Eiberson Castellano Cut by Twins; Brock Stewart, Brooks Lee to Begin Season on IL

[tarheeltwinsfan]

When is Keaschall scheduled to be able to play 2B?

[sweetmusicviola16]

15 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I am not confident that Keaschall will be ready defensively in 2025. Virtually all major league second basemen started as shortstops. Keaschall was moved off of shortstop in college. It was a transfer to Arizona State but the shortstop on that team also hasn’t been good enough to stick at shortstop in college. Keaschall has only started 42 games at 2B in the minors. If he is going to be a major league 2B he needs to lot of games in AAA at that spot this year.

I am not generally a proponent of having prospects linger or languish in the minors but Keaschall absolutely should spend 2025 down learning and refining 2B. He's been injured and greatly lacks experience at 2B. Rushing him on either the experience front or injury front could easily ruin him. If we are in dire straits for an IF then we need to make a trade. Not rush Keaschall.

[PatPfund]

Injury update: the NESN crew later reported a laceration on Gasper (so he got spiked rather than sprained), which should mean stitches and maybe no IL. Brutal play on his part, though (he essentially ran into the SS on a play that was clearly not Gasper's).

It cracks me up so many people claim Martin’s “natural” position is 2B. According to baseball-reference he appeared there in only 13 games during his three year career at Vanderbilt (where he mostly played 3B and OF). In his first 2 seasons of pro ball (including AZ Fall Lg), he played 7 games at 2B (mostly played SS, 105 games; and OF 55 games). 2023 is the first (and only) year he ever played the most games at 2B (39 to 26 OF). As for fit, well… I guess if you think his best D is on the IF, you clearly didn’t see him in Wichita or St Paul where the infield experiments were happening.

A rare time I agree with Rocco; stop messing the guy up, and put him in his real natural spot (the OF starting in St Paul) so he can fully develop his potential. The team will likely need the RH OF bat this year (remembering that Bader is as fragile as Buxton). Or at the very least, a maximized trade chip.

Edited March 23, 2025 by PatPfund
typo "inury"

[DocBauer]

58 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I thought he was starting on the IL. If healthy he could be that pitcher on options that can take the last spot.

Topa is healthy unless something happed in the last day or so that I missed. He was sitting at 92-93 consistenly in the game I watched last week, and hit 94 at.least once. He allowed a run and got 2 K's. 

[jorgenswest]

9 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Topa is healthy unless something happed in the last day or so that I missed. He was sitting at 92-93 consistenly in the game I watched last week, and hit 94 at.least once. He allowed a run and got 2 K's. 

Thanks. I was going by roster resource that lists him injured. It doesn’t list Stewart as injured so I suppose those two spots flip and they still need another pitcher.

[Blyleven2011]

4 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

W/o Lewis & Lee, our INF is on very thin ice. We knew that before we started the season that Lewis, Lee & Correa were difficult to count on for the whole season. They had doubts whether Miranda could be healthy & be productive at 1B so to begin ST & beginning of the season they threw him at 3B because of course, 3B is much easier on his shoulder than 1B?????? (Not!!!!), In their concern to get Julien, Gasper & France in the INF they made our INF very fragile. Julien & France on the right side is a disaster waiting to happen. Just think in time Correa & or Miranda get hurt which is very likely, Where will we be?

It was a big mistake to jam Martin in CF, which isn't his natural position. We already had 2 true RH CFers & 1 true LH CFer. 2B is a much greater need that Martin could easily fill because it's more his natural position. Twins should have abandoned hope with Julien at 2B a long time ago & had him learn 1B & hand 2B to Martin. Martin's hitting has been far below his potential, from being preoccupied with trying to master an unfamiliar & difficult position on its highest level. Keep Keirsey up & send Martin down to AAA to refamiliarize himself again at 2B & get his mojo back & bring him back up as soon as possible to cover 2B,  Keep Julien at DH to mitigate the damage he'd do at 2B & when Martin is ready, send Julien down to AAA learn 1B, shift France to DH & Miranda to 1B. Martin could be the stabilizing force we need at 2B until Keaschall is ready to take it from him. 

But it takes forever for the Twins to admit a mistake & change for the good of the Twins.

