Donovan Solano climbs Twins ranks this season, surprising even himself

Donovan Solano was well on his way, two months into the season, to becoming the most successful Twins pinch hitter of this century. But it's a lot less likely now.

Big slump? Just the opposite. On a Twins roster constantly reshaped by injuries, Solano has become too valuable to sit on the bench.

"I don't really want to contemplate where we'd be" without Solano, manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I don't know how much more we could have ever hoped for when we signed him."

True, the club probably didn't envision Solano appearing in more games than any Twin but Carlos Correa and Michael A. Taylor. It's doubtful the Twins expected him to handle more than a dozen games each at second and third base before settling in as the de facto starting first baseman this month.

And on a team with a half-dozen position players earning $10 million or more, did anyone foresee the veteran infielder ranking fourth on the team in wins above replacement, trailing only the unlikely trio of Ryan Jeffers, Edouard Julien and Willi Castro?

"That's the fun of it. I never thought about how many games I would play. I just want to make them good," Solano said. "You prepare to play every day because the situation changes so quickly in baseball. Be ready for anything. If you think, 'I'm a part-time player,' you won't be a good one."

He's definitely been a good player this year, his 10th in the big leagues. Solano is fourth best on the Twins at reaching base, his .375 on-base percentage trailing only those of Jordan Luplow, Julien and Jeffers. He has piled up 83 hits, second on the team behind Correa's 98, in 142 fewer plate appearances. Eight of those hits came when pinch hitting, putting him within striking distance of the 12 that Jose Offerman contributed in 2004, most by a Twin this century.

And in August, when he has found himself in the starting lineup 10 times in 18 games, including the past six in a row, Solano has looked like a worthy successor to Luis Arraez at the position, batting .405 with a .908 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage.

"I feel really good right now. I've been getting more opportunity, opportunity, opportunity," Solano said. "It all goes together — the more you play, the more you hit the ball good. And the more you hit, the more you play. I'm really happy with it right now."

Like Arraez, he's also proof that home runs aren't the only way to contribute. Solano's 23 doubles are also the second most on the Twins, again behind Correa (25).

"It's nice to hit home runs, but my swing is not like that, so I don't want to lose the contact I have. God gave me a gift, so I try to be consistent with it," the 35-year-old infielder said. "Don't try to do too much. I try to be the hitter I am. Find a hole. Hit it in the gap."

Solano has never appeared in more than the 111 games he got with the Marlins in 2014, mostly as a second baseman, so it's no wonder the Twins thought of him as a spare part when they signed him away from the Reds for just $2 million for this year.

"We didn't know if he would get occasional starts against lefthanders and that's it. Or pinch hit on occasion and that's it. He was ready for any of those roles," Baldelli said. "Donovan, he just hit. He just hit. Through everything, all year long, he's continued to hit righthanders, lefthanders, and he's done a good job in the field. He's a great signing by the Twins."

Solano, who grew up idolizing five-time All-Star and 2010 World Series MVP Edgar Renteria, who is from his hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, wouldn't mind being next year's "great signing," too.

"I would love to be here. This is a good organization, a good team," he said. "I was really excited to sign because I knew we've got a team that will try to make the playoff, try to win it. With Carlos, with [Byron] Buxton, with the pitchers, we've got a chance to make the playoffs, and we're good enough to go to the World Series."