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Twins Activate Byron Buxton From Injured List, Select Ian Gibaut

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5:12 pm: Minnesota also announced they’ve reinstated Byron Buxton from the injured list. He’s getting the start in center field for this evening’s game against the Brewers. It’s Buxton’s first action in over two months, as the star outfielder has been out since June 22 due to a fracture in his left hand. Catcher Mitch Garver is going on the 10-day IL with lower back tightness in a corresponding move.

It has been a frustrating season for Buxton, who also missed over a month earlier in the year with a right hip strain. When healthy, he’s been nothing short of brilliant. Across 110 plate appearances, the 27-year-old has a .369/.409/.767 slash with ten home runs.

3:27 pm: The Twins announced they’ve selected reliever Ian Gibaut to the big league roster and reinstated Jorge Alcalá from the 10-day injured list. In corresponding moves, Edgar García and Kyle Barraclough were optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. To open space for Gibaut on the 40-man roster, Minnesota transferred righty Luke Farrell from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Gibaut was drafted by the Rays in 2015 and developed into a solid bullpen prospect after posting dominant numbers throughout his early minor league career. He reached the big leagues with Tampa Bay in July 2019 but was traded to the Rangers after a lone appearance. The right-hander spent parts of the next two seasons in Texas, working to a 5.84 ERA over 24 2/3 innings. Gibaut struck hitters out at a roughly league average rate (24.6%) but he issued far too many walks (14.9%) in that brief showing.

Minnesota claimed Gibaut off waivers over the offseason. They passed the 27-year-old through waivers in February and he’s spent the entire season with St. Paul. Gibaut has just a 7.20 ERA over 40 innings of relief with the Saints, but he’s posted passable strikeout (24.2%), walk (10.5%) and ground-ball (49.6%) numbers at the minors’ highest level. Gibaut’s results have been skewed by opponents’ .402 batting average on balls in play, and the Twins will give him a big league opportunity late in the season.

Farrell’s IL transfer is a procedural move. The righty has been on the IL for more than sixty days already, so his eligibility to return is unaffected. The 30-year-old began a rehab assignment with St. Paul over the weekend.

Injury Notes: Nationals, Twins, Braves

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Nationals catcher Yan Gomes left yesterday’s ballgame in the second inning with what appeared to be a strained oblique, per Bobby Blanco of MASNsports.com. Losing Gomes would be a significant blow for the Nationals, who already placed his backup, Alex Avila, on the injured list earlier this week. Yadiel Hernandez would currently be the Nats’ emergency catcher, though a roster move could come later today if Gomes is expected to miss any amount of time. Tres Barrera is the other option currently on the active roster. He figures to start today’s ballgame at the very least. The Nats could try to get by with just Hernandez backing up Barrera for the next couple of days with the All-Star break starting on Monday.

Now, let’s check on a couple other injury updates from around the game…

  • Twins catcher Mitch Garver caught a bullpen session on Friday. Both Garver and Jake Cave could begin rehab assignments in Triple-A next week, writes MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park (via Twitter).Cave’s return would be particularly notable for the Twins, so long as Kyle Garlick, Rob Refsnyder, and Byron Buxton all remain on the injured list. Rookies Gilberto Celestino and Nick Gordon have been pushed into action in centerfield, where the 28-year-old Cave has seen the majority of his playing time over his four years with Minnesota. Cave started slowly at the dish this season, slashing just .167/.239/.262 in 93 plate appearances before a back injury sent him to the injured list on May 15th. He will be eligible for activation after the All-Star break.
  • Speaking of Refsnyder and Garlick, manager Rocco Baldelli touched on their progress as well, Park adds. Refnsyder could be nearing a return from a hamstring strain, but Garlick hasn’t made much progress. He could still be facing surgery. Garlick has been out for the past month with a sports hernia after logging a perfectly average 100 wRC+ in 107 plate appearances.
  • Braves right-hander Mike Soroka recently underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles for the second time since he last appeared in the Majors, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). It was Soroka’s third surgery in total. Soroka figures to be out until at least July 2022, though an official timetable for his recovery has not yet been made public.

Twins Recall Ryan Jeffers, Gilberto Celestino

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The Twins announced they’ve recalled catcher Ryan Jeffers and outfielder Gilberto Celestino. Catcher Mitch Garver is going to the 10-day injured list with a severe groin contusion, while utilityman Rob Refsnyder has been placed on the 7-day concussion IL. Jeffers and Celestino are starting at catcher and in center field, respectively, tonight against the Orioles.