It's not looking good for the defense on right side , castro our super utility guy looks to get the playing time there , with Gasper filling in , I have to agree management is just plan oblivious to filling positional needs , Martin should have been given reps at second base , last year he played some games there and looked better than Julien  , management likes Martin's speed , so they see him as an outfielder when they never groomed him in the minor leagues , playing shortstop primarily in minors should at least get you a 2nd base opportunity  ...

Management constantly has the fans scratching their heads while they keep digging a bigger hole for themselves  ...

Twins hammered the red Sox today,  which I think is a good ending to spring training  ...

Off to st Louis  , we beat the Missouri team on opening season series , the royals last year , can we beat up on the other Missouri team , the cardinals for opening season  series , we should as cardinals are a  restructuring the team ...

[awmonahan]

I played SS on my little league team, through 8th grade. Just putting it out there before the season starts. 

[cheeseheadgophfan]

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Misiewicz is the other arm they're considering for the last spot in the bullpen.

Walked 3 guys today in 2/3 of an inning.  Terrible timing to pitch brutally.....

[DJL44]

Quote

Right-hander Scott Blewett, a non-roster pitcher, has also been informed he will not make the team.

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/brooks-lee-brock-stewart-headed-to-injured-list

[DJL44]

David Robertson has yet to sign. Maybe he comes in at the last minute. The fun move would be to add Prielipp - he's been unhittable this spring.

[jorgenswest]

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

David Robertson has yet to sign. Maybe he comes in at the last minute. The fun move would be to add Prielipp - he's been unhittable this spring.

Should they worry about the risk of injury? In the minors they can control his workload to try to build up his arm.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

4 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I would give that last spot in the bullpen to either a player on options or a player I am OK with losing to DFA. If they go the options route it has to be Funderburk. Otherwise they need to add a player to the 40 that they are willing to lose. That could be Blewett but it has been reported that he was told he would start in AAA. That probably leaves Misiewicz.

They are running out of position players on the 40 also. If Gasper is on the IL I think Keirsey, Julien and Martin all make the team.

How long will it be before it is no longer feasible to carry 4 catchers on the 40 man roster?

5 if you count Gasper

[Fatbat]

17 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

5 if you count Gasper

Canterino is going on the 60 day so a 40 man spot opens up. Preillip would be a great addition!

[stringer bell]

44 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

Canterino is going on the 60 day so a 40 man spot opens up. Preillip would be a great addition!

They aren't going to add Prielipp with his injury history and limited experience. Maybe, if everything breaks right for him, sometime later in the summer.

There will be a 40-man spot open (Castellano's spot) but that spot will be taken by whoever is the last guy in the bullpen.

[stringer bell]

3 hours ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

Walked 3 guys today in 2/3 of an inning.  Terrible timing to pitch brutally.....

Yes, that appearance is disheartening to say the least. The last bullpen spot could easily go to someone let go by another team. I saw that Drew Pomeranz was released (meh at best) and Ryan Yarbrough opted out with the Rays (I'd consider him). There will be more, I'm sure. 

[stringer bell]

4 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Topa is healthy unless something happed in the last day or so that I missed. He was sitting at 92-93 consistenly in the game I watched last week, and hit 94 at.least once. He allowed a run and got 2 K's. 

I said yesterday, I'll consider Topa healthy and on the Opening Day roster when the National Anthem is playing in St. Louis on Thursday. He looked okay yesterday facing mostly minor leaguers, but I'm not convinced he'll last the season with the Twins even if he can stay healthy. 

[stringer bell]

5 hours ago, PatPfund said:

Injury update: the NESN crew later reported a laceration on Gasper (so he got spiked rather than sprained), which should mean stitches and maybe no IL. Brutal play on his part, though (he essentially ran into the SS on a play that was clearly not Gasper's).

It cracks me up so many people claim Martin’s “natural” position is 2B. According to baseball-reference he appeared there in only 13 games during his three year career at Vanderbilt (where he mostly played 3B and OF). In his first 2 seasons of pro ball (including AZ Fall Lg), he played 7 games at 2B (mostly played SS, 105 games; and OF 55 games). 2023 is the first (and only) year he ever played the most games at 2B (39 to 26 OF). As for fit, well… I guess if you think his best D is on the IF, you clearly didn’t see him in Wichita or St Paul where the infield experiments were happening.

