MINNEAPOLIS — Once again, José Miranda has a window of opportunity.
With the Minnesota Twins in search of an offensive spark, Miranda has renewed life he didn’t a week ago.
Royce Lewis’ injury and the Twins needing a change resulted in Miranda’s promotion Monday afternoon. Rather than add another pitcher when they placed reliever Daniel Duarte on the injured list, the Twins turned to Miranda, who struggled through an injury-plagued 2023 after previously putting together a nice rookie season in 2022.
Miranda started at third base and went 0-for-2 before he was removed for a pinch-hitter as the Twins fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Target Field. The loss dropped the Twins to 3-5.
“He’s a guy that can get to pitches down in the zone, get to pitches up in the zone, extend out to get some pitches, suck his hands inside and get some pitches in there, too,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s a guy that can shorten his swing up. He can manipulate the barrel in a lot of ways. So when he’s going good, that’s what we see from him.”
The bat-to-ball skills possessed by Miranda likely played a big role in his promotion.
Though he hit .320 in spring training, Miranda wasn’t surprised when the team optioned him to Triple-A St. Paul on March 18, figuring the Twins needed to see him prove he was healthy before he’d receive another opportunity after playing only 40 major-league games in 2023. Not only did he require offseason surgery on his throwing shoulder, which has limited his throws from third base in camp and early this season, Miranda fell behind Lewis, Edouard Julien and Austin Martin on the depth chart during the Twins’ division-title run.
Byron Buxton is so fun to watch pic.twitter.com/Mu41BrOKdr
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 9, 2024
Plans changed when Lewis was lost to a significant injury only three innings into this season. Throw in the team’s offensive struggles — their 47 hits through eight games are the fewest in Minnesota team history — and suddenly Miranda was granted an opportunity.
Even though he feels the weight attached to this chance, Miranda — who hit .268/.325/.426 with 15 home runs and 66 RBIs in 2022 — thinks he knows how to handle himself.
“I’m happy because they’re my teammates (succeeding),” Miranda said. “But at the same time, I’ve got to do my stuff whenever I came back. Obviously, I was hurt the whole year last year. But now that I’m back I’ve just got to prove to them what I can do. … I’m not going to put pressure (on myself). I know my game, go out there and control what I can control and that’s it.”
Miranda didn’t have the results to show for it Monday, but he put together a pair of nice at-bats in his first game in the big leagues since July 9, 2023. In his first plate appearance, Miranda worked a full count against Los Angeles starting pitcher James Paxton before taking a nine-pitch strikeout. The next time he batted, Miranda flew out to deep left.
Julien batted for Miranda to start the seventh.
“We know what he’s capable of doing when he’s healthy and this year he seems to be,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “I’m expecting a lot from him. I know he can contribute to this team in a big way, especially with his bat. I’m very excited he gets to be in this clubhouse once again.”
Early hook for strong Ober
Bailey Ober survived a brief hiccup Monday and then found himself in a flow state on the mound. The end result was a much better second outing for Ober after an opening-weekend dud.
Coming off a start in which he allowed a career-worst eight runs, Ober looked as if he was in for another long night. He walked Mookie Betts to start the game and surrendered a hard double to Shohei Ohtani and sac fly to Freddie Freeman.
Then he settled in.
Ober rediscovered his cut-fastball and used an effective changeup to keep the Los Angeles offense off-balance. He retired nine hitters in a row before pitching through a high-traffic fourth inning without allowing a run.
Mookie Betts/Pitches off the Plate tonight. pic.twitter.com/xNjIyJKYbm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 9, 2024
Ober pitched so efficiently that it almost seemed surprising when Baldelli removed him after five innings and only 68 pitches with the Twins ahead 2-1. But with the same part of the lineup that gave Ober trouble in the first and fourth innings due and six lefties coming up, Baldelli opted for lefty reliever Steven Okert.
Ohtani followed with a leadoff bloop double to left off Okert and Freeman hit a bloop single to right before Will Smith singled in the tying run.
“We had a one-run lead and we’re going to our bullpen at some point in the near future once you get to that point in the game,” Baldelli said. “That’s Steven Okert’s run (of batters). He threw the ball fine. They didn’t hit a ball on the barrel, I don’t think, that inning. … Sometimes they hit the ball and they’re going to find some space.”
Ober limited the Dodgers to a run, three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over five innings. The right-hander was pleased with how he rebounded from his first start on March 31, which Ober had eight days to mull over because of days off and a rain out.
“It’s obviously not the start that I wanted for the year,” Ober said. “Numbers are going to be not good, but you just kind of try to put that behind you and just go out there and focus on getting the guys out in the next game. I had an outing kind of similar to that one in Low A, my first start of the season. It was not good. But just got to move on and leave the past in the past and get ready for the next game.”
Pablo Day tickets on sale
The Twins and ace Pablo López are teaming up for several good causes. The team announced Monday it would sell special tickets any time López starts at home from May through September.
#MNTwins announce a Pablo Day ticket package. For Pablo López home starts from May-September, portion of ticket sales from the package go to 3 handpicked local non profits. Fans and are seated in the same section and get these jerseys. pic.twitter.com/xGpEa5omVp
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 8, 2024
Fans purchasing the Pablo Day tickets received special López-themed jerseys that use the colors of the flag from his native Venezuela and will be seated together, similar to the King’s Court-themed sections used by Seattle Mariners fans for Félix Hernández starts a decade ago.
Part of the proceeds from each ticket sold benefit three local non-profits handpicked by the Twins, López and his wife, Kaylee: Children’s Minnesota, Project Success and Ruff Start Rescue.
(Photo of Miranda in a spring training game: Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins / Getty Images)