Garver underwent surgery after being struck with a foul tip last night. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) this evening that Garver will be out for “a bare minimum of a couple weeks.” So long as he’s on the IL, Minnesota is expected to roll with Jeffers as the primary catcher, Park adds.

Ben Rortvedt and Willians Astudillo are also on the active roster. Jeffers, though, is generally viewed as a more well-regarded prospect than Rortvedt, while the Twins have been more willing to bounce Astudillo around the diamond as a utility player than deploy him as a true regular catcher. Jeffers, 23, got off to a strong start to his MLB career last season but scuffled in 37 plate appearances earlier this year. With Garver picking up the lion’s share of playing time behind the dish, the Twins optioned Jeffers to Triple-A St. Paul so he could continue to receive regular playing time.

Celestino is also one of the organization’s more talented farmhands and will now pick up his first major league opportunity. Acquired from the Astros as part of the 2018 Ryan Pressly deal, Celestino entered the year as the Twins #10 prospect in the estimation of both FanGraphs and Baseball America. Those outlets suggest the 22-year-old could blossom into a plus defensive center fielder with a hit-over-power approach. Thanks to last year’s cancelled minor league season, Celestino hasn’t gotten much high minors experience. Over 96 plate appearances with Double-A Wichita, he’s off to a .250/.344/.381 start with a pair of home runs. During his last full minor league season (2019), Celestino slashed a productive .276/.350/.409 with ten homers in 503 Low-A plate appearances.

While Celestino has never played at Triple-A, a series of injuries in center field have forced the organization’s hand somewhat. Byron Buxton has been out since early May with a hip strain. Max Kepler slid over to center in his absence, but Kepler went down with a hamstring strain last weekend. That led the Twins to turn to Refsnyder, a journeyman who’s surprisingly gotten off to an incredible start this year, at the position. Unfortunately, he’s out now too after colliding with the outfield wall in pursuit of a Ryan Mountcastle home run ball on Monday.

Mitch Garver Undergoes Groin Surgery

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Twins catcher Mitch Garver exited last night’s game after taking a foul tip from the bat of Trey Mancini to the groin, and while the initial diagnosis was only a contusion, additional tests provided a more concerning outlook. Garver announced on his Instagram story that he underwent surgery after undergoing ultrasound imaging at the emergency room. Thankfully, Garver adds that he is “recovering well,” but the mere fact that surgery was required likely points to an absence of some note.

The Twins have yet to make a formal announcement on the injury or provide a timeline for the 30-year-old Garver’s return, but the injury comes at a poor time given the catcher’s red-hot bat of late. While Garver got out to a very slow start in 2021, he’d righted the ship with a huge .286/.430/.651 showing over his past 24 games (19 starts). In 79 plate appearances during that stretch, he’d connected on six home runs and five doubles with nearly as many walks (16) as strikeouts (20).

With Garver presumably sidelined for a bit, the Twins have some options behind the plate. They were already carrying three catchers, with Ben Rortvedt and utilityman Willians Astudillo both on the roster. Minnesota could run with that tandem, but the Twins also have one of baseball’s top catching prospects, Ryan Jeffers, with their Triple-A club in St. Paul.

Jeffers, 23, came up in 2020 after a Garver injury and debuted with a .273/.355/.436 slash in 62 plate appearances. He started poorly in 2021 and was optioned to St. Paul for everyday at-bats once the Triple-A season began. He’s hitting for a low average with the Saints (perhaps due in part to an ugly .235 BABIP), but Jeffers is drawing walks and hitting for power as well. Overall, he’s at .217/.340/.446 with five homers and four doubles in 103 plate appearances since being sent down. He’s regarded as a potential everyday option behind the dish, while Rortvedt is more of a glove-first backup and Astudillo is a more of utility option and part-time catcher.

It remains to be seen just what route the team will take, but the injury is a notable blow to a Twins team that really can’t afford further injury woes. His recent hot streak was a small sample, but Garver looked to be trending back toward the offensive levels he put forth in 2019 when he batted .273/.365/.630 with 31 homers in just 359 plate appearances. Subtracting that bat from an already flailing Twins roster does nothing to improve a bleak outlook for the 22-31 surprising AL Central cellar dwellers.

Twins Notes: Middle Infield, Jeffers, Romero

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The Twins are receiving trade interest both in their upper-level middle infield prospects and in controllable players on their big league roster, writes Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. That’s not exactly earth-shattering news, given the manner in which teams covet affordable long-term pieces — particularly this offseason. Rosenthal still outlines a possibility of Minnesota moving someone like second baseman Luis Arraez in order to slide Jorge Polanco over to second base. Doing so could come as part of a trade package for a high-end shortstop (e.g. Trevor Story) or help in the rotation, with a free-agent shortstop then being brought in as a bridge to top prospect Royce Lewis.

