Minnesota Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Second Base

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The list of Opening Day starters at second base for the Twins since Brian Dozier's departure in 2018 has featured six different names in seven years: Jonathan Schoop, Luis Arraez, Jorge Polanco (x2), Nick Gordon, Kyle Farmer, Willi Castro. (Not listed: Edouard Julien, who's made a team-leading 159 starts at second since 2023.)

The 2026 season will add a seventh name to that list, but the Twins and their fans are hoping that Luke Keaschall can become a Dozier-esque mainstay at what's been volatile position for Minnesota in recent years. 

TWINS SECOND BASEMEN AT A GLANCE

Starter: Luke Keaschall
Backup: Kody Clemens
Depth: Austin Martin, Tristan Gray, Orlando Arcia
Prospects: Kyle DeBarge, Danny De Andrade, Jay Thomason

Twins fWAR Ranking Last Year: 22nd out of 30
Twins fWAR Projection This Year: 6th out of 30

THE GOOD
Keaschall sure looks like the real deal. He posted 1.6 fWAR in 49 games last year, showcasing an excellent plate approach with a dash of power, plus an electric combo of speed and aggressiveness on the bases. He batted .302, ripped 14 doubles and four homers, stole 14 bases on 17 attempts, and delivered memorable clutch moments on the way to a top-10 finish in Rookie of the Year voting. It was one of the more special big-league debuts we've seen from a Twins player.

With that, Keaschall has his clamps on the second base job. As long as he's healthy, he'll be out there everyday and probably hitting near the top of the lineup. The team's outlook hinges greatly on Keaschall, which is a heavy weight to bear for a 23-year-old, but he looked every bit up to handling the pressure last year. 

It all starts with the plate approach, and the strike zone control. He doesn't chase much, keeping the heat on opposing pitchers. He puts the ball in play and lets his legs make noise. And while he didn't show a ton of power as a rookie, or as a prospect, that's an area where growth is possible — if not probable. It will be the main factor that differentiates between two outcomes: solid regular or star player. If he can consistently make harder contact, the idea of Keaschall as a future MVP candidate may not be such an audacious take. 

Keaschall's immediate backup is Kody Clemens, but in the bigger picture I think Brooks Lee is next in line. I could envision a scenario where Keaschall ends up in the outfield and Lee shifts to second once the Twins figure out a real solution at shortstop. Second base feels like a spot where Lee and his middling arm could ultimately thrive, provided he figures things out with the bat. Further down the line, speedy Kyle DeBarge, who stole 66 bases in Cedar Rapids last year, is definitely one to watch. Seth recently highlighted DeBarge as Twins Daily's #17 prospect heading into 2026.

THE BAD
One reason we're talking about lines of succession behind Keaschall at second base is that he's not assured of sticking there. His defense graded out poorly as a rookie, in large part because of his 6th-percentile arm strength. In fairness, he was returning from Tommy John surgery, but throwing has never been a real strength for Keaschall. Pair that reality with his exceptional speed, and it's possible that his best fit could ultimately be in the outfield — something the Twins seem open to exploring. 

The other reason it's important to talk about layers of depth behind Keaschall is that, unfortunately, durability has not proven to be an asset for him either. After an elbow injury ended his 2024 season, Keaschall missed time with an arm fracture and thumb sprain last year, the latter of which required offseason surgery. To an extent these injuries are fluky and isolated, but as a hard-nosed hustle-type player, Keaschall does play a brand of baseball that puts his body at risk. 

The drop-off to someone like Clemens or Austin Martin would be pretty immense, since neither of those guys is really suited to be an everyday second baseman. Tristan Gray is a more legitimate infield glove, but hasn't hit a lick in the majors. Orlando Arcia and Ryan Kreidler could be in the mix here too but aren't much more inspiring at the moment as replacement-level bats. Let's just hope Keaschall can stay on the field.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Keaschall is one of the biggest reasons for excitement around the offense, and around this Twins team in general. If he picks up anywhere close to where he left off, he's the kind of player that can elevate the entire club. A true sparkplug at an up-the-middle position batting near the top of the lineup. 

