Minnesota Twins DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Minnesota Twins third baseman Jose Miranda is on the bench for the second straight day on Thursday against the visiting Houston Astros at Target Field. Willi Castro is making the start at the hot corner and will hit sixth versus Astros right-hander Hunter Brown. Miranda has an opportunity for regular playing time at third base early on in 2025 due to Royce Lewis' (hamstring) latest injury, but so far he hasn't taken advantage by going 3-for-18 with two RBI, a run scored, no walks and six strikeouts in his first five games played. The 26-year-old Puerto Rican infielder may need to pick it up at the plate soon in order to keep Castro from spelling him more often at third. Castro, who also hails from Puerto Rico, is 5-for-20 early on with a homer and three RBI. He's faced Brown eight times in his MLB career and is hitting .625 against him with one RBI.

St. Louis Cardinals second base prospect Michael Helman went 3-for-6 with four runs and one RBI during their 15-3 victory over Triple-A Buffalo. Helman hit two doubles in this contest. His single in the opening frame scored infielder Thomas Saggese. The 28-year-old infielder was competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster during camp but fell short. However, Helman could be in the mix for an early-season promotion if he continues to swing a hot bat at the top level of the minor leagues. Last season, Helman appeared in his first nine MLB games and tallied three hits with two doubles. Across 199 career games at Triple-A, the Texas A&M product has held a .263/.336/.458 slash line with 44 doubles and 34 round-trippers. He is worth monitoring in deeper NL-only leagues for the time being.

Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton turned in an excellent game in a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. Buxton went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs, and two RBI to help power the Twins to their second win of the season. His homer was a first-inning solo shot off Chicago starter Sean Burke, a blast that traveled 444 feet with an exit velocity of 111.7 MPH. Buxton had been off to a slow start before Wednesday as he came into the game with just two hits in 17 at-bats. He will look to keep it going as the Twins open up a four-game series against the Houston Astros on Thursday.

Minnesota Twins pitching prospect Zebby Matthews threw five shutout innings in his 2025 Triple-A debut, allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out four batters on the way to earning the win for St. Paul. Matthews has shown impeccable command duringhis minor league tenure, owning a miniscule 2.7 percent walk rate over 205 1/3 IP. The righty shows strong strikeout potential as well, strikingout batters at a 28.7 percent rate, and has recorded a 3.20 ERA (2.97 FIP) with a 0.95 WHIP. Unfortunately, his nine-game major league debut in 2024 didn't go so swimmingly, registering a 6.69 ERA (5.72 FIP), 1.65 WHIP, and an 18.1 percent K-BB% over 37 2/3 IP. Expect the 6-foot-5 hurler to be back in the big leagues again this season, and despite last year's numbers, he'd be a worthy roster addition for most teams in deeper leagues that are in need of pitching help.

Minnesota Twins second baseman Edouard Julien (illness) is making his first start of the 2025 season on Tuesday on the road in Chicago against the division-rival White Sox at Rate Field. Julien will serve as the designated hitter and bat eighth against right-hander Shane Smith, who will be making his major-league debut. Although this will be Julien's first start of the year due to an illness he's been dealing with, the 25-year-old had three at-bats off the bench on Monday and has gone hitless with two strikeouts. Most of the Canadian's playing time should come at second base again for the Twins this year, but at best, he'll be in more of a platoon situation, limiting his fantasy appeal to deeper formats. In his second year with the Twins in 2024, Julien slashed just .199/.292/.323 with eight home runs, 21 RBI and six steals in 94 games played.