Infield Depth: Where is it?

We are less than a week away from Opening Day 2011, and as a baseball fan, these are the best days of the year.  I love it because every fan thinks their team has a shot, and everyone predicts how the season is going to turn out.  The great thing about baseball is that nothing ever happens as predicted.  Who would have thought that the Giants would be World Series champions a year ago today (other than Giants fans, of course).  Who would have thought that the Red Sox would have all those injuries and they would be completely out of the playoff picture?  As Opening Day approaches this season, I am excited as ever to see what kind of ride the Twins are going to take me on this year.  However, for the first time in years I have some major concerns the closer we get.  So I ask: What happens if Casilla or Nishioka struggle or get hurt?

There is almost zero chance that the middle infield will be the same for 162 games this season, so who’s going to step up if something happens in the middle infield?  We’ve all hashed out the issues we may have in the bullpen, so now let’s try to figure out how to overcome our lack of infield depth.

Three guys come to mind when we think about replacing Casilla and Nishioka – and Valencia for that matter – Luke Hughes, Matt Tolbert, and Trevor Plouffe.  Let’s break them down!

Luke Hughes is a 26 year old Australian who has a total of 7 Major League at bats to his credit – one being the home run he hit in Target Field last year.  Because of injuries last year, Hughes only played in 22 games at Rochester to go along with the 2 games with the Twins.  He hit .257 in only 74 at bats in AAA, hitting 1 home run.  Obviously Luke has opened some eyes this spring with his 6 homers, crushing fastballs all over the park.  The most disappointing stat for Hughes is that in his minor league career, he struck out every 5.24 at bats.  Now when you compare that to Mark Reynolds’ career rate of 2.58 at bats per strike out, he’s not doing too bad.  But, he’s no Joe Mauer when it comes to putting the bat on the ball.  Hughes has played mostly 3B and 2B in his career, playing only 33 games at SS (but not since 2006).  He seems to be most comfortable at 2B, but is by no means known for his range.  He has struggled defensively throughout his entire career, compiling only a .950 fielding percentage.  His pop in his bat (.784 OPS in 3 AAA seasons) is the only reason Hughes is even in this conversation.

Matt Tolbert is 28 years old and has already spent 3 partial seasons in the big leagues.  Tolbert has also spent most of his time at 2B and 3B, recording only 102 innings at SS in 3 seasons with the Twins, although he was primarily a SS in his early days in the Twins farm system.  Tolbert was a career .281 hitter through the minor leagues (.289 in 3 seasons at Rochester), but after hitting .283 in 2008 for the Twins, the last two seasons he has been a .230 hitter.  Tolbert has very limited power and has struck out every 5.38 at bats with the Twins, but in his career in the minors struck out at a rate of once in 6.49 at bats, and seems to have decent control of the stick.  Matt is the defensive gem of this group with his ability to play effectively just about anywhere on the field.  Tolbert has accumulated a .975 fielding percentage with the Twins, racking up only 12 errors in 955.1 innings around the infield.  When I think of Matt Tolbert’s defense I can’t stop thinking about the amazing plays he made at 3B in the 2009 September run, taking extra base hits away nearly every night.

Trevor Plouffe is 24 years old and got his first taste of the big leagues this past season filling in for J.J. Hardy.  Plouffe has shown some pop in his bat, hitting 2 home runs in 41 at bats with the Twins last year, but he also struck out 14 times with no walks.  Trevor has a .253 batting average in 3 seasons at Rochester with an OPS of .722.  He struck out every 5.28 at bats in those 3 seasons, but did hit 62 doubles and 31 home runs.  Plouffe has primarily played SS through the Twins farm system, with a few innings at 3B and 2B through the years.  His minor career fielding percentage is disappointing at .947 and has average range at best.  Like Hughes, Plouffe is under consideration mainly for the pop in his bat, although he seems like he could be somewhat solid defensively at SS, despite his below-average range.

I think Tolbert wins the job as the utility man out of spring training, and not just because we all know the manager loves him.  Tolbert is a great asset to have on the team with is versatility defensively, even in the outfield, and his experience and bat control coming off the bench.  I would like to see Plouffe and Hughes get as much time in offensively and defensively down in AAA as possible while they can.  Both need to work on adjusting to the higher level of pitching even at Rochester so they are more comfortable at the plate when the time comes to be promoted to the majors again.  Both of these guys need as many innings out in the field as possible as well to continue to improve defensively.

If and when the time comes when either Casilla, Nishioka, or Valencia goes down, I hope we leave Tolbert in the utility role and give the other two a shot at the regular starts to take advantage of their bats – Plouffe at SS and Hughes at 2B or 3B.  Tolbert we can keep in our back pocket then to plug any holes for a short period of time as needed.  What do you guys think?  Do you like Tolbert’s experience, or do you want to see the youth?  No matter which direction the Twins go in this scenario, I’m afraid there is going to be some frustration along with some really good things.  That’s the beauty of this game.