Get to Know 'Em: Andrew Stevenson

[Matt Braun]

A champ on the 2019 Nationals toasted AAA enough to earn a promotion to the Twins.

Image courtesy of Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

 

As reported by Do-Hyoung Park, the Twins have called up outfielder Andrew Stevenson as part of September’s roster expansion. 

In his first season with the Twins organization, Stevenson played in 106 games with the St. Paul Saints, slashing .317/.394/.522 (.916) with 16 homers, 91 runs, and 44 stolen bases. That last number may be the most pertinent; the Twins are stagnant on the bases outside of Willi Castro and Michael A. Taylor, so adding Stevenson deepens their pinch-running pockets, allowing the team to be a little more aggressive later in ballgames. Stevenson’s glove is also considered plus, according to Eric Longenhagen’s 2018 prospect report on him. 

Stevenson, 29, has 248 MLB games under his belt, all with the Washington Nationals. Most of his playing time came in 2021, when he hit .229/.294/.339 (.633) in 213 plate appearances. He was, though, on the 2019 roster when the Nationals won the World Series, giving the Twins yet another former player from that team (Taylor). Stevenson didn’t factor into the postseason much; his lone appearance came during the infamous Wild Card game vs the Brewers, when he pinch-ran and scored on Juan Soto’s single late in the game. 

The move leaves Austin Martin out in the cold. Martin crushed AAA pitching in August with a .329/.460/.544 (1.004) slash line and more walks than homers, leading to hushed murmurs on a potential promotion. That will likely have to wait. Although the team could add him if a relevant player is injured, the move signifies a preference for veteran assurance over seeing what the youngster Martin could do. 

To make room for Stevenson on the 40-man roster, the Twins placed infielder Jose Miranda on the 60-Day Injured List. The other September call-up is left-handed pitcher Brent Headrick. 

 

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[Blyleven2011]

Stevenson gets the nod , good for him though he is another left handed bat , he brings strong numbers from AAA and also experience in mlb   , can he spark the running game hopefully 

[Dman]

Stevenson has good righty lefty splits so I wonder if MAT ends up on the 15 day IL to rest the hamstring while they give Stevenson a shot?  His speed will be nice to have and he seems like a decent contact hitter.  Will be interesting to see how he does earning his way back to MLB.  Hopefully he can be a catalyst for the offense and defense.

 

 

[DocBauer]

While he can't play 1B like Gallo can, I've thought for a while he should have been up as a replacement. While it seems we have too many LH OF already, Gallo has been actually playing some CF to give Taylor time off. Why not Stevenson instead? Take 50 points off every metric with a promotion and he's still producing solid numbers. But most importantly, he's a solid defensive OF with pop and speed to give Taylor time off.

I don't know how long he's going to be up, but I like the move. I just think it should have been done weeks ago.

[gman]

Andrew has had a good year and deserved a shot. I just hope they play him. They certainly have playing guys long enough who haven't deserved a shot.

[Mike Sixel]

Good for him. I'm hoping he gets a real shot to play. 

[Trov]

I am sure he got the nod over Martin because he will be DFA after the season to open up the 40 man spot.  Good for him,, but other than adding a little extra defense and running this moves does little to help the team. 

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, Trov said:

I am sure he got the nod over Martin because he will be DFA after the season to open up the 40 man spot.  Good for him,, but other than adding a little extra defense and running this moves does little to help the team. 

Martin has to be added after the season, so that isn't it. 

[SotaSports in NM]

I'm glad that he's getting a chance. He deserves it and has really nice versatility. I do wish he hit from the right side to replace Luplow and then Martin could replace Gallo, but we're all dead tired of talking about how Luplow and Gallo shouldn't be on the active roster.

I also saw that the Nationals called up Travis Blankenhorn, so I'm happy he gets a shot for more than 20 major league at bats.

[tony&rodney]

Stevenson has looked good for the Saints, hitting the ball and running the bases aggressively and playing solid defense. He can absolutely help the Twins as a centerfielder and pinch base runner.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, gman said:

Andrew has had a good year and deserved a shot. I just hope they play him. They certainly have playing guys long enough who haven't deserved a shot.

He's batting seventh tonight.

[Brandon]

It’s also a chance to see if he can be the backup / platoon / full time CF next year depending on how healthy Buxton will be by then.   The real ? Is do you roster both Stevenson and Martin or just Martin?

[roger]

Interesting.  Hopefully he will help the Twins win a few games because the Tribe is coming after them hard.

Is gonna get interesting what they do when Castro, Buxton and AK return I over the next two weeks.

[jorgenswest]

3 hours ago, DocBauer said:

While he can't play 1B like Gallo can, I've thought for a while he should have been up as a replacement. While it seems we have too many LH OF already, Gallo has been actually playing some CF to give Taylor time off. Why not Stevenson instead? Take 50 points off every metric with a promotion and he's still producing solid numbers. But most importantly, he's a solid defensive OF with pop and speed to give Taylor time off.

I don't know how long he's going to be up, but I like the move. I just think it should have been done weeks ago.

I don’t think the 50 points is valid in the run scoring context of AAA. Even taking 50 points off which I guess would be 100 points of OPS doesn’t make up for how skewed the AAA numbers are.

I think Jake Cave is a good comp. Jake was hitting much better than Stevenson in AAA this year. They both have had stretches of success in the majors. Let’s hope we get a good stretch from Stevenson in September. 

[rv78]

I was all excited about Stevenson until you told me Jake Cave was hitting better than him. Now I don't expect much.

[FlyingFinn]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

I think Jake Cave is a good comp. Jake was hitting much better than Stevenson in AAA this year. They both have had stretches of success in the majors. Let’s hope we get a good stretch from Stevenson in September. 

I would say Cave is hitting better but not much better. There's about 30 points difference in batting average. They each have 16 homers but Cave has them in less at bats because of his time in the majors. The major difference on the plus side for Stevenson is stolen bases, 44 for him to 2 for Jake Cave. 

I still would have called up Martin instead but Stevenson certainly deserves a 2nd chance with his great year with the Saints.

[Blyleven2011]

4 hours ago, Trov said:

I am sure he got the nod over Martin because he will be DFA after the season to open up the 40 man spot.  Good for him,, but other than adding a little extra defense and running this moves does little to help the team. 

If he was replacing  a dfa'd Gallo  , would that be helping the Twins????

[Karbo]

11 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

If he was replacing  a dfa'd Gallo  , would that be helping the Twins????

yes

[stringer bell]

Stevenson looked good—a nice catch, infield hit and two stolen bases—and with Buxton’s injury combined with Taylor’s sore hammy, he might be here for more than a day or two. 

[rwilfong86]

On 9/1/2023 at 2:11 PM, Dman said:

Stevenson has good righty lefty splits so I wonder if MAT ends up on the 15 day IL to rest the hamstring while they give Stevenson a shot?  His speed will be nice to have and he seems like a decent contact hitter.  Will be interesting to see how he does earning his way back to MLB.  Hopefully he can be a catalyst for the offense and defense.

 

 

Only players who pitch go on the 15 day IL, position players go on the 10 day. Seeing MAT hobble last night was painful and it is a move I hope they make sooner than later. 

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/injuries/15-day-injured-list