Twins outfielder use through 18 games
Here's how the five outfielders stack up in terms of plate appearances and starts at various positions. The leaders for each column are highlighted.
| Player | Plate Appearances |
OF Starts | LF Starts | CF Starts | RF Starts | DH Starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denard Span | 77 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Michael Cuddyer | 72 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Jason Kubel | 63 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Delmon Young | 46 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Carlos Gomez | 41 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
It should come as no surprise that Span leads in plate appearances and OF starts. The fact that he's not a liability at any of the three outfield slots and that he's been strong at the plate as the everyday leadoff hitter makes it nonsensical to not sit him on the bench. Although he has the most OF starts, they've come scattered pretty evenly between LF, CF and RF as Ron Gardenhire works to rotate Gomez and Young into the lineups.
Early on it looked like Young was the odd man out, but Gomez's poor start at the plate has given Young more starts at the expense of Gomez.
Cuddyer hasn't really played well enough to deserve all the at-bats he's gotten, but that's indicative of his tenure with the team and the size of his contract.
I think Gardy has done, for the most part, a good job of utilizing the five players. What are your thoughts?
Topics: Denard Span, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez, Jason Kubel