Eddie Rosario has been one of the Twins' best hitters this season. He entered Monday second on the team in slugging percentage (.463) and OPS (.788) among regulars (behind Miguel Sano in both cases) and his .284 average led all Twins hitters.

Rosario has largely put up those numbers, however, at the bottom of the order. Going into Sunday, he had started 91 games for the Twins this season. He had never batted higher than fifth in the order — and he had only risen that high nine times. He hit sixth another 21 times. The other 61 starts? Rosario batted seventh, eighth or ninth.

Rosario on Sunday batted cleanup for the Twins and responded with a game-tying home run in a 6-5 victory over Texas.

His elevation in the batting order at least leads to this question: Has he earned the right to be a more permanent fixture in the middle of the lineup based on his body of work this season?

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.