Are the Twins Betting on the Wrong Right-Handed Bench Bats?

[Cody Christie]

Minnesota’s core right-handed bats are clear when it comes to lineup construction. The supplemental right-handed bats might prove to be problematic. Did the Twins make the correct right-handed hitting choices?

 

Image courtesy of William Parmeter

The Minnesota Twins made a calculated decision this offseason. Instead of chasing a right-handed power bat, they prioritized upgrading their defense and filling other needs. It’s an approach that makes sense on paper, especially given the team’s struggles with strikeouts and inconsistent defense in 2024. However, as the dust settles on their offseason moves, there’s a lingering question: Did the Twins bet on the correct right-handed bats to carry their offense?

The top right-handed hitters in the Twins’ lineup don’t need much introduction. Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Royce Lewis are expected to be major contributors. If healthy, Correa and Buxton have MVP potential, and Lewis has shown flashes of being a superstar. Minnesota’s season will depend on the health and performance of this group. Other right-handed regulars project to include José Miranda and the team's catching duo of Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez. Jeffers and Miranda offer some potential upside, but the depth behind them is where concerns arise.

Evaluating the Right-Handed Bench Bats
Minnesota’s other right-handed options are Harrison Bader, Ty France, Willi Castro, and Austin Martin, who will all play significant roles in 2025. The issue? None of them project to bring much right-handed power to the table, and their offensive ceilings are limited.

Harrison Bader: Bader was brought in for his elite defense, particularly in center field. Undoubtedly, he will be valuable on that side of the ball, but his offensive track record is spotty. Last season, he hit .236/.284/.373 (.675) with an 86 OPS+ in 143 games. He’s posted a sub-.700 OPS in three consecutive seasons, and the 2021 season was his last with an OPS+ above 100. Expecting Bader to be anything more than a bottom-of-the-order hitter is optimistic.

Ty France: The Twins’ most significant offensive addition was France, who struggled in Seattle and Cincinnati last season. It was the first time since 2019, his rookie season, that he had posted a below 100 OPS+. He put up a career-low .703 OPS with just 13 home runs. While he has a solid hit tool and on-base ability, he lacks the raw power typically expected from a corner infielder. If he can return to his 2020-22 form (127 OPS+), he might save the right-handed bats, but that’s far from a guarantee.

Willi Castro: The switch-hitter was one of the Twins’ most versatile players last season, playing at least 20 games at five different defensive positions. He was named team MVP and was a first-time All-Star. Against left-handed pitchers, he struggled with an OPS that was nearly 60 points lower than when batting against righties. He’s a great piece to have, but the Twins might benefit from using him more sparingly against southpaws.

Austin Martin: Martin is not guaranteed to make the Opening Day roster, but the Twins will likely need to rely on him at different points throughout the 2025 campaign. During his rookie season, he posted an OPS 17 points lower against lefties despite being a right-handed hitter. One of his most significant question marks as a prospect was his ability to hit for power. His speed and on-base skills make him a useful player, but the Twins can’t bank on him to provide a right-handed thump.

Did the Twins Make the “Right” Bet?
By prioritizing defense and versatility, the Twins built a roster with fewer holes, but they may have sacrificed too much offensive upside from their right-handed bats. There’s a clear path where this decision pays off if France rebounds, Martin exceeds expectations, and the big three stay healthy. But that’s a lot of ‘ifs’ for a team looking to contend in the AL Central.

Minnesota still has time to adjust. The trade deadline could offer an opportunity to add a genuine right-handed power threat if it becomes clear that their current options aren’t cutting it. Right-handed power has been a glaring hole in recent years, and the front office has not prioritized it. For now, the Twins are betting on contact and athleticism rather than raw power from the right side. Whether that gamble pays off will go a long way in determining their success in 2025.

Should the Twins have focused more on adding right-handed power? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[jorgenswest]

6 minutes ago, Cody Christie said:

Right-handed power has been a glaring hole in recent years, and the front office has not prioritized it.

Didn’t the Twins right handed batters have a much better SLG and OPS than their left handed batters last year? 

