Brian Dozier Will be an All-Star in 2014

In the history of the Minnesota Twins dating back to the Washington Senators, there have been some pretty big-name players that have graced the infield at second base. Hall of Fame players such as Bucky Harris and Rod Carew, All-Stars like Buddy Myer and Chuck Knoblauch have all played that position. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, but the Twins have a guy now that just might be able to do it.

Brian Dozier was the Twins eighth-round selection in the 2009 MLB Draft. Since then he has gone through the organization with stops at every level in the minor leagues along the way.  The year of 2013 was his first full season in MLB. He did have his struggles only batting .244, but was able to show the Twins that he can hit for power hitting 18 home runs which led the team. Another part of his game that manager Ron Gardenhire will certainly welcome is his speed. Dozier was second behind Pedro Florimon in stolen bases last season. Batting in the No. 2 spot in the order is going to help his game along as well.

So far this spring Dozier is tearing it up. As a MLB starter, he is getting at-bats against top pitchers, so nothing is coming cheap. You can’t look too much into spring stats, but you can if those stats are for a young hitter that is still learning the game. The Twins had split-squads today playing two games at two different parks. Both games went the Twins’ way and they moved to 4-1 so far this spring.

There is plenty of competition at second base in the American League to take the spot on the All-Star team, but in my mind Dozier has as good a shot as any of the others. There is also a little more incentive since the 2014 All-Star game is being played at Target Field. Dozier is a guy to keep your eye on as he is only getting better.

As for the game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Twins got a solid outing from starting pitcher Kevin Correia who is scheduled to be the teams’ No.2 starter, and Dozier upped his spring batting average to a balmy .714.

John Ginder is contributor for the Minnesota Twins for RantSports.  you can follow him on Twitter @JGUpstateNY or add him to your network on Google.