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Twins Notes: Keaschall, Wallner, Lewis, Jeffers

By Steve Adams | April 29, 2025 at 11:25am CDT

Top prospect Luke Keaschall provided a spark to a listless Twins lineup upon his initial call to the majors. The 2023 second-rounder has done nothing but hit since moving from Arizona State to pro ball, and the majors were no exception. Through the 22-year-old Keaschall’s first seven games, he hit .368/.538/.526 with more walks (five) than strikeouts (two) in 26 plate appearances. The former Sun Devil also tied a major league record with five stolen bases in his first five MLB games.

Keaschall landed on the injured list after an errant pitch from veteran Kyle Hendricks hit his forearm and resulted in a non-displaced fracture. For the time being, there’s no indication he’ll require surgery, but head trainer Nick Paparesta told the Twins beat last night that Keaschall is likely to miss multiple months nonetheless (link via Dan Hayes of The Athletic). Keaschall will be reevaluated in about one month.

The injury to Keaschall is the latest for a Twins club that has been torched by health troubles this season. Third baseman Royce Lewis has yet to play in a regular-season game. Utilityman Willi Castro is out with an oblique strain. Ace Pablo Lopez missed two weeks with a hamstring strain. Top infield prospect Brooks Lee is healthy now but started on the shelf with a back injury. Relievers Brock Stewart and Michael Tonkin opened the year on the injured list due to hamstring and shoulder strains, respectively. Infielder Jose Miranda struggled early, was optioned to Triple-A, and has since gone on the minor league injured list with a strain in his left hand.

Most of those injuries have been relatively minor in nature. Keaschall is the most significant injury, but slugging corner outfielder Matt Wallner is also looking at a lengthy absence. Via Hayes, Paparesta added that Wallner is dealing with a moderate to severe strain of his hamstring. Wallner only first began light jogging on a treadmill yesterday, two weeks after his initial injury. He’ll be reevaluated next week, but it seems likely that the injury will sideline him well into May, if not longer.

Wallner, 27, is hardly a household name but has emerged as the Twins’ top power threat. The Twin Cities native, selected 39th overall in 2019, floundered through a catastrophically poor start to his 2024 season but mashed for the final three months after being recalled from Triple-A. In 228 plate appearances following last year’s recall, Wallner hit .282/.386/.559 with a dozen homers, 16 doubles and a triple.

A sky-high .410 average on balls in play and an ugly 34% strikeout rate point to plenty of regression in batting average for Wallner, but he draws enough walks and makes enough hard contact that he could be a productive overall hitter even if his average dips into league average territory (.241) or a bit lower. Between last year’s torrid finish and this year’s hot start, Wallner boasts a .278/.383/.540 line (164 wRC+) in 295 plate appearances. He’s walked in more than 10% of those trips to the plate and posted eye-popping batted-ball metrics: 92.4 mph average exit velocity, 16.1% barrel rate, 52.3% hard-hit rate.

With Keaschall and Wallner out for extended periods and injuries at multiple other positions, the Twins have turned to the DFA market to add some depth on the bench. Jonah Bride and Kody Clemens came over in cash swaps with the Marlins and Phillies, respectively, after both were designated for assignment. Both are out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay for one of them on the roster, particularly once Lewis returns. He’s played two Triple-A rehab games already and gone 3-for-6 with a double. A return next week wouldn’t be a surprise.

The Twins could opt to preserve their depth by instead optioning Lee or Edouard Julien so they can get regular at-bats in Triple-A. The ultimate move will come down to health and production among the current infield group. It’s a more straightforward scenario in the outfield, where Harrison Bader — signed to be an oft-used fourth outfielder — will see regular run alongside Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach.

In general, the Twins’ lineup has begun to emerge from a dormant state. Facing clubs with poor pitching staffs like the White Sox and Angels surely plays a role, but Minnesota is hitting .276/.359/.432 as a team over the past two weeks. Unsurprisingly, they’ve gone 8-4 in that time. They’re still three games under .500, but the lineup is meshing and Lewis’ looming return creates reason for more optimism.