On top of keeping injuries at bay, Keaschall will need to fend off the notorious sophomore regression bug, which has bitten many a young Twins hitter in the past. No one is immune to the adjustments and counter-attacks that major-league pitchers can bring. But Keaschall's specializations — rarely chasing, rarely whiffing, utilizing all fields, and applying pressure with his speed — will be tough for opponents to solve, even if the power development remains more gradual or capped.

That's how I see it anyway, and for what it's worth, projection systems seem to align. FanGraphs has only seven second basemen pegged for a higher WAR in 2027, and they're all rather accomplished big-leaguers: Ketel Marte, Nico Hoerner, Marcus Semien, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Gleyber Torres, Brice Turang and Bryson Stott.

Is Luke Keaschall really already an upper-echelon MLB second baseman? Let's find out.

Catch up on the rest of our roster preview series:

• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Catcher
• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: First Base

View full article

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Two words: cautiously optimistic. Fans just need to look 90 feet to Keaschall's right to see what can happen after a great start and high expectations. 

There is a lot of national love for Keaschall right now, a nice positive story on an abysmal Twins offseason. Let's hope he can continue the positive progression. 

[mikelink45]

Keaschall or bust - I see no real alternative and his arm is recovering and his energy reminds me of Bader - we need that.  I keep looking at all the position rankings around the web and Buxton and Keaschall are the only players who make all the rankings. 

[OregonTwinsFan]

I think Keaschall will be better defensively...with the chance to be much better because of his athleticism and his arm more fully recovered. Let him settle in at second base; they don't need another outfielder. Brooks Lee can be a utility player once a shortstop is found.

[Cris E]

My weekly dose of unbridled optimism says that Keaschall had his sophomore season when he came back at the end of last year and picked things back up without missing a step.  There's utterly no basis for that, but it's a sunny morning and I'm enjoying my coffee so here we go.

More realistically, he may regress but his style is pretty controlled and features enough speed that a few bunts or singles the other way could get him going if he ever bogs down. I expect his D at 2B to get a little better with more time throwing after the TJ. Julien and Polanco both got better after spending some time on their glovework too, so it can happen. I would also expect the team to be very patient with him there since the line is deep in LF and there's not really another viable middle infielder that'll let Lee come over from SS or replace Luke at 2B. This could be another place to direct Winokur if he starts hitting and the SS thing is not working out for him. 

[jmlease1]

Hopefully a healthy spring training will allow him to get in the reps he needs at 2B and improve his fielding there. If he shows he can field the position, he could hold it down for the next 5 years minimum. Hopefully his arm will have improved being further away from the injuries, and a lot of his mistakes in the field really looked like a lack of reps, not something that isn't fixable. He's got the tools to do well there, even if he might not be a plus defender.

I'm not interested in moving him to the OF, though I'm sure he'd handle LF well and could fill in CF in a pinch with his speed...but there's plenty of OF prospects moving up in the system and moving him to the OF to open something up for Brooks Lee seems wasteful. If Culpepper takes the SS job away from Lee, then Lee becomes the utility guy who plays SS, 2B, and 3B.

I'm less enthusiastic about DeBarge than some; the steals are fun, but it's A-ball. Pitchers barely even try to hold runners it seems and the catching is wildly inconsistent, and frankly I'm a little concerned about his defense. yes, he won a minor league Gold Glove, but neutral prospect evaluators like KLaw are more skeptical of his defense and warned to take the minor league awards with a grain of salt.

De Andrade certainly seems to be plummeting. Too bad, I had high hopes for him after 2023, but 2024 was a lost season, and he struggled at the plate in 2025 while getting moved off SS for the most part. Maybe he settles in at 2B or 3B?

[GNess]

Give Keaschall a real chance to stick at 2B rather than trying to move him to the OF. Why would his lack of arm strength be less of a detriment at 2B? Yet, Lee is being considered being moved to 2B in part because of his lack of arm strength.

Additionally, the OF appears to have some prospects who could be very good. Lee needs to improve and prove himself prior to making shifts in positions to facilitate him.

[C-Gangster]

45 minutes ago, OregonTwinsFan said:

I think Keaschall will be better defensively...with the chance to be much better because of his athleticism and his arm more fully recovered. Let him settle in at second base; they don't need another outfielder. Brooks Lee can be a utility player once a shortstop is found.