[tony&rodney]

What's done is over. The Twins will go with what they wanted. Spring Training games are not to be confused with regular season contests. This is important to remember because the first couple of games thus far have been ugly. Falvey put together his dream team and when the season begins we shall see the results. While yesterday was a difficult game to watch I'll watch more and remind myself it is just practice. 

[LambchoP]

I'd rather see Keirsey start the year off as the 5th OF instead of Martin. Keirsey would offer better defense, speed and more power. He could also steal some bases for us which is something we lack in. Starting the year in AAA would also allow Martin to play everyday in the outfield, hopefully improving his defense out there enough to where he will be serviceable in the major league outfield.

 

Of course the front office seems so low on lefties for some reason. They almost always go with the right handed option when given a choice. most pitchers are right handed, I don't get it....

[Cory Engelhardt]

Healthy Buxton, Correa and Lewis will easily mitigate this potential issue

[Fatbat]

Considering that we don’t face many LHSP, we don’t need to load up on anymore marginal RH bats.  We have plenty of them.  We simply need to avoid the Margo PH .000 for Forever curse. Its a simple fix, let our LH bats get real game experience in the 6th and 7th inning facing a LHRP.  Problem solved. 

[DocBauer]

To be fair, the offseason might have gone differently if ownership had offered up the extra $10-15M they ended up spending...(the numbers vary somewhat depending on where you look)...earlier in the offseason for Falvey and company to take a different approach. Would they have signed a BIG NAME FA? No. They still would have been patient and looked at 2nd tier options.  But if they could have started making moves in December, I believe things SHOULD/COULD have been done differently. 

But to be equally fair, I have been critical of the FO for a couple years now ignoring prospects on the farm in favor of poor performing vets. Do we know Helman or Keirsey can be good role players at the ML level? No, because they've only ever been given a couple weeks of intermittent play at the ML level. While Farmer and Margot were performing at a miserable level for most of 2024, it would have been the perfect time to actually play and evaluate these younger, but late blooming, prospects.

Bader can't hit. Even against LHP, despite a good career mark, he's been up and down in his results. How about Keirsey as a backup CF/OF for the minimum, and a RH power bat like Grichuk for $5M that doesn't have to be a platoon option only as he doesn't just stink against RH arms.

Josh Bell was a veteran, switch hitting 1B/DH I had my eye on. He signed for only $6M. The savings from Grichuk over Bader, and the $1M from not signing France, you already have over half of what it cost to sign Bell. The FO just has to find an extra $2.5M from ownership to make this happen. Or move Vazquez for whatever and grab a decent veteran option on the market to replace him. And there were 2 or 3 decent options for around $5M.

I don't dislike Bader. I don't dislike France at $1M. I hope they both have great seasons!

But if Keirsey is as good defensively as we've been lead to believe, and as I've seen in snippets, he's got speed to help along with his glove, some power and another LH bat, which the Twins don't have an abundance of.

Grichuk is a powerful RH bat who you can play against RH bats.

I like that combo better than Bader.

Bell is no better of a glove man than France, but he's experienced. His bat, like France, is mostly neutral, but he's probably got more power. And another LH bat option doesn't hurt the lineup. And he's also been better more recently. 

I'd rather have Bell than France.

Are these different moves guaranteed to be better than Bader and France? Nope. But they might be. And it's possible that they ARE better moves than Bader and France.

So no, IMO, the FO may have done as well as it could have considering the situation that was thrown their way, but the bench they built is not as good as it could have been, whether we're talking exclusively RH options or not. An ownership group that could have offered up this payroll in December sure would have been nice! And I can't wait for a new owner to take over.

[GNess]

Every team has some weaker areas, but I agree with Cory Correa, Buxton and Lewis should provide a lot of punch from the right side.

[Eris]

Bader was signed because the Twins have a Buxton problem. No one is expecting Bader to hit, but the Twins need a backup centerfielder who can play 80 games or more a year in Center. It is very hard to have two starting caliber centerfielders on the roster, as each would like to be paid like a starting CF, hence the need to compromise either on offense or defense. In 2023, the Twins got lucky with Michael Taylor having close to one of the best years of his career. Not so much in 2024 as the backup outfielder Manuel Margot couldn’t hit or field. This year we hope that Bader recovers from his 3 year slide. Hope is not a good strategy. The backup to the backup appears to be hoping that Austin Martin can play a serviceable CF. Hope is poor situation to be in. Let’s hope that Buxton can play 140 games in CF. 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

I'd rather see Keirsey start the year off as the 5th OF instead of Martin. Keirsey would offer better defense, speed and more power. He could also steal some bases for us which is something we lack in. Starting the year in AAA would also allow Martin to play everyday in the outfield, hopefully improving his defense out there enough to where he will be serviceable in the major league outfield.

