Starter: Josh Willingham
Of all the outfield, right field is the one that will look the most different. Twins fans have been used to seeing Michael Cuddyer out there in right since 2006. And although Cuddyer is no longer with the team, the Twins’ new right fielder might not look all that different. First off, both Willingham and Cuddyer were born before the start of the 1979 season, which will make both players 33 years old entering this season. The only substantial difference throughout their careers is the number of times their team reached the postseason. Cuddyer has won six division titles with the Twins, while Willingham, with the Marlins, Natioanls, and A’s, has a combined total of zero. The number of playoff appearances shows what kind of team the player is on, which can have an influence on certain statistics. The rest of the statistics the two players have put up over the years are all quite equal. For the sake of fairness, all stats will be from the 2006 season and on. 2006 was Willingham’s first full-time season, as well as Cuddyer’s first season as a right fielder, which makes a perfect comparision.
First, Michael Cuddyer, since 2006 has had 3,079 at-bats, and 848 hits, which gives him a batting average of .27541. Willingham, since 2006, has had 2,659 at-bats (-420), and 696 hits (-152), giving him an average of .26175 (-.01366). Although Willingham has not had as many at-bats and hits as Cuddyer did, his average is still very close, only slightly less, to the average Cuddyer had over the same time. Showing that both players hit for contact is relatively the same fashion.
Next, are the home runs. Last year, Cuddyer led the Twins with 20 home runs. Josh Willingham, on an Oakland Athletics team that only won eleven more games than the Twins, hit 29. Since 2006, Willingham has hit 131 balls out of the ballpark, while Cuddyer has sent 109 deep (-22). Again, both of the numbers are very close to each other, but the 22 more homers that Willingham has could be seen as a whole season’s worth of home runs. The same can be said for doubles, which is a quite valuable statistic. Since 2006, Cuddyer has hit 182 doubles. Willingham has hit 155 doubles (-27). Of the six season being evaluated, Willingham has hit more than 27 doubles three times, which shows that, on average, Cuddyer has a season’s worth advantage in the doubles department. The final stat of a power hitter is runs batted in. But I believe that RBI’s are one of those stats where it benefits to be on a playoff-caliber team. I think it’s safe to assume that the better the team is, the more likely it is for there to be more runners on base when you come to the plate, so keep that in mind. Since 2006, Michael Cuddyer has driven in a total of 471 RBI’s, while Willingham has hit in 429 RBI’s (-42). This shows that Willingham has not produced as many runs as Cuddyer has, but Willingham has been playing for a rebuilding Marlins team, as well as a not-so-great Nationals team, in addition to a pretty bad Athletics team. But Willingham still managed to keep up with Cuddyer who has played with two MVP’s and a three-time batting champ hitting in front of him. This year, Willingham will be able to work with all of that, as well as the speed that Span and Revere bring to the top of the lineup.
One final stat comparison is a stat that Twins fans know all so well, the number of times a player has grounded into a double play. Since 2006, Willingham has grounded into 56 double plays. Cuddyer on the other hand, has grounded into 103 double plays (+47!!).
The point of all of this is to show that Michael Cuddyer and Josh WIllingham are very close to being the same player. When Cuddyer signed with Colorado, I can’t count the number of fans who felt that the loss of Cuddyer would mean the end of the Twins season. Sure, Willingham probably can’t play as many positions as Cuddyer can, but Cuddyer never would have needed to play in so many spots if it weren’t for all of the injuries the Twins suffered in the first place. Josh Willingham will allow the Twins to keep a power threat behind Mauer and Morneau in the lineup, which has the potential to be one of the deadliest lineups in the majors.
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