Just my personal opinion I think if we want to continue developing Lee we should keep him at SS or even backup. Just to continue his development and he seems pretty comfortable there. But a utility role is a good idea too.

[LambchoP]

Keep Keaschal at 2nd and let him improve his defense with everyday reps. If Culpeper gets called up I think Lee would be a good utility guy who could cover 2nd, SS, and 3rd. With Lewis always being an injury risk it'd be nice to have Lee as the backup. We have more than enough outfielders, I say let him get comfortable in the infield.

[bean5302]

Arm strength is fairly irrelevant for 2B becuase the throws are short, on average. Where a SS is expected to regularly make 100+ foot throws, the 2B is often making 30-50 foot throws.

Center Field and Right Field require strong arms. Right field to prevent frequent advance attempts to 3B. Center fielders have long throws to make from the deepest part of the outfield. Keaschall is "fast" but not for a center fielder. Keaschall is a little tick below average for a center fielder. Could he cover CF? Sure. He'd likely be a slower version of Ben Revere out there.

Range is typically critical for 2B. Think about the number of infield hits fielded by the 2B (virtually 0%) vs. infield hits which were fielded by SS/3B. If the 2B can get to the ball, it's an out. If the SS/3B can get to the ball, there's still a chance a speedy runner can beat the throw.

"MVP" I get wanting to be excited about a prospect who looked good in his first work in MLB. Keaschall was not nearly good as Edouard Julien was in his first 204 PA, and as pitchers started getting scouting reports, Keaschall's expected output tanked. So probably temper some expectations.
.297/.387/.543 OPS .930 wRC+ 154 in his first 205 PA Julien
.302/.382/.445 OPS .827 wRC+ 134 in his first season (204 PA) Keaschall

MVPs are almost required to have an elite bat. We're not talking about a "good" bat. We're talking elite bat. That means high OBP and high SLG. Keaschall may develop power in the future, but he's a non-starter when it comes to MVP ceiling. Projection models, even the aggressive ones show Keaschall as a 3.0 WAR caliber player right now. That's still very good. That's a big asset, especially as a cheap, team controlled asset. If we wouldn't consider Jorge Polanco a potential MVP, Luke Keaschall wouldn't be a potential MVP, either.

It does a disservice to truly elite players and sets totally unreasonable expectations for Keaschall talking about MVP potential. I see nothing in Keaschall's profile which suggests he's a potential MVP.

 

[Cris E]

He's not like Julien though, because he runs, which is exciting and invigorating to an offense.  But otherwise your point stands.

[gman]

A real reach maybe but I don't think the Twins are going to win many team awards this year. I'm really hoping Keaschal nails down second base this year. It would be nice to see second base get nailed down this year and is not a position with an open tryouts next spring. It would be great if the team can get to 7 to 8 (non injured) regulars this year so that they could start next year only needing to add one starting position.

[Nshore]

Back in my day when kids walked to school, barefoot, year round, uphill both ways, it sure seems like MLB players were far less injury prone.  Now it seems like more than half are made of glass - at least on the Twin's team.  There's probably some kind of stat for that.

[rdehring]

Add me to those who would like to see Keaschall at second base long-term.  Missed his play before the broken arm.  But loved what I saw after he came back.  His speed and aggressiveness is special.  Love it and believe the Twins need more of it.  A lot more.

Will question one of your statements, Nick.  You indicated that developing more power will be the difference between being a solid regular and star.  Are you saying that without adding power he cannot become a star?  Expect Rod Carew would disagree with that opinion.

[DJL44]

55 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

MVPs are almost required to have an elite bat. We're not talking about a "good" bat. We're talking elite bat.

If he had an elite glove, then maybe we could talk about MVP. He doesn't have an elite glove. Only 7 second basemen have won an MVP in the last 70 years.

Jose Altuve 2017

Dustin Pedroia 2008

Jeff Kent 2000

Ryne Sandberg 1984

Joe Morgan 1975, 1976

Nellie Fox 1959

Keaschall looks more like a decent regular who could make an All-Star team at least once. 

