In another going-nowhere season for the Twins, the best fans can hope for are signs that certain players could be considered parts of the future.

We found that out last year with Brian Dozier, who has leveled off this season after a powerful start but still projects to hit for above-average power while playing a very good second base for years to come. This year, we've seen flashes of it from Kyle Gibson. We've seen a very good first 350 ABs for Danny Santana and a very nice first impression from Kennys Vargas.

The player we thought was primed for a breakout, though, was Oswaldo Arcia. Through the first half of the year, however, he was looking more like a bust than boom. Even now, his cumulative numbers are similar to his promising but uneven 2013 season.

Yet still, there are numbers within numbers and trends within trends that suggest he's starting to figure it out and re-emerge as someone whose bat could be a key part of the future. In has last 43 games, Arcia has 12 homers and a .551 slugging percentage. He's still striking out too much, but his plate discipline is improving (see for yourself if you still have the stomach for these late-season games). Arcia had a hit and two walks on Sunday, bringing his season BB total to 29 — not a lot, but a number that could go up as Arcia (just 23 still) matures even more.

We don't ever see him as a .300 hitter. What we do see him as is a guy who can hit .250 with 25-30 HRs and enough walks to consistently post an OPS above .800. Even with his defensive shortcomings, that's a positive player in the future. (His home run power and intensity, we should add, also make him the RandBall Better Half's new favorite Twins player, joining a select group that includes only Eddie Guardado and Jim Thome. She desperately wants her nickname for him, O'do, to catch on).

So while the Twins' starting pitching remains a mess despite their efforts to address it this offseason — and the team will never get out of its funk until that is solved — the establishment of some young bats this season is a nice development that has helped lead to the astonishing stat that Minnesota is 6th in MLB in runs scored.

We weren't sure Arcia would wind up in that group, but he's showing us down the stretch that he does, indeed, belong.