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As rookie season winds down, Twins’ Jose Miranda makes plans for improvement in offseason

betsy helfand, pioneer press
·4 min read

DETROIT — The details haven’t been fully ironed out yet, but at some point this offseason, Jose Miranda is planning on traveling from his home in Puerto Rico to Carlos Correa’s home in Houston to spend a week with the shortstop.

Correa, it turns out, didn’t leave him with much of a choice in the matter.

“He was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got no options. You’re going to Houston,’ ” Miranda said of Correa.

Not that he’s complaining about that.

“I feel like it’s a great opportunity to get better, and obviously I’ve got to take advantage of it,” Miranda said.

As he heads into what will be his first offseason as a major leaguer, the infielder has many things he’s planning on focusing on as he works toward improvement: He wants to get faster. He wants to get in better shape, focusing in on his nutrition. And he wants to work on his agility.

His work with Correa will have a heavy focus on improving his defense — Miranda has spent his rookie season both at third base, his natural position, and at first, a new spot for him.

“(I) want to work with him on some defensive drills,” Correa said. “I feel like he can be a four, five, six WAR (Wins Above Replacement) player if his defense matches his offense. He will be one of the best players in the league if he can master that. I just want the best for him.”

Correa’s offseason days usually start around 9 a.m. He’s home by 1:30 p.m. after going to the gym, eating, spending time in the batting cage and taking some ground balls. He repeats this routine five days a week.

In welcoming Miranda to town to shadow him, he hopes to show him exactly what type of work goes into sustaining success at the major league level.

“I told him, ‘Come for a week. Stay at my house. We’re going to work out together. We’re going to diet together. We’re going to do everything I do in an offseason so you can see how I do it and how (Jose) Altuve does and how (Justin) Verlander does it and guys that I know,” Correa said. “I just want him to see that firsthand and show up next year ready.”

Miranda, 24, is near ready to conclude a rookie season that began in early May. After taking a month to adapt to the major league level, he has turned into one of the most productive hitters in the Twins’ lineup. Miranda entered Saturday’s game hitting .272 with 15 home runs and a team-leading 66 runs batted in. His .759 OPS was fifth on the team, and his 117 OPS+ is 17 percent better than league average.

In addition to wanting to get quicker, which he mentioned multiple times, Miranda said he wanted to challenge himself to take more walks next year. He headed into Saturday’s game having drawn 27 walks in 120 games.

“I was hoping it was going to be a good season,” he said. “I was hoping to have some good numbers. So far, I think it’s been a decent one, a good one. But obviously, I want to get better at more things, and I want to improve for next year.”

FULMER RETURNS

Michael Fulmer couldn’t help but notice a trip to Comerica Park on the Twins’ schedule after he was traded. The reliever debuted as a Tiger in 2016 and played in Detroit up until the trade deadline this season, when he was dealt for a prospect.

Friday, the Tigers honored him with a pregame video, after which he tipped his hat to the crowd.

“They did an awesome job with it,” Fulmer said. “I’m grateful that they took the time out of their day to come up with a video like that. Obviously the crowd, it was special. …I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me over my seven years here.”

BRIEFLY

Rookie Simeon Woods Richardson, one of the Twins’ top pitching prospects, will debut on Sunday, manager Rocco Baldelli announced after the game. Woods Richardson, who the Twins acquired as part of the return for José Berríos last year, posted a 2.93 earned-run average across 107 1/3 innings pitched this year between Double and Triple-A.

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