Part of that resurgence has been a blistering hot streak from catcher Ryan Jeffers. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote last week that manager Rocco Baldelli is moving away from the largely even split in playing time between Jeffers and veteran Christian Vazquez. Jeffers is seeing an uptick in at-bats and will shoulder a larger portion of the catching workload. So far, it’s paying off. Jeffers is hitting .308/.426/.538 during this Twins hot streak; that looks more closely in line with the 27-year-old’s terrific 2023 season and strong start to 2024.

A slow finish last year dampened Jeffers’ numbers, but he’s a .247/.331/.449 hitter (120 wRC+) in 885 plate appearances dating back to ’23. Jeffers tells Matthew Leach of MLB.com that he feels some mechanical changes he’s incorporated in recent years have reached the point where he no longer even needs to think about them.

The move away from Vazquez is understandable, particularly at a time when the lineup was struggling. The 34-year-old remains a premier defensive catcher but has limped out of the gate with a .139/.200/.250 output in 14 games and 40 plate appearances. He’s in the final season of a three-year, $30MM contract that hasn’t panned out as the Twins hoped, but Vazquez’s glove is strong enough that he can hold a backup role even with a .218/.261/.318 slash in 710 plate appearances as a Twin. Jeffers, meanwhile, is in his second of three arbitration seasons and can be controlled through 2026.

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Minnesota Twins Notes Christian Vazquez Luke Keaschall Matt Wallner Royce Lewis Ryan Jeffers

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11 Comments

  1. JScottG

    2 months ago

    Someone needs to sacrifice a live chicken and end this injury curse.

    5
    Reply
  2. ilikesports

    2 months ago

    The end? It never ends for the Twins. We can’t have nice things.

    2
    Reply
  3. ohyeadam

    2 months ago

    Not sure I believe it but the Twins are actually +8 run differential.

    2
    Reply
  4. AC Surf Baseball

    2 months ago

    I’ll keep saying it, the Phillies and Twins line up perfectly in a trade. Johan Rojas, Mick Abel,
    Otto Kemp & Gabriel Rincones Jr. for Byron Buxton & Grffin Jax. Phillies have had a black hole in CF for years now. Buxton plays CF this year, bumps to LF when Crawford comes up. If Topper plays Marsh vs. RHP day games after night games, along with the eventual switch to LF, should keep Buxton healthy moving forward. He makes a modest $15mil per season, which is a bargain when you consider the lack of true CF talent around MLB. And Buxton (plus a Twins bullpen arm like Jax) probably wouldn’t cost the Phillies a top 3 prospect. Twins meanwhile replenish their upper minors at some positions of need, while offering everyday playing time to youngsters Rojas & Rincones Jr. See if they can be part of the mix next year and beyond, for a Twins club that seemingly tries to compete every year. Both clubs definitely need a shake up.

    Reply
    • arby58

      2 months ago

      Buxton has a no-trade contract.

      2
      Reply
    • ForDoingNothing

      2 months ago

      You act like Jax is a throw in lol.
      Factoring in some poor inning to start the season doesn’t change the fact that Jax is one of the premier relievers in the game

      1
      Reply
    • martras

      2 months ago

      Buxton (+22) and Jax (+32) are at +55 AFV on BaseballTradeValues right now.

      Rojas (+8), Abel (+2), Kemp (+2) and Rincones, Jr (+2). total +12 AFV.

      Piling a bunch of low/mid level prospects and a AAAA OF doesn’t get good players back.

      1
      Reply
  5. MRSHOWTIME

    2 months ago

    Twins blew their load last night. They will come back to earth w 3 or 4 runs tonight. It’s up to the pitching to make it hold up.

    WHEN Lewis comes back and Correa starts hitting, watch out for this offense

    Reply
  6. Kibra7

    1 month ago

    When Falvey and Baldelli lead with zero enthusiasm and act like robots that just follow their spreadsheets, it results in players that play with zero enthusiasm, zero emotion and just go through the motions. The Twins are leaderless, uninspiring and boring. This team from top to bottom is the worst product in the MLB. Ownership, front office management and clubhouse management all need to be changed from the current toxic sludge.

    Reply
  7. MLBTR needs to hire editors

    1 month ago

    “Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.

    Reply
  8. cman

    1 month ago

    Lewis is gonna go back on the IL, as he pulled up and grabbed his hamstring again in last night’s game. Not sure how a 25-year-old can have chronic hamstring issues.

    Reply

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