A rare time I agree with Rocco; stop messing the guy up, and put him in his real natural spot (the OF starting in St Paul) so he can fully develop his potential. The team will likely need the RH OF bat this year (remembering that Bader is as fragile as Buxton). Or at the very least, a maximized trade chip.

I would consider Martin an athlete in search of a position. He runs well, but that hasn't translated to range and since his arm injury, he's no longer considered for the long throws at shortstop, third base or right field. I still think he can be an effective table setter and develop into a decent defender either at second base or in the outfield. Provus said that his defense was much improved this year. Maybe he was blowing smoke, but maybe he's not going to be as poor as he was in 2024. 

On a related matter, I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how supposedly fleet-footed DaShawn Keirsey Jr. has a sprint speed at the 38th percentile on StatCast in approximately the same sample size as Gasper, who came out .1 ft. faster. I can't imagine Keirsey Jr. being anything more than average if his speed is only average or slightly below. 

[stringer bell]

8 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Gasper, with relatively even splits, seems to be a PH guy & RH guy at DH. Julien will get a bunch of DH at bats and will play 2B when Castro goes to 3B or takes the once a month day off. Kiersey could be the guy to rest Buxton in CF when there’s a RH pitcher on the mound. Pinch runner - LH bat as PH?

Just when it looked like Gasper had the team made, he got a nice slash on his leg. Strange that he walked off the field without even favoring his injury and then had to be on crutches later. I really doubt he will avoid the IL with the gash he suffered, but I would guess he will do everything he can to stay off the Injured List. 

So far, all of the injuries to Lee, Stewart and Gasper would seem to be minimum stays without lasting effects. Supposedly Lee's injury is pretty minor and at a different location in his back (we'll see) and Stewart's IL stint is more about getting up to speed after being delayed by the leg injury (again we'll see). 

[stringer bell]

5 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

When is Keaschall scheduled to be able to play 2B?

Keaschall isn't going to help the Twins in March and April, especially since he hasn't played at all in the field. Yes, he looked good hitting and he might turn out to be an answer in the infield going forward, but he has only a few PAs in AA and if he's going to play for the Twins it won't be as only a DH. 

 

[dxpavelka]

9 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I am rooting for Kiersey - we have seen enough of Martin.  A fifth OF/DH is not a bad position for 26-man roster.

I have trouble saying we've seen enough of a guy with 250 career plate appearances.  Especially when we gave up the best SP we've developed in a generation to get him.

[tony&rodney]

4 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

It's not looking good for the defense on right side , castro our super utility guy looks to get the playing time there , with Gasper filling in , I have to agree management is just plan oblivious to filling positional needs , Martin should have been given reps at second base , last year he played some games there and looked better than Julien  , management likes Martin's speed , so they see him as an outfielder when they never groomed him in the minor leagues , playing shortstop primarily in minors should at least get you a 2nd base opportunity  ...

Management constantly has the fans scratching their heads while they keep digging a bigger hole for themselves  ...

Twins hammered the red Sox today,  which I think is a good ending to spring training  ...

Off to st Louis  , we beat the Missouri team on opening season series , the royals last year , can we beat up on the other Missouri team , the cardinals for opening season  series , we should as cardinals are a  restructuring the team ...

The Twins are not a good defensive team. The injuries sure didn't help but they aren't as big a deal as people make it out to be either. Lee is projected as a decent third baseman but is average on his best days elsewhere. Lewis might be good eventually but he isn't yet. Gasper is a catcher. He really is out of position in the infield and he tried to prove it on every play today. Even Julien never had such a weak showing and that is something. Castro is a utility player who can actually be ok at third base. Julien is a DH. Miranda dreams of hitting but does well enough in the field for us to ignore his weaknesses sometimes (MN compliment).

The front office designed their roster to have layers of players they saw as competent bats. The bats will need to show themselves. It seems pretty pointless to worry about defense when the rostered players were a front office dream. France, Julien, Correa, and Miranda may cause the pitchers the pitchers to throw a few extra pitchers and strive for extra outs at times, but the design was always for the bats to bash enough to make up for the glove deficiencies. You might not like it. I don't. But it is The Plan. Go Twins. Smash ball is back .... we hope.