 

Of course the front office seems so low on lefties for some reason. They almost always go with the right handed option when given a choice. most pitchers are right handed, I don't get it....

What makes you think Keirsey is faster than Martin? Martin's defensive metrics in the minors are BETTER than Keirsey's, and Keirsey is not considered a burner, he's a guy who is considered just fast enough to cover CF from all the scouting I've seen.

[tony&rodney]

47 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

To be fair, the offseason might have gone differently if ownership had offered up the extra $10-15M they ended up spending...(the numbers vary somewhat depending on where you look)...earlier in the offseason for Falvey and company to take a different approach. Would they have signed a BIG NAME FA? No. They still would have been patient and looked at 2nd tier options.  But if they could have started making moves in December, I believe things SHOULD/COULD have been done differently. 

But to be equally fair, I have been critical of the FO for a couple years now ignoring prospects on the farm in favor of poor performing vets. Do we know Helman or Keirsey can be good role players at the ML level? No, because they've only ever been given a couple weeks of intermittent play at the ML level. While Farmer and Margot were performing at a miserable level for most of 2024, it would have been the perfect time to actually play and evaluate these younger, but late blooming, prospects.

Bader can't hit. Even against LHP, despite a good career mark, he's been up and down in his results. How about Keirsey as a backup CF/OF for the minimum, and a RH power bat like Grichuk for $5M that doesn't have to be a platoon option only as he doesn't just stink against RH arms.

Josh Bell was a veteran, switch hitting 1B/DH I had my eye on. He signed for only $6M. The savings from Grichuk over Bader, and the $1M from not signing France, you already have over half of what it cost to sign Bell. The FO just has to find an extra $2.5M from ownership to make this happen. Or move Vazquez for whatever and grab a decent veteran option on the market to replace him. And there were 2 or 3 decent options for around $5M.

I don't dislike Bader. I don't dislike France at $1M. I hope they both have great seasons!

But if Keirsey is as good defensively as we've been lead to believe, and as I've seen in snippets, he's got speed to help along with his glove, some power and another LH bat, which the Twins don't have an abundance of.

Grichuk is a powerful RH bat who you can play against RH bats.

I like that combo better than Bader.

Bell is no better of a glove man than France, but he's experienced. His bat, like France, is mostly neutral, but he's probably got more power. And another LH bat option doesn't hurt the lineup. And he's also been better more recently. 

I'd rather have Bell than France.

Are these different moves guaranteed to be better than Bader and France? Nope. But they might be. And it's possible that they ARE better moves than Bader and France.

So no, IMO, the FO may have done as well as it could have considering the situation that was thrown their way, but the bench they built is not as good as it could have been, whether we're talking exclusively RH options or not. An ownership group that could have offered up this payroll in December sure would have been nice! And I can't wait for a new owner to take over.

The Twins prefer to sign veterans like Gallo, Margot (trade), Bader, and France. The record shows this fact, year after year. Carlos Correa and Josh Donaldson stand out as exceptions. Please go to whatever site you wish (BaseballProspectuc, Fangraphs, etc.) and you will see that while the numbers vary, the Twins are spending roughly $20 million more this year than last and within $5 million of 2 years ago. The suggestion that Falvey has no idea about budgets or that a miraculous $5-10 million "go spend" post-it, email, or phone call appears beggars the realities of corporate life. Choices are made. We may like or dislike the decisions and the performance on the field over the course of a full year will tell the story, but we can't keep falling back on the blame game. The Twins could have signed Christian Walker if they wanted to or felt it was the correct plan for the team. They chose a different course. I don't see why this is so difficult to accept. The money? Subtract Paddack, Castro, and half of Vazquez puts the team right about there.Now factor in Bader and Coulombe and it is surplus for the Twins. I'm not suggesting this as a preferred course of action but merely giving a simple example to show that the Twins front office has a plan and proceeds according to that plan. Folks on Twins Daily may have different ideas but we don't have a say in the actual process. We accept the final plan that is put in place by Falvey and hope the team does well. It seems a little chaotic to think the front office of a big corporation doesn't have any idea what is going on from day to day. If that is actually the case, things are far, far worse than any of us could ever imagine in our wildest scenarios.