We’ve written about the possibility of the Twins making middle-infield moves despite a clear hole here at MLBTR, and from my vantage point it doesn’t seem the Twins would even need to move Arraez to justify bringing in a shortstop upgrade if they wish. Polanco has never been a strong defensive shortstop, even prior to a pair of ankle surgeries, and would seem perfectly well suited to play the same super-utility role that was recently held by departing free agent Marwin Gonzalez. There are myriad avenues they could take, but a move at shortstop doesn’t seem outlandish for the Twins, even with Polanco in tow. He’s set to earn $4.33MM in 2021, $5MM in 2022 and $7.5MM in 2023 before the Twins have a pair of club options valued at $10.5MM and $12MM.

More out of Minneapolis/St. Paul…

  • The Twins announced earlier this week that catcher Ryan Jeffers underwent an offseason procedure to remove loose bodies from his right elbow. Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the operation isn’t expected to delay Jeffers’ availability for the 2021 season, though, with manager Rocco Baldelli telling Miller and others that Jeffers is already nearly back up to speed. Jeffers, 23, jumped to the Majors to fill in for an injured Mitch Garver in 2020 and not only held his own but may have even cemented his spot on the 2021 roster. In 26 games, the 2018 second-rounder took 62 plate appearances and posted a .273/.355/.436 slash with three homers. Jeffers did skip Triple-A entirely due to the lack of a minor league season, though, so the Twins could conceivably add a veteran backup if the hope is to get him a bit more seasoning. Doing so would also afford Jeffers everyday reps rather than have him serve in a more limited role behind Garver.
  • Minnesota’s decision to release Fernando Romero yesterday (and Romero quickly signing with the Yokohama BayStars) was examined by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes, who reports that Romero didn’t draw much trade attention from MLB teams.  The Twins simply weren’t certain whether Romero would be able to pitch in the United States after visa issues prevented him from entering the country in 2020, and as president of baseball ops Derek Falvey said, “it felt like given all the circumstances around this year and going forward, plus his desired pursuit of Japan, it kind of felt like the best combination.”

Twins Reinstate Mitch Garver

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The Twins announced that they’ve reinstated catcher Mitch Garver from the 10-day injured list and optioned utility player Willians Astudillo. La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune first reported on Garver’s return.

The Twins have gone without Garver since he went on the IL on Aug. 20 with a right intercostal strain. Before that, Garver only managed a .154/.262/.212 line with one home run in 61 plate appearances. That production represents a stunning drop-off for a player who seemingly broke through a season ago by slashing .273/.365/.630 with 31 homers and 3.9 fWAR in just 359 trips to the plate. Garver led all major leaguers with 350-plus PA then in isolated power (.357), but that number has plummeted to .058 this year.

At 31-21, the Twins are in position for a second straight playoff berth, but it doesn’t appear another AL Central title is in the cards, as they’re three games behind the White Sox. Regardless, if Garver’s able to round back into last year’s form upon his return, it would certainly increase the Twins’ World Series chances. Garver, rookie Ryan Jeffers and Alex Avila could comprise a strong trio at catcher.

Twins Place Mitch Garver, Byron Buxton On Injured List

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4:50pm: The Twins don’t seem overly concerned about Buxton, who’s dealing with soreness, manager Rocco Baldelli said (via Park). Baldelli added Buxton’s surgically repaired labrum is in good shape.

3:55pm: The Twins have placed catcher Mitch Garver (right intercostal strain) and center fielder Byron Buxton (left shoulder inflammation) on the 10-day injured list, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. In other moves, they selected catcher Ryan Jeffers and recalled both righty Zack Littell and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr.

Already down third baseman Josh Donaldson for the past three weeks, the Twins are now missing a couple more regulars in Garver and Buxton. But Garver, who was quietly one of the majors’ elite offensive performers in 2019, has started slowly this year with a .154/.262/.212 line and just one home run in 61 plate appearances. Fortunately for Minnesota, backup Alex Avila, who has played frequently thanks to Garver’s struggles, has gotten on base at a 41.5 percent clip through 41 PA, though he hasn’t hit for average (.200) or power (one homer).

