José Miranda

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Note: This page is for infielder José Miranda who made his debut in 2022; for others with the same name, click here.

José Francisco Miranda Palacios

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder José Miranda is a cousin of Broadway musical theater writer Lin-Manuel Miranda. He was named the Minnesota Twins minor league player of the year in 2021 when he hit .344/.401/.572 with 30 home runs and 94 RBIs between the AA Wichita Wind Surge and the AAA St. Paul Saints.

On July 13, 2022, he hit the first walk-off homer of his career off Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers, a three-run blast that broke a 1-1 tie in the 9th inning. That month, he was named the American League Rookie of the Month when he hit .353 with 5 homers and 19 RBIs in 20 games. He played 125 games in his rookie season, hitting .268 with 15 homers and 66 RBIs for an OPS+ of 114. He played mainly first base, but also made starts at third base and at DH.

He was slated to play for Puerto Rico at the 2023 World Baseball Classic but withdrew just prior to the event with shoulder issues, being replaced on the roster by Johneshwy Fargas. He then started the 2023 season poorly, hitting .220 and slugging just .318 in 35 games through May 9th and was sent down to St. Paul. He stayed there until early July, hitting .255 in 39 games, but played only 5 more games after his return before going on the injured list for the remainder of the season on July 15th, due to his shoulder still bothering him. As a result, he missed the Twins' appearance in the postseason. In 40 games in that shortened sophomore season, he hit .211 with 3 homers and 13 RBIs, his OPS+ being a very disappointing 57. He started the 2024 season back at St. Paul, but only played 7 games in AAA before getting back to the majors on April 8th. He once again looked like the very promising rookie of two years before, starting with a three-game stretch in which he collected 7 hits at the end of April, raising his average to .292. He never really looked back, then had another burst of production in early July, when he managed ten consecutive hits over a three-game stretch from July 3-5. That included a 5-for-5 effort against the Detroit Tigers on July 4th, in which he also banged out three doubles, scored four runs and drove in three in a 12-3 win. The next day, he went 4-for-4 with a double and a homer in a wild 13-12 loss to the Houston Astros. the three games raised his average to .324. The team record for consecutive hits had been 9, shared by Tony Oliva, Mickey Hatcher and Todd Walker. He had a chance to get another at-bat in the 9th inning of the third game, but with the Twins trailing 13-5 at the time, manager Rocco Baldelli elected to sit him down and use rookie Austin Martin as a pinch-hitter; Martin then ignited a seven-run rally that fell just short of tying the game. José still had a chance of tying the modern record of 11 consecutive plate appearances with a hit, which is exactly what he did the next day by getting hits in his first two plate appearances before he lined a pitch just foul down the right field foul line in the 6th, before flying out. His streak tied him with three other players: Johnny Kling (1902), Pinky Higgins (1938) and Walt Dropo (1952). His historic streak resulted in his being named the American League Player of the Week.

Records Held[edit]

  • Consecutive hits, 12, 1952 (tied)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Patrick Donnelly: "10 at-bats, 10 hits -- Miranda makes Twins history", mlb.com, July 6, 2024. [1]
  • Patrick Donnelly: "Miranda matches record with hit in 12 consecutive at-bats", mlb.com, July 6, 2024. [2]
  • Do-Hyoung Park: "Mirandas enjoy Bronx-style family reunion: Award-winning actor Lin-Manuel sees cousin Jose play in-person for first time in Majors", mlb.com, April 16, 2023. [3]
  • Joe Trezza: "Jose Miranda, Lin-Manuel's cousin, gets callup from Twins", mlb.com, May 2, 2022. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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