 

[bean5302]

46 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

To be fair, the offseason might have gone differently if ownership had offered up the extra $10-15M they ended up spending...(the numbers vary somewhat depending on where you look)...earlier in the offseason for Falvey and company to take a different approach. Would they have signed a BIG NAME FA? No...

Correct. No matter the budget the front office has been given, they've typically signed a bunch of depth guys.

[dxpavelka]

16 minutes ago, Eris said:

Bader was signed because the Twins have a Buxton problem. No one is expecting Bader to hit, but the Twins need a backup centerfielder who can play 80 games or more a year in Center. It is very hard to have two starting caliber centerfielders on the roster, as each would like to be paid like a starting CF, hence the need to compromise either on offense or defense. In 2023, the Twins got lucky with Michael Taylor having close to one of the best years of his career. Not so much in 2024 as the backup outfielder Manuel Margot couldn’t hit or field. This year we hope that Bader recovers from his 3 year slide. Hope is not a good strategy. The backup to the backup appears to be hoping that Austin Martin can play a serviceable CF. Hope is poor situation to be in. Let’s hope that Buxton can play 140 games in CF. 

I'm guessing this year will be impacted more by this year than last year.

[bean5302]

I'm not that concerned about bench bats. I think all these guys are fine as backup/bench players if they only play like backup/bench players (some will play more). I also wasn't concerned about Matt Tolbert being a backup in 2008.

[DJL44]

Do they have enough lefthanded bats? They have Wallner and Larnach. Then it's Julien, plus Brooks Lee and Willi Castro as switch-hitters. That's weaker than Correa, Buxton, Lewis, Miranda and France. I hope Emmanuel Rodriguez makes his debut this season.

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Bader can't hit. Even against LHP, despite a good career mark, he's been up and down in his results. How about Keirsey as a backup CF/OF for the minimum, and a RH power bat like Grichuk for $5M that doesn't have to be a platoon option only as he doesn't just stink against RH arms.

So, you'd rather dedicate two roster spots as a solution to the Twins OF problems (which are defense, Buxtons impending injury, and THEN LHP) instead of one? You understand there are really only 3 bench spots, right? 4 to play with if you wanna include a flexible DH. 

2 hours ago, DocBauer said:

But if Keirsey is as good defensively as we've been lead to believe

Who's ever led anyone to believe he's any good? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he could potentially be a league average defensive CF. Whereas the Twins current 4th OF is now, I'd argue, a better defensive CF than Buxton.

Now, that doesn't mean Keirsey couldn't be be an acceptable 4th OF, more so with a dependable CF which the Twins do not have, but we also have no reason to believe he'd hit even as well as the player you said cannot hit, and you grant would not be of much value as a platoon partner for Larnach. 

2 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Grichuk is a powerful RH bat who you can play against RH bats.

Fun Fact: Bader his as many HR as Grichuk last season. 

[Greglw3]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

What makes you think Keirsey is faster than Martin? Martin's defensive metrics in the minors are BETTER than Keirsey's, and Keirsey is not considered a burner, he's a guy who is considered just fast enough to cover CF from all the scouting I've seen.

The new defensive metrics are wildly unreliable. Anyone who’s see extensive footage of Keirsey knows that he is an ace defensive cf, steals bases in buckets every year and has a really pretty, sweet swing. I like both Martin and Keirsey. They both would be infinitely better than Margot was, or Jake Cave or Joey Gallo. Further last time I checked Keirsey hit LH as well as RH.

[mnfireman]

16 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Who's ever led anyone to believe he's any good? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he could potentially be a league average defensive CF. Whereas the Twins current 4th OF is now, I'd argue, a better defensive CF than Buxton.

Since Rocco has stated that Bader is going to be get a lot of time in LF, is the 4th OF Larnach, Castro or Martin? None of those three is better defensively than Buxton.

