The ninth and final installment of the 2015 Twins position preview takes a look at the designated hitter and bench players. After debuting in 2014, Minnesota's Kennys Vargas looks ready to take over as the everyday DH in 2015.
PROJECTED STARTER
Kennys Vargas (.274/.316/.456, 9 HR, 38 RBI in 53 games)
KEY BACKUPS
2014 IN REVIEW
No player spent more than 40 games as the Twins designated hitter in 2014, and 10 different players held that title throughout the season. The player who spent the most time at DH didn't debut until Aug. 1. That would be Vargas, who established himself as Minnesota's everyday DH during the final two months of the season. Vargas exhibited power at the plate, as was evident by his nine homers and 38 RBI. He did strike out 63 times in 215, but the Twins finally found a power hitter they can pencil into the DH spot after Minnesota got just 14 total home runs from its designated hitters in all of 2013.
Minnesota signed veteran Kendrys Morales as a free agent in early June with the hope that he could jumpstart a Twins team that believed it could still contend. The signing proved to be a disappointing one. Not only did Morales not produce -- he hit just .234 with one homer and 18 RBI in 39 games -- but Minnesota started to lose more and more until trading Morales to Seattle in July.
The Twins had numerous others try their hand at DH, including 21 games from Josmil Pinto, 19 games from first baseman Joe Mauer, 13 games from Josh Willingham and 12 games from Chris Colabello. As a whole, Minnesota actually got some decent production from its designated hitters last year. The Twins DHs combined for an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of .765, seventh-best in the American League, on top of 24 home runs, which ranked eighth in the AL. A lot of that production came in the final two months, though, with Vargas' emergence.
2015 OUTLOOK
Vargas is slated to be the team's starting DH again this year. The question now is whether he'll hit a sophomore slump in his second year in the majors after playing for two months last season. Vargas no doubt needs to cut down the strikeouts, but his power from both sides of the plate is undeniable. Though Vargas can also play first base and will give Joe Mauer a break there every now and then, he should be a fixture in the middle of the lineup on a regular basis.
Since new Twins manager Paul Molitor is starting the year with a 12-man pitching staff, that means he'll have a four-man bench. This year's bench includes a pair of versatile infielders (Nunez and Escobar), a fourth outfielder (Robinson), and will likely include a catcher/outfielder assuming Herrmann makes the roster over Pinto.
Both Nunez and Escobar can play three infield positions -- second base, third base and shortstop -- and Nunez has also played some outfield. If Herrmann does make the 25-man roster, he'll be the backup catcher behind Kurt Suzuki and could also spend some time in one of the corner outfield spots. And Robinson is a new addition this year, joining the Twins after spending five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. He hasn't produced much offensively in 268 career big league games, but he can play all three outfield positions.
KEY TO SUCCESS
Find a way to get Escobar at-bats. The 26-year-old infielder had the best season of his young major league career last year and has been the Twins' best hitter this spring (17 RBI, 4 HR, .333 average). The problem, though, is that it doesn't appear Escobar will have much of a chance to be an everyday player now that Danny Santana has moved back to shortstop full-time. While Escobar can be a serviceable bench player, his best chance to thrive offensively is if he's getting regular at-bats.
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
