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Twins Claim Outfielder Jordan Luplow

Seth Stohs
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Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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Unable to acquire a right-handed hitting outfielder at the trade deadline, the Twins claimed outfielder Jordan Luplow from the Blue Jays. 

Image courtesy of Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Well, this move certainly won't excite the Twins fan base. However, looking for offense against left-handed pitching, Jordan Luplow certainly fits the bill. 

The 29-year-old was DFAd by the Blue Jays following Toronto's deadline day acquisitions. He had played just seven games with the Jays including three just before the deadline. 

To make room for Luplow on the 40-man roster, Brock Stewart was moved to the 60-Day Injured List. 

When he gets into a game with the Twins, it will mark his sixth big-league club that he has played for. He was originally a third-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2014 out of Fresno State. At 23, he made his MLB debut with 27 games in 2017. He played 37 games for the Pirates in 2018. 

Twins fans will likely mostly remember Jordan Luplow from his years with Cleveland. In parts of three seasons, he played in 150 games and hit .234/.348/.486 (834) with 25 doubles and 24 homers. 

Since then, he has become a journeyman. He's played for the Rays, the Diamondbacks, and the Blue Jays. In total, he has played in 329 big-league games and hit .213/.314/.428 (.742) with 37 doubles and 45 homers. 

In his career, he has hit just .199/.289/.354 (.644) with 16 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs off of right-handed pitching. 

However, against southpaws, he is a different player. He has hit .226/.337/.497 (.833). Not great numbers, by any means, but for a Twins team struggling mightily against lefties, the move is certainly understandable. 

He's not going to hit for batting average, but how many do at this point? He gets on base at a decent clip against lefties. He does have much more power and drives the ball against left-handers. 

In his career, he has mostly played the two corner outfield positions. He has also played 53 games at first base, mostly the last couple of years. 

He has played in 29 games against the Twins in his career, second only to the Detroit Tigers. In those games, he hit just .164 but did hit six home runs. 

Since 2018, he has played primarily in the big leagues. He has missed time with injury the last few years. In 48 games this year at Triple-A Buffalo, he hit .239/.341/.438 (.779). Against right-handers, he has a .653 OPS. Against lefties, his OPS is .914. 

If he spends the rest of the season with the Twins and they like him so much, he has one more arbitration season remaining, and he only signed for $1.4 million for 2023. 

This is definitely not a difference-maker, but it's a sneaky solid little pickup. Of course, the Twins still need to make a roster move to get Luplow onto the 26-man roster. That could be interesting. 

Share your thoughts below. 

 

 


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nicksaviking
nicksaviking

Wow. This club is really going out of its way to not call up Prato, Williams, Severino or Lee.

Danchat
Danchat

Eh, for a guy whose niche should be mashing lefties, his career line isn't very impressive. He's basically a lesser Kyle Garlick in my eyes.

Mike Sixel
Mike Sixel

Heaven forbid they take a chance on a young guy.

Linus Cedar Rapids Kernels

Linus

Verified Member
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6 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Eh, for a guy whose niche should be mashing lefties, his career line isn't very impressive. He's basically a lesser Kyle Garlick in my eyes.

Yea I had to re-read the stat line on mlbtraderumours. I thought it was his slash line against righties.   Nothing move. 

Dman Wichita Wind Surge

Dman

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I kind of always thought of Luplow as an easy out. Hoping they are just trying to stash him at AAA and see if he blossoms like lot's of our hitters have done there this year.  His splits aren't encouraging for hitting lefties.

chpettit19 Minnesota Twins

chpettit19

Community Moderator
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Faster Kyle Garlick. Just what the Dr ordered.

I assume he's headed to St Paul as "depth." I generally don't pay much mind to these pretty insignificant moves, but it doesn't feel right to sit out the deadline and then bring in Kyle Garlick with speed. I generally believe the baseball side of the FO should pay pretty little attention to the desires of the fans (beyond fans wanting a winning team) and leave that up to the owners and business side, but it feels like a bit of a slap in the face to your fan base to make this move right now. At the end of the day it's a "meh" move that we really shouldn't care much about, but 3 days post deadline, in a heated division race where you're floundering left and right it has a little sting to it. Not a fan of this.

roger FCL Twins

roger

Verified Member
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The most disappointing part of this post, Seth, is that Stewart was moved to the 60-day IL.  When is he eligible to return?  Wasn't he supposed to have an MRI or something a couple days ago?  I suspect this move suggests that it wasn't good.

stringer bell Cooperstown

stringer bell

Verified Member
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Gallo is currently the only LH hitter who can play first base. He is there in the lineup today. Sad to see Stewart go on the 60-day IL. I would not count on any more from him this year. 

As for Luplow, yeah he's Kyle Garlick. Don't hate the move, but it isn't going to solve most of the Twins' problems.

DocBauer All-Star

DocBauer

Old-Timey Member
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Garlick is no worse, probably better, and already in the organization at St Paul where he's been much better the last month or so. 

And Williams is sitting there at 1B as well. And I don't buy in to any "but Gallo is a LH for 1B" nonsense that might be spun. He's a good 1B. But he's hitting something like .160 since May and K-ing around 40% I believe.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I don't think it would be hard for Williams, or anyone, to do better than that.

jmlease1 Cedar Rapids Kernels

jmlease1

Verified Member
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50 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

Much rather give Trey Mancini a shot than this guy...

good lord, why? Mancini has been awful this season and can't really play OF any longer. Luplow hasn't played enough in MLB to know if he's completely cooked even against lefties, but at least he can function in the OF.

not likely an impactful move, but I like it more than getting Mancini

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