[Over The Hill Again]

Piling on with the leave him at 2nd comments. If the best reason to advocate for a switch to LF is to accommodate moving Brooks Lee to 2nd, then I think that’s flawed. If Lee hits his way into that conversation, well yeah then it’s a valid topic IMO. But until then , let’s actually develop a young talent in a stable position? 

[bean5302]

40 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

If he had an elite glove, then maybe we could talk about MVP. He doesn't have an elite glove. Only 7 second basemen have won an MVP in the last 70 years.

Jose Altuve 2017

Dustin Pedroia 2008

Jeff Kent 2000

Ryne Sandberg 1984

Joe Morgan 1975, 1976

Nellie Fox 1959

Keaschall looks more like a decent regular who could make an All-Star team at least once. 

If Keaschall had an elite glove, that's be +1-2 WAR. Could get him to All Star production, but not close to MVP right now. 5 WAR as an elite 2B. If Keaschall develops a lot of power, he could get there.

[DocBauer]

His arm should be stronger/better the further removed he is from his surgery. But he doesn't need a cannon to be a good 2B. What I saw last year was a kid with all the athleticism, quickness, and speed to get to balls, but flubbed the mechanics of the position at times. Not only can that be worked on, but we have to remember he hadn't played 2B for over a year. So factor in that element, plus still building up his arm strength, plus the pressure of being a rookie, i expect to see a better version of him defensively this season, while continuing to grow in that spot.

I greatly object to him playing the OF in 2026 as he needs all the time possible at 2B to smooth things out and continue improvement. Plus, the Twins aren't exactly hurting for OF candidates these days. I have heard lately that the idea of him possibly playing a little OF was more with the idea of late game moves and lineup flexibility. OK, I can understand that. But he should be THE 2B exclusively in 2026. Allowed to do so he might just settle there for the next 5-10yrs. 

Since it's been brought up, I see Keaschall mature and hold 2B. I see K-Pepper simply being a more athletic and better SS than Lee, even with Lee showing improvement with the glove, and hopefully the bat as well. But even with that being said, if Houston can be just a good, solid, ML hitter, his defense will make him the primary SS for years, possibly as early as 2027, but more likely in 2028.

Lee, with continuing improvement with both bat and glove...my goodness, he was practically a rookie in 2025 with only 172 ML AB to begin last season...could be an excellent super utility player who could play almost every day between all 4 INF spots. K-Pepper could take over 3B, with Lewis moving to 1B. NOT because Lewis hasn't turned in to a good glove man there, but because it's just a better FIT for the INF to have the 4 best players in certain roles. And IF, for some reason, Keaschall just can't handle 2B...which I doubt...then he can move to 1B, and K-Pepper takes over 2B.

There are moving parts there over the next couple of seasons, but they are GOOD moving parts, not desperate ones. And for further depth, it's possible one of Schobel or DeBarge can join Lee as nice utility player options, but with the ability to maybe play a little OF as well. 

I think the INF construction over the next couple of seasons could rival the intrigue of the OF/DH situation over the same time span.

These are GOOD things!

[jmlease1]

18 hours ago, rdehring said:

Add me to those who would like to see Keaschall at second base long-term.  Missed his play before the broken arm.  But loved what I saw after he came back.  His speed and aggressiveness is special.  Love it and believe the Twins need more of it.  A lot more.

Will question one of your statements, Nick.  You indicated that developing more power will be the difference between being a solid regular and star.  Are you saying that without adding power he cannot become a star?  Expect Rod Carew would disagree with that opinion.

Well, Carew was a Hall of Famer so that's a different comp than just being a star. But Carew did hit for some power, and it's part of why he was such a great hitter: all of Carew's best seasons were ones where he had some pop. In his prime seasons ('72-'78) he slugged less than .440 once. He had a career SLG of .429. Carew consistently ripped triples, which Keaschall hasn't done yet.

It'll be easier for Keaschall to become a star if he develops a little more power; where he was at in 2025 is where he needs to be or better for his career to be a star, and if his production dips a little because his BABIP slips, rapping a few more dingers would make up for it. 

[karcherd]

And now today they have Keaschall in LF. Let him get comfortable at one position, quit trying to make everyone into utility players. Versatility is nice but you first have to master a position.  And it's not like we are short on outfielders.  I was really hoping this moving everyone around madness would stop, we will see.