Inbox: Is Polanco staking claim on short?

KANSAS CITY -- Despite losing seven of their past 10, the Twins have been able to hang around .500 after taking two out of three in Texas as Ervin Santana continued to look like an ace, while Phil Hughes and Héctor Santiago were both solid.
Miguel Sanó has been carrying the offense, and youngsters Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler have contributed. There are plenty of questions about this team, however, which leads us to this week's Twins Inbox.

Polanco's offense (.257/.325/.371) has been mostly solid despite cooling off recently, but his defense has been the real surprise, as he's been credited with 4 Defensive Runs Saved, which is the second-best mark among MLB shortstops. It's a sample size of 19 games, but it matches the eye test, as it's clear he's improved defensively. The concerns about him sticking are starting to fade, although it's too early to anoint him as the shortstop of the future.
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Nick Gordon -- ranked No. 1 in the Twins' system by MLBPipeline.com -- is off to a blazing start, hitting .338/.398/.446 in 19 games at Double-A Chattanooga, but it's worth noting he's splitting time at short and second with defensive wizard Engelb Vielma. Minnesota, though, believes he can handle short, but with Vielma on the same team, the club wants both to see action at multiple positions.

After his slow start, Byron Buxton is hitting .385 (5-for-13) over his past five games, and he's walked five times over that stretch, which is encouraging because it means he's seeing the ball better.
The early-season slump seemed to get in Buxton's head, but with better results, his confidence is growing and the Twins are hopeful he'll get past it, as he leads the Majors in defensive WAR, according to Fangraphs.com.

After posting a 3.84 ERA in 194 2/3 innings in 2015, it looked like Kyle Gibson had finally developed into an above-average starter, but instead, the sinkerballer has regressed to post a 5.48 ERA over the past two seasons.

Gibson can generate ground balls, but he struggles to miss bats with his secondary pitches. He struck out 17.7 percent of batters in 2015, but that's down to 14.3 percent this year. He tried to refine his mechanics with a new throwing program, but the results haven't showed up with a 9.00 ERA. As he does have Minor League options remaining, he might need to go to Triple-A to work out his issues.

ByungHo Park is recovering from his right hamstring strain suffered at Triple-A, but he has been participating in baseball activities in Florida and should be starting a rehab assignment soon. After an impressive spring, Park remains on Minnesota's radar and would've had a shot to be recalled instead of Kennys Vargas, if he were healthy and productive.
Park's power remains legit, and he has a strong chance to rejoin the Twins at some point this year, if he's faring well at Triple-A.

Minnesota won't need a fifth starter until May 6, but it's too early to say who will get the nod, especially with Gibson's struggles. Candidates include José Berríos, Adalberto Mejía and Tyler Duffey, but it depends on how they're pitching at the time.