Inside The Twins

Twins players own two of MLB's most shockingly bad stats

Manuel Margot and Edouard Julien have not had good seasons, to put it lightly.

Will Ragatz

Jul 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Manuel Margot (13) reacts after striking out during the fifth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
Jul 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Manuel Margot (13) reacts after striking out during the fifth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
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Twins players own two of the ugliest statistics in Major League Baseball this season, both of which are almost hard to believe.

The first one: Veteran outfielder Manuel Margot leads all of baseball in plate appearances as a pinch hitter (29), yet he doesn't have a single hit in those situations. He's 0-for-25 while pinch hitting, with four plate appearances that didn't end in an official at bat. That's difficult to wrap your head around.

Because Rocco Baldelli and the Twins love to use platoon-heavy lineups that stack left-handed bats against right-handed pitchers and vice versa, they often go to their bench to keep the platoon advantage when opposing teams turn to their bullpen. The Twins lead all of baseball with 104 at bats from pinch hitters, but they have just 23 hits in those situations (for a .221 batting average). Then again, if you take out Margot's 0-for-25, other Twins are 23 for 79 (.291) while pinch hitting.

Margot, who was acquired from the Dodgers in February, has had a rough year for the Twins, posting a .628 OPS and a negative WAR so far. His overall numbers are weighed down by his pinch-hitting woes; he's actually hitting .270 in all other situations. That first pinch hit has to be coming soon, right?

The second rough stat is this one: Edouard Julien leads the American League with 39 strikeouts looking despite spending seven weeks in Triple-A before recently coming back to the big leagues. Julien had three looking strikeouts on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday in what could potentially be his final game with the Twins this season.

Strikeouts were a problem for Julien when he was initially sent down to St. Paul on June 4. Since being recalled on July 20, he's gone 2-for-12 with eight strikeouts and three walks in 15 plate appearances. With Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda set to return for Friday's game against the Tigers, Julien will almost certainly be sent down once again. Whether or not he gets another opportunity in the big leagues this season is TBD.

After an excellent rookie season that saw him post a 130 OPS+, the sophomore slump has hit Julien hard. Patience and plate discipline were among his strengths last year, but those can become issues when you aren't swinging at strikes. Among the 276 MLB hitters with at least 200 plate appearances this season, Julien ranks 270th in zone swing percentage at less than 59 percent (per Fangraphs). You simply can't take that many pitches in the zone and have success.

The 25-year-old Julien could still have a bright future with the Twins, but he needs to find a way to be significantly more aggressive against strikes.

Related: Twins take series over MLB-leading Phillies with walk-off win

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Will Ragatz

WILL RAGATZ