A.L. Player of the Week: Eddie Rosario

It’s been a fantastic start to August for Minnesota Twins’ outfielder Eddie Rosario. He was recently honored with the AL Player of the Week award after clubbing 4 homers and driving in 9 runs. On top of that, Rosario hit .444 in efforts to sweep Milwaukee and take the series at Detroit.

Admittedly, I’ve been most skeptical over Rosario since his call up three seasons ago. I thought his approach at the plate was unsustainable at best. I’m absolutely okay with swallowing my words on this one. Eddie is the ultimate wild card. His fantastic week led to getting Minnesota right back into the thick of things in the wild card race.

Here is a video from MLB.com on how he won Player of the Week:

In order for Rosario to be a solid contributor it’s important he continues to hit in bunches. His low walk rate is still his Achilles heel. The biggest improvement I’ve noticed in his game is his willingness to wait on pitches driving it the other way. Eddie’s 3-run dinger at Detroit was a beautiful example of allowing a pitch to get a little bit deeper in the zone before driving it opposite field.

Find me a more exciting youthful outfield than Rosario, Buxton, and Kepler so far in August. Not only is that trio getting it done with the bat, they’ve all had their moments flashing the leather too. Baseball is a very unique sport, especially when someone like Eddie Rosario can flip a switch and become a household name in a matter of a couple weeks.

Twins president of baseball operations Thad Levine said it best; “You don’t want to put a ceiling on what young players are capable of.” This is particularly true with projecting where Rosario may or may not go, but for now let’s enjoy the ride and watch Eddie be Eddie.

Dane Mosher @DaneMosher7

Minnesota Sports Fan @RealMNSportsFan