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Since Rocco has stated that Bader is going to be get a lot of time in LF, is the 4th OF Larnach, Castro or Martin? None of those three is better defensively than Buxton.

If you're defining it post facto, Buxton. But that's a stupid thing to do. 

I will bet money that Bader is not the starting LF on opening day (bet is null if against a LHP). 

[NYCTK]

31 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

They both would be infinitely better than Margot

Austin Martin was arguably even worse than Margot last season. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Healthy Buxton, Correa and Lewis will easily mitigate this potential issue

Absolutely! 

Now, if they can just stay healthy. . .

On the specific question in the article, are these the RIGHT guys to bank on. . . unless you are going to spend big bucks, then it's ultimately kind of a crapshoot.  Some of the group of about a dozen guys are going to be better than anticipated (see Santana, Carlos) and some are going to be terrible (see Margot, Manuel). I think they have chosen based on what the team thinks is their collective potential for success.  Are they right?  Who knows?  Their position is defensible, but we'll know for sure when we play the games. 

[DocBauer]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

So, you'd rather dedicate two roster spots as a solution to the Twins OF problems (which are defense, Buxtons impending injury, and THEN LHP) instead of one? You understand there are really only 3 bench spots, right? 4 to play with if you wanna include a flexible DH. 

Who's ever led anyone to believe he's any good? I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he could potentially be a league average defensive CF. Whereas the Twins current 4th OF is now, I'd argue, a better defensive CF than Buxton.

Now, that doesn't mean Keirsey couldn't be be an acceptable 4th OF, more so with a dependable CF which the Twins do not have, but we also have no reason to believe he'd hit even as well as the player you said cannot hit, and you grant would not be of much value as a platoon partner for Larnach. 

Fun Fact: Bader his as many HR as Grichuk last season. 

#1] For the record, I did...and have previosly...state Keirsey's presence on the roster was dependent on getting a legitimate shot to show what he's capable of. And I don't see Bader as a 1 for 2 roster option vs Grichuk and Keirsey since we're talking a different way of building the roster, not 2 for  1's. 

You have Vazquez as the 2nd catcher. Castro is the primary backup across the INF, though Lee can play elsewhere as well. Miranda plays 1B and 3B. None of that changes in my scenario. Keirsey replaces Bader, provides speed, some power, and defense across the OF.  I have Bell replacing France. And then I have Grichuk replacing a projected Julien/Martin as the last man on the bench. Grichuk plays both OF corners as well as DH. Julien is an INF and Martin an OF. So I've replaced either an INF or OF with a 5th OF. Not a drastic change in roster construction, but a version that I think has better offensive potential.

#2] I've seen highlights of Keirsey, as well as some ST and regular season games. I have yet to read a report from anywhere that doesn't list Keirsey as anything but at least a good defensive OF, if not very good. No disrespect to Bader, but I'll take what I've seen and read as a general consensus as to him being a good OF. Not suggesting GG quality, but good to very good. I'm taking that in my scenario. 

#3] In regard to the 12 HR hit by each of Bader and Grichuk, Grichuk hit those same 12 HR in roughly 150 less AB's, and had only about 5 less RBI. And his entire quad slash line was superior as well. 

Again, not saying I hate Bader, or that he doesn't have value. Not saying there isn't a chance that France far exceeds his $1M payday. But if Keirsey can hit at the ML level to any decent level, I think my roster is better offensively, and not a major downgrade anywhere defensively.

 

[darin617]

Harrison Bader is a "master" in the OF. The bat is a ways behind. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Spring training is to be taken with a grain of salt,  but Bader and France are hitting the cover off the ball.  Buxton has been above average, and Correa . . . doesn't have a hit yet.  Correa has been starting off slow the last couple of years and currently it is looking like it may be a similar set up.  Cautiously it looks like Bader and Frances approaches appear to be in a pretty good spot and may have some outperformance years if they can stay healthy.  I use spring training primarily to judge confidence and how comfortable they feel and right now Bader and France look like 2 of our best hitters in spring training.   

[Whitey333]

Yes i agree.  There are too many "ifs" on this team.  And I think they need to start off strong this year to at least take some of the sting out of last years choke job.  A bad start could be disastrous to the team.  Go Twins!