With Garver down, Jeffers will join Avila to make up the Twins’ top two catchers. Jeffers, 23, joined the Twins as a second-round pick in 2018 and has posted great numbers at all four minor league levels at which he has played (rookie ball, Single-A, High-A, Double-A). MLB.com ranks Jeffers as the club’s sixth-best prospect, crediting him for his all-around game and positing that he looks like the Twins’ “catcher of the future.”

Buxton’s injury looks rather troubling when you consider he underwent season-ending surgery on the same shoulder last September. There’s no word this time on whether he’ll require an absence of more than 10 days. Like Garver, Buxton has not begun well at the plate (.221/.225/.456 with five HRs in 71 attempts). The defensive standout has once fared splendidly in that area, though, and has played center in every Twins game over the past couple weeks. Max Kepler, Jake Cave and Wade took the reins there last season when Buxton went down. They’re candidates to do so again now.

The Twins’ Breakout Slugger

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Last July, a happier time when something called Major League Baseball was actually taking place, I wrote a piece singing the praises of Twins catcher Mitch Garver. At that point, Garver was amid a breakout season in which he served as a key member of the Twins’ high-powered offense, aka the Bomba Squad – a unit that piled up an all-time record 307 home runs. Garver contributed about 10 percent of those, totaling 31 and finishing as one of five Twins who hit 30 or more.

Garver wasn’t just a one-trick pony who offered just power last year, either, as he wound up with an outstanding .273/.365/.630 line over his 359 plate appearances. Because he was part of a behind-the-plate timeshare with Jason Castro, Garver made just 93 appearances on the season. That means he hit a homer every three games; he also wound up with a .357 isolated power mark that paced all players who amassed 300-plus trips to the plate (AL MVP Mike Trout and AL Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez were his closest competitors).

Speaking of Trout, he has a new teammate in Castro, who will be the Angels’ starting catcher in 2020 if a season ever gets underway. The Twins, meanwhile, are now poised to hand the reins to Garver, whom free-agent addition Alex Avila will back up. Judging by what he did last season, Garver has a chance to end up as the Twins’ most productive catcher since Joe Mauer’s heyday donning the tools of ignorance.

It wasn’t just a matter of Garver posting all-world bottom-line production with the bat last season. He also ranked among Statcast’s top hitters in one important category after another. To name some examples, Garver was in the 85th percentile or better in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, expected slugging percentage and expected weighted on-base average (.380, compared to a real wOBA of .405). He was also remarkably consistent, evidenced by a 155 wRC+ in the first half and a 154 mark in the second. Furthermore, the right-handed slugger managed numbers that were easily above average against lefties and righties alike (198 wRC+ versus LHPs, 130 off RHPs).

It’s not easy to find a red flag when it comes to Garver’s 2019 offensive outburst. Adding to his appeal, he performed pretty well behind the plate. Sure, Garver threw out a paltry 16 percent of would-be base stealers (league average was 11 points better), but he did finish a solid 28th in Baseball Prospectus’ Framing Runs Above Average metric and a slightly better 24th as a pitch framer.

All said, the Twins seem to have stumbled on a gem in Garver, who joined the organization as a ninth-round pick in 2013 and who appears to have developed into a formidable all-around contributor. The 29-year-old was quietly one of the reasons the Twins won 101 games and an American League Central title last season. If they’re going to enjoy similar success going forward, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Garver continue to have a big hand in it.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Twins Looking Into Free Agent Third Basemen

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The Twins have “kicked the tires” on several free-agent third basemen, including Josh Donaldson and Todd Frazier, according to Darren Wolfson of Skor North. Speculatively, it would seem that Mike Moustakas could also belong to this group, though he wasn’t explicitly named as a target.

One member of the Twins who might not be pleased to hear this news? C.J. Cron. With Miguel Sano currently installed at the hot corner, there’s not an immediate fit there, so adding a pricey third baseman through free agency could force Sano to first base—at Cron’s expense. The 29-year-old is in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and with MLBTR projecting a $7.7MM salary for the 2020 season, he’s a candidate to be non-tendered at the December 2 deadline.

That’s not to say that Cron is not a valuable player. With a .780 OPS and 25 home runs in 125 games for the Twins, he was a nice addition last winter and $8MM is by no means unaffordable, but the front office will certainly consider whether there are other options that could match or exceed Cron’s production at a lower price. It’s the same discussion that surrounded the Rays’ decision to designate Cron for assignment after a 2018 season in which he slugged 30 home runs, rather than pay the approximate $5MM he would’ve earned in arbitration.

