Luke Keaschall is Already Among Baseball’s Best Second-Base Prospects

[bean5302]

Keaschall's stock fell a bit after his performance showed signs of a ceiling at AA, but the TJ didn't seem to impact it at all. Keaschall is viewed as one of the top prospects at 2B as MLB ranks him at #3, but numbers 3-8 could easily be ranked in any order a scout prefers. The gap between the top 2 and Keaschall is larger than Keaschall and the next 5.

1. Campbell #7 (AAA) 
2. Bazzana #10 (A+)
3. Keaschall #61 (AA)
4. Moore #68 (AA)
5. Triantos #73 (AAA)
6. Johnson #83 (AA)
7. Stewart #84 (A+)
8. Arroyo #92 (A+)
-------------------
9. Crisantes NR (A)
10. Martinez NR (MLB)
 
Keaschall has a good bat, but his defense is a bit suspect even at 2B/3B right now. With the UCL tear and TJ, I think it's highly probable the Twins have him locked down at 2B / 1B / DH for the first few months. He'd be a major longshot to ever cover SS. He neither has the arm (even before TJ), nor the range even if he did become a smoother and more polished fielder.

Defense probably isn't a big concern since the Twins don't care about teaching it anyway.

[ashbury]

58 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

There are 9 lineup positions. 30 teams. 270 total expected players if everybody played a full season. So by "starters" on a team, here are the percentages who reached the following level of plate appearances MLB vs. the Twins.
500 PA = 130 (48%), vs. 2 (22%)
450 PA = 169 (63%), vs. 3 (33%)
400 PA = 207 (77%), vs. 5 (56%)

The Twins are almost uniquely poor in terms of keeping players in the lineup or on the field due to Baldelli's proclivity, and constant player injuries.

Don't forget subpar performance and resultant demotions to the minors for extended periods.

[old nurse]

15 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Does that include Japan and Korea  ???

I am sorry, the person I responded to was talking about MLB. I didn’t feel the need to have to write minute detail for people. My bad 

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

Nothing wrong with a healthy Larnach at this point…….not specific to you here, but I don’t understand any dissatisfaction with him after the ‘24 season?

Thanks for mentioning Larnach.  I actually meant to say I was happy to have Larnach on the team at this point.    He looked like pretty darn good the last half of the season.  His OPS was 804 after 8/1.  

[gman]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

There are 9 lineup positions. 30 teams. 270 total expected players if everybody played a full season. So by "starters" on a team, here are the percentages who reached the following level of plate appearances MLB vs. the Twins.
500 PA = 130 (48%), vs. 2 (22%)
450 PA = 169 (63%), vs. 3 (33%)
400 PA = 207 (77%), vs. 5 (56%)

The Twins are almost uniquely poor in terms of keeping players in the lineup or on the field due to Baldelli's proclivity, and constant player injuries.

That's the way he manages. Get use to it or go back to cheering on the White Sox. You never have anything good to say about the Twins anyway.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

There are 9 lineup positions. 30 teams. 270 total expected players if everybody played a full season. So by "starters" on a team, here are the percentages who reached the following level of plate appearances MLB vs. the Twins.
500 PA = 130 (48%), vs. 2 (22%)
450 PA = 169 (63%), vs. 3 (33%)
400 PA = 207 (77%), vs. 5 (56%)

The Twins are almost uniquely poor in terms of keeping players in the lineup or on the field due to Baldelli's proclivity, and constant player injuries.

Perhaps Keaschall and a few others can turn this trend in a different direction. The 2006 team had 6 players with more than 600 PA. There are many other examples too. Hopefully the 2025 team stays healthy and a couple of rookies step in to support the guys that are just barely past rookiehood.

[bean5302]

20 hours ago, gman said:

That's the way he manages. Get use to it or go back to cheering on the White Sox. You never have anything good to say about the Twins anyway.

I don't drink the gallons of Kool-Aid the TD Hype Machine stirs up. Instead, I form my own opinions based on player performance, analytics, peer comparisons, and just gut instinct (or personal biases). That's different than never having anything good to say. But hey, if you want somebody to tell you how to think, act, breathe, what to wear, when to take a leak, what color your poop should be, knock yourself out.

Also, feel free to add me to your ignore list. It's not perfect, but it helps. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I don't drink the gallons of Kool-Aid the TD Hype Machine stirs up. Instead, I form my own opinions based on player performance, analytics, peer comparisons, and just gut instinct (or personal biases). That's different than never having anything good to say. But hey, if you want somebody to tell you how to think, act, breathe, what to wear, when to take a leak, what color your poop should be, knock yourself out.

Also, feel free to add me to your ignore list. It's not perfect, but it helps. 

Whenever I read your comments I always wonder how often you have actually seen the players in action? How many plate appearances of Keaschall or EmRod have you actually seen? How many times have you watched Andrew Morris pitch? 

I enjoy your arguments and the data is voluminous, but particularly on minor league players I'm always left curious about the number of times your eyes have watched these guys. I'm not negating the numbers but I'm a curious guy.

[twinstalker]

Quote

Is Keaschall one of baseball’s best second-base prospects?

Well, yeah.

[Trov]

Bat first, no defense sounds like a typical Falvey pick.  If his bat can really be great we can deal with the terrible defense he is expected to produce.  I am not going to get overly excited as Julien was in similar spot and even had great rookie year, now we are wondering if he should be DFA after a terrible second year. 

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, Trov said:

Bat first, no defense sounds like a typical Falvey pick.  If his bat can really be great we can deal with the terrible defense he is expected to produce.  I am not going to get overly excited as Julien was in similar spot and even had great rookie year, now we are wondering if he should be DFA after a terrible second year. 

Having watched Keaschall on a number of occasions he was pretty good at first base. The arm injury has kept him from working at other position for the most part. We don't have a clear picture of his abilities with a glove at this time.

However, perhaps you have seen him play numerous times in the last few years and saw something else. How many times have you watched Keaschall play?