JUPITER, FLA. – Twins manager Paul Molitor is overseeing a spirited battle for the No. 5 starter's spot and is sifting through several applicants to be part of his bullpen.
He has another big decision to make: Should he bat Joe Mauer second and Brian Dozier third, or visa versa?
Molitor wishes he had problems like that one all the time.
The Twins offense showed signs of life during the second half of last season — finishing with the seventh-most runs in the majors — and looks to be one area the club is not worried about heading into the 2015 season.
Danny Santana, looking to build off last year's debut, leads off the lineup. The middle of the order should include apprentice mashers Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia, and also Trevor Plouffe, who led the team with 80 RBI in 2014. Speedsters Aaron Hicks or Jordan Schafer likely will man the bottom of the order.
"I have flexibility with our lineups," Molitor said. "I have people who can hit in different places. It's a small sample, our track record from last year, but it's something you can use as a foundation to see potentially how your offense can work. We're going to have depth, I think, all the way down to the bottom. That's our goal. I think we will compete very well, offensively."
The Twins are optimistic because their 313 runs after the All-Star break last season were the third most in baseball. Santana and Vargas weren't overwhelmed by their big-league debuts. Plouffe raised his game a notch, and Eduardo Escobar batted .275 with 35 doubles in his first stint of steady playing time.
Opponents will be looking for ways to stop Santana and Vargas, and Molitor has warned them of how things will be "the second time around," in the league. Santana's batting average on balls in play was .405 last season, which would have led the league had he qualified and suggests he might come back to earth this season. Vargas hit .309 in August but .228 in September. Twins No. 9 hitters posted a .701 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that led baseball. Escobar, who frequently batted ninth, is expected to start this season on the bench. This is why it's hard to project 2015 production based on the Twins' hot second half of 2014.