[tony&rodney]

7 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Looked like he rolled his left ankle badly when he and Winoker collided at 2B fielding a soft ground ball.

The Twins dodged a bullet today. Winokur was making a routine play when Gasper ran into him. Winokur is super athletic and evaded injury. That could have been a season ending injury to Carlos Correa in a nightmare scenario. The front office and Baldelli need to think a little more seriously about who they put out on the dirt.

[IndianaTwin]

I said this in a different thread, but with Blewett not on the 40-man, I could see them rolling for a couple days with a seven-man bullpen, particularly if Gasper indeed avoids the IL.

They have off days on days 2 and 9, with days 5-7 being games with the White Sox. I'd consider keeping Blewett off the 40-day for a few days and keep all three of Gasper, Martin and Kiersey around. After you've had a couple back-to-back games where you've the bullpen a full four innings, go ahead and send one of them, but for 3-5 days, maybe longer, you've got an extra pinch runner hanging around.

 

EDIT: To add...

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/mickey-gasper-dashawn-keirsey-jr-make-twins-opening-day-roster

"The Twins all but set the position-player side of their season-opening roster on Monday, notifying infielder-catcher Mickey Gasper and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. that they will make the club and optioning infielder Austin Martin."

Meaning, they don't appear to be taking my advice. Oh, well, they haven't the last eleventy-seven times either. Maybe I've been using the wrong email address. 

[Fatbat]

16 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

I am not generally a proponent of having prospects linger or languish in the minors but Keaschall absolutely should spend 2025 down learning and refining 2B. He's been injured and greatly lacks experience at 2B. Rushing him on either the experience front or injury front could easily ruin him. If we are in dire straits for an IF then we need to make a trade. Not rush Keaschall.

They never rush anyone so when Keaschall shows up, it’s because he is ready. He played DH until august with a torn ucl and they planned his surgery so he could play defense all/most of this season. His bat already plays in MLB so we shouldn’t have to worry about wrecking him.  I would not be surprised if there is a long debate about him or Martin on the opening day roster. 

[jorgenswest]

3 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

They never rush anyone so when Keaschall shows up, it’s because he is ready. He played DH until august with a torn ucl and they planned his surgery so he could play defense all/most of this season. His bat already plays in MLB so we shouldn’t have to worry about wrecking him.  I would not be surprised if there is a long debate about him or Martin on the opening day roster. 

Do you think his defense is ready? Should they wait? It isn’t just about recovering from injury. He hasn’t played a lot of second base and almost all second basemen started as shortstops in the minors.

[Jeff K]

20 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Gasper just left today’s game with an injury. He was playing 2B and had hit a leadoff HR.

i was at the game.  He made two very poor plays from 2b.  The play he was injured on should have been the short stops ball.

[bean5302]

18 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Nothing has been said about Castellano except that he's not making the club after camp breaks. No DFA, no returning to PHI. Is there a trade being worked out? Because I think we could have continued with him until the end.

He's been DFA'd. If he clears waivers (I'd be fairly surprised if he did), the Twins will offer him back to the Phillies.

[bean5302]

17 hours ago, PatPfund said:

...It cracks me up so many people claim Martin’s “natural” position is 2B...

The term natural position often means the position the player is most suited to play. Since he was drafted, many scouts felt Martin was going to end up at 2B due to a combination of his good, but not excellent speed, and an arm which isn't really suited for the far side of the infield.

[LambchoP]

Bummer about Gasper. While his defense at 2nd wasn't great, he was better than Julien. Plus he looked decent behind the plate and his bat looked like it would play just fine at the major league level. With him, Lee and Lewis out we may see Julien and Martin making the team. This defense is going to be BAD. What's up with Eeles? Has he played at all this spring? Why isn't his name in the IF conversation? Hopefully Keaschal can play the field soon because it seems our infield desperately needs him asap. France and Julien on the right side may be the worst defensive tandem in baseball. That does not bode well for our pitchers :(

[AKTwinsFan]

Castellano probably just wanted to play for another team, he will most likely be swept up quickly by a contending team and end up being an ace.