Farmer bolsters value since taking over at third base for Twins

ANAHEIM -- When the Twins traded for Kyle Farmer last offseason, they didn’t really know what role he’d serve on this team.

For a while, he looked like he might be the starting shortstop, but then, Carlos Correa re-signed with the team. For a while, Farmer was part of a platoon at second base and a right-handed bat off the bench while Jorge Polanco started the season on the injured list. After that, he took over at shortstop for a bit while Correa dealt with a balky back.

All along, the Twins simply described Farmer as a “baseball player” -- a moniker that he wore with pride. But now, it’s far simpler: Farmer is the team’s starting third baseman, and he’s been a really darn good one since he took over a week and a half ago. His productive month continued with a three-hit game on Saturday night, including a first-inning RBI single that keyed the Twins’ 6-2 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

“Kyle Farmer is a heck of a baseball player,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I like relying on him. … He’s here to do whatever we’re asking him to do, and right now, what we’re asking him to do is play basically every day, and right now, it’s at third base.”

The Twins certainly didn’t anticipate that third base is where Farmer would find his opportunity. They were hoping for Jose Miranda to take another step forward there, but the youngster struggled mightily before he was eventually optioned to Triple-A St. Paul on May 10, when Farmer was fully recovered from his gruesome mouth injury.

That accident occurred on April 12, when Farmer took a Lucas Giolito pitch to the mouth, displacing his teeth and leading to rounds of oral surgery, root canals and stitching.

In a way, Farmer says the perspective gained from the incident and his time away has freed him mentally at the plate, and that has translated into his slashing .395/.452/.579 with a 1.031 OPS, including two homers, a double and three walks, in the 10 games since his return -- this time, in a more consistent role.

“I think it's more so me learning about myself after the accident and realizing what makes me who I am as a player, rather than trying to do too much coming into a new team, trying to prove myself and doing a little too much,” Farmer said. “Whereas now, it's more comfortable -- knowing who I am and knowing my role on the team.”

Though the Twins have struggled to convert scoring opportunities with any degree of consistency early this season and have also had issues against left-handed pitching, Farmer helped the Twins buck those trends early on Saturday.

After Donovan Solano singled, Correa walked and Byron Buxton hit into a fielder’s choice to begin the game, Farmer laced a single through the infield to take advantage of the early opportunity. The Twins built even further with Kyle Garlick’s RBI single and a safety squeeze from Willi Castro, jumping out to the 3-0 lead that ultimately proved enough to win the game.

Farmer attributed the Twins’ success to their changed approach after having been no-hit by another left-hander, Reid Detmers, into the sixth inning in Friday’s series opener. They were struggling against the southpaw’s slider down in the zone -- so they were particularly patient on those low pitches against Patrick Sandoval on Saturday.

“We had to cut the bottom half of the zone out of it and look up,” Farmer said. “I think our approach last night helped us today.”

This freed-up version of Farmer is spraying line drives to all fields -- his last two hits on Saturday went to right field -- and the power is still there, too, as evidenced by his late two-run homer to ice the Twins’ 5-1 victory at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

Farmer admits the consistency of an everyday role helps, but that’s not necessarily guaranteed to him. At the end of the month, Royce Lewis will be eligible to come off the 60-day IL, and third base might be his best fit on this roster. Eventually, the Twins hope Miranda will return, too.

Where will Farmer fit at that point? Nobody knows. But, as they’ve maintained all along, he’s just a baseball player -- and a very productive one, wherever they need him.

“Could it be something different later on in the year? Probably,” Baldelli said. “But he’s handling it great.”