 campaign was a successful one, Plouffe already has his sights set on an even better year in 2015.
"I'm just going to continue to work as hard as I can to get better," Plouffe said. "That's just something that I'll always do, but I know there's a few things I want to improve on, and I think I will."
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