And with Sano expected to earn $5.9MM in his second year of arbitration eligibility and coming off a decidedly better offensive season, he may very well represent a more cost-effective replacement for Cron. After rising through the minor league ranks as a third baseman, many have projected a transition to first base in Sano’s future. And after parts of five seasons in the big leagues, it seems safe to say that Sano will never be an above-average defensive third baseman: he was credited with -5 Defensive Runs Saved in 2019, and the stat believes he has cost his team runs in every season since 2015.

The Twins have quietly amassed the financial flexibility to go after the winter’s big fish, so a player of Donaldson’s caliber shouldn’t be out of the question for Minnesota. That said, they likely won’t be players for the best option on the market, Anthony Rendon. Nonetheless, if Cron is indeed non-tendered, the club would find itself comfortably below 2019’s $120MM Opening Day payroll, so the Twins shouldn’t be financially precluded from bringing in Donaldson on the three-year, $75MM deal that MLBTR projected for him. Still, there’s an argument to be made that those resources ought to be allocated to the starting rotation, which is a glaring area of weakness after the loss of Kyle Gibson and Michael Pineda to free agency.

As Wolfson mentions, the team has also considered giving catcher Mitch Garver increased reps at first base. After an offensive breakout in which he hit 31 home runs in just 311 at-bats, one would think his bat could play there. Wolfson is quick to note, however, that that doesn’t constitute a full-time position change for Garver—of course, such a move would only diminish his comparative offensive value, given the dearth of slugging catchers. The Twins still think of him first and foremost as a catcher (indeed, Garver made strides as a defensive catcher this year after a rocky start to his career), though decreasing his workload behind the plate would allow the team to get his bat in the lineup for more games throughout the season. He was part of a formidable timeshare with Jason Castro in 2019, and the Twins seem reluctant to pencil in a single catcher for 130+ games in 2020, so a similar arrangement (whether with Castro, who’s a free agent, or a newcomer) could be in order this year.

AL Notes: Glasnow, Twins, Frazier

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Rays righty Tyler Glasnow seemed to be embarking on an uber-breakout campaign this year before being sidelined with forearm issues. The 1.86 ERA, 10.24 K/9 and 2.31 FIP marks he submitted in his first eight 2019 starts became the talk of baseball for a time and positioned Glasnow as the possible usurper of the Cy Young throne held by teammate Blake Snell.

Since hitting the injured list, Glasnow has embarked on a lengthy rehab that could culminate in the coming week. MLB.com writer Juan Toribio passes on that Glasnow will pitch two innings for the clubs Durham affiliate on Monday, whereafter the org will decide on the location of his next appearance (link).

To truly help a 79-58 team trying to break through the postseason barricades, Glasnow will need to be in top form when he returns to the team–a return that is expected to be in a short relief capacity. Still, this latest stop in his rehab suggests that Tampa could soon be making one of the most impactful additions of the AL playoff race this month. With tonight’s win over Cleveland, the Rays entered into a tie with Oakland for the second Wild Card play-in spot.

Two more notes from AL contenders…

  • Somehow, the Twins hit six home runs tonight and still lost a 10-7 decision to the lowly Tigers. However, this would be called “burying the lead” in journalism: the real story is that the final home run of the night–a blast off the bat of Mitch Garver in the ninth inning–brought Minnesota’s home run total to 268 on the year, setting a new single-season team record. Though this record doesn’t have obvious trade or free agent implications, it’s still an impressive mark for a team that was largely debrided for organizational inactivity this offseason. Amazingly, the club has already received 20-plus homers from seven different players, with 38 home runs coming from the catching position alone (which is itself a record for an American League team). It’s hardly a surprise that such a powerful club holds an 83-52 record and +172 Run Differential, not to mention a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central. The home run record was previously held by last year’s Yankees team.
  • Tomorrow will likely see social media ablaze with news of Sept. 1 roster call-ups, but word of one particular promotion stood out from the transaction morass today. Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier is a player of considerable pedigree who has mostly logged solid offensive results at the major league level (103 wRC+ in 392 career at-bats). Nonetheless, his team saw fit to demote Frazier to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre in June, sparking both trade rumors and reports that highlighted an organizational mandate to Frazier regarding his suspect defense. September hope will spring eternal for the 24-year-old outfielder, however, as it appears that the man known as “Red Thunder” will rejoin his big league bombers when rosters expand today.  Frazier, for one, is excited: “Honestly feels like the first time I got called up all over again,” Frazier told Conor Foley of The Times-Tribune in Scranton (link). While in Triple-A this year, the right-handed hitter produced a .244/.302/.431 batting line.
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