[LA Vikes Fan]

19 hours ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Absolutely! 

Now, if they can just stay healthy. . .

On the specific question in the article, are these the RIGHT guys to bank on. . . unless you are going to spend big bucks, then it's ultimately kind of a crapshoot.  Some of the group of about a dozen guys are going to be better than anticipated (see Santana, Carlos) and some are going to be terrible (see Margot, Manuel). I think they have chosen based on what the team thinks is their collective potential for success.  Are they right?  Who knows?  Their position is defensible, but we'll know for sure when we play the games. 

Agreed. All of the guys in this price range are a crapshoot and all have warts. Grichuk is a below average fielder, Bell may be cooked and is a poor fielder, Bader can field but is not much of a hitter, France is Bell with a slightly better glove and slightly worse bat, etc. Did we get the "right" guys? Who the hell knows. The FO went for gloves over bats. Fielding tends to last longer so I get the idea. Only time will tell if it's the right call. 

Frankly, if my choice were two of the above 4, I would probably have gone with Bader and Bell but I would have had to find another $4m or so for that combo.  And, by the way, I would keep Keirsey as the 5th OF and keep Castro in the IF UTL slot rather than Julien as a backup IF with Castro as a backup OF assuming the bench will be Vasquez/Jeffers, Lee, Castro and  one of Julien, Martin, Gaspar, or Keirsey. Any bets of which of those last 4 makes the team? While I'd prefer Keirsey, my money's on Julien. 

[AKTwinsFan]

When you got some serious financial restrictions it's not easy to find a serious power hitter. I think they are gonna get by this year with the trio of right hand power hitters they already have Correa Buck and RL.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

1 hour ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Frankly, if my choice were two of the above 4, I would probably have gone with Bader and Bell but I would have had to find another $4m or so for that combo.  And, by the way, I would keep Keirsey as the 5th OF and keep Castro in the IF UTL slot rather than Julien as a backup IF with Castro as a backup OF assuming the bench will be Vasquez/Jeffers, Lee, Castro and  one of Julien, Martin, Gaspar, or Keirsey. Any bets of which of those last 4 makes the team? While I'd prefer Keirsey, my money's on Julien. 

My money is also on Julien, because I think that the Twins view Keirsey as not having much of a future.  I can't say that I agree, but they do have a great deal more information about the players than I do (and it's their money!), so I'm willing to defer to their judgement.  I remember a few years back when we had a couple of guys who were relief pitchers in Rochester (AAA at the time) who were tearing it up and the Twins refused to bring them up for a long time while we as fans were clamoring for them.  When they finally did bring them up, they weren't good at all -- so there's that.

As for said Mr. Julien, I really do think he either sinks or swims this season.  I don't think he's an MVP, but a good version of him is an excellent bat with passable defense - a starter on most teams in the league.  If he can't find his stroke, I would guess he becomes a throw in for a trade in the near future. 

[bean5302]

On 3/2/2025 at 1:35 PM, Greglw3 said:

The new defensive metrics are wildly unreliable. Anyone who’s see extensive footage of Keirsey knows that he is an ace defensive cf, steals bases in buckets every year and has a really pretty, sweet swing. I like both Martin and Keirsey. They both would be infinitely better than Margot was, or Jake Cave or Joey Gallo. Further last time I checked Keirsey hit LH as well as RH.

The "new" defensive metrics I'm looking at (RF/9) have been around since 2001. RF/9 is not so wild like OAA or DRS. RF/9 is far from perfect, but there is nothing in metrics or scouting I'm aware of which would suggest Keirsey is a potentially elite center fielder.

Eeles stole bases at a faster clip and with a better success rate than Keirsey last year. Does that mean Payton Eeles is super fast? Btw, if Austin Martin had 505 PA in AAA last year, he was on pace for 32 SB vs. Keirsey's 36 except Austin Martin had a better ratio of being successful than Keirsey.

Keirsey doesn't hit LHP well historically. Just like his out of the blue performance at the plate last year, Keirsey's performance against LHP doesn't match his history. 2023 = .860 OPS vs. RHP and a lowly .638 OPS vs. LHP.

The chances of Keirsey being able to hold his own at the MLB level isn't high.