Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? To see the full series, click here.
2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 29th
Team Strengths:
The team is running back most of its position player roster from a team that finished 29th in Runs Saved, so we’re challenged to identify strengths on the current roster.
Normally we’d say Byron Buxton and feel pretty good about it because the best version of Buxton is as good as any outfielder in MLB. But last year it didn’t go well for him He had -5 Runs Saved, -4 for Outfield Arm, as teams ran freely against him on base hits.
Byron Buxton Runs Saved – Last 5 Seasons as a CF
| Season | Runs Saved |
| 2020 | 11 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | -5 |
Kody Clemens has 8 Runs Saved in 125 career games at first base. He may be overtaken there however. You can plug him into other positions too and feel reasonably comfortable there.
Team Weaknesses
Chief among their weaknesses is Josh Bell, who has -20 Runs Saved at first base over the last three seasons. He’s never fared well at the position relative to others and would be a better fit as a DH. Matt Wallner had -6 Runs Saved in right field last season. He makes the list too. As does Ryan Jeffers and his -10 Runs Saved at catcher and Brooks Lee and his -8 Runs Saved at shortstop.
Other Things To Know
Austin Martin had 5 Runs Saved in 37 games in left field last season. But he had -6 in 40 games there a year prior. Those are both small sample sizes, so it’s hard to know whether good defender or bad defender will stick.
Orlando Arcia could make the team as an infielder. We were tempted to list him as a strength but then we saw he hadn’t had a positive Runs Saved at shortstop since 2018.
Are the Twins A Good Defensive Team?
Not likely. Their best-case scenario with what’s currently on the roster is probably something close to average. Their worst-case scenario is dropping to last overall in Runs Saved.
