Spring Temperature Check: Who's Hot and Who's Cold in Twins' Camp? (March 9-11)

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

It’s been a good few days of baseball to start the week for the Twins. After a tough 9-8 loss on Monday against the Braves, they followed it up with a 6-5 win over the Rays on Tuesday and a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.

Wins and losses don’t carry a ton of weight this time of year, but the individual performances behind them can still be telling. With the calendar moving deeper into March, outings are getting longer, and players are starting to build real rhythm as roster battles continue to take shape.

With that in mind, here’s a quick temperature check from the past few days of Twins action.

Who’s Hot? 🔥

Luke Keaschall

The Twins’ second baseman has had a great start to the week, going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, along with a stolen base. Keaschall has made consistent hard contact throughout the spring, and that trend has continued over the past few days. If he can keep it up, he has the potential to be one of the most impactful bats in the Twins’ lineup this season.

Matt Wallner

Wallner had a very slow start to the spring, but he might just be starting to find things at the plate. He has two hits over his last four at-bats, including a home run on Tuesday and a hard-hit single on Wednesday. Both came off the bat at 108 mph, showing the kind of impact contact he’s capable of when he squares one up. There’s still some swing-and-miss present, but it’s encouraging to see him starting to drive the ball again.

Taj Bradley

The battle for a starting rotation spot has been fierce this spring, and Bradley showed Wednesday exactly why he deserves one. He needed just 69 pitches to get through five innings, allowing only one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven. His fastball topped out at 98.8 mph and showed some sharp horizontal movement throughout the outing. Most notably, he limited hard contact as well as he has all spring against a lineup that featured several Tigers regulars. It was a strong performance for Bradley and another reminder that he has the kind of stuff to make a real impact in the Twins’ rotation.

Josh Bell

It’s been a good start to the week at the plate for Josh Bell. In six plate appearances, he’s gone 2-for-4 with a home run and a pair of walks. Three of the four balls he’s put in play have come off the bat at 95 mph or harder, classifying them as hard contact. There’s no need to read too much into Bell’s spring performance either way, given his long MLB track record. But it’s always nice to see a key piece of the lineup hitting the ball hard.

Who’s Not? 🧊

Eric Wagaman

It hasn’t been a great stretch for Eric Wagaman this week, and the timing isn’t ideal. He’s 0-for-6 with a pair of strikeouts, and none of the balls he’s put in play have left the infield. Wagaman’s defensive versatility is something that could really help the Twins, but a disappointing spring at the plate might make it harder for him to stick around.

Zebby Matthews

I considered leaving Zebby Matthews out, but his outing in Monday’s loss ended up being a costly one. He was pulled midway through the first inning after allowing three earned runs, leaving with the bases loaded and two outs. The reliever who came in allowed all three inherited runners to score, inflating Matthews’ final line.

Because of spring training rules, Matthews was able to re-enter the game in the bottom of the second inning and eventually finished the fourth before being taken out for the second and final time. Over 3 ⅔ total innings, he allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five. While he looked better after re-entering the game, it wasn’t the outing Matthews needed at this point in camp, especially with the Twins likely facing some tough decisions about the final rotation spots in the coming weeks.

Spring training is ultimately about progress, and the Twins are starting to see clearer signals from both sides of the roster. Some players are building momentum at the right time, while others are still trying to find their footing before decisions start getting finalized. With Opening Day getting closer, the next couple of weeks will likely go a long way in shaping how the roster comes together.

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[GopherTide]

Agreed, Matthews is going to need to pick it up for a shot at starting the season in the rotation.  He certainly seems to have the stuff, just can't seem to put it all together.

[JD-TWINS]

Based solely on brief comments here on the rotation guys ……… Ryan, Ober, SWR, Bradley, & Abel are the rotation pieces if camp broke today - right?

[LA Vikes Fan]

It will be interesting to se how they handle the back end of the rotation. If this is a true "start from scratch" competition, Abel is the front runner, followed by Bradley, then SWR, then Matthews. If SWR and Bradley were guys who had to pitch poorly to not make it, then Abel has a clear lead over Matthews for the last spot. I hope they open with Abel in the rotation and send Matthews to AAA as the next man up. He'll get plenty of starts and he has things he needs to work on.   

[rdehring]

Believe that Keaschall has a chance of being a special player.  Reminds me so much of Bobby Witt.  Can he become Bobby Witt light?  Love seeing him have a big spring.

Should the Twins have any chance of sniffing at the playoffs, one of Bradley or Abel needs to take that final step of being a near ACE this season.  Someone who will battle Ryan as the team ACE.  Looks like both are working towards that goal.  Can one make it?  Or both?

[jmlease1]

23 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

It will be interesting to se how they handle the back end of the rotation. If this is a true "start from scratch" competition, Abel is the front runner, followed by Bradley, then SWR, then Matthews. If SWR and Bradley were guys who had to pitch poorly to not make it, then Abel has a clear lead over Matthews for the last spot. I hope they open with Abel in the rotation and send Matthews to AAA as the next man up. He'll get plenty of starts and he has things he needs to work on.   

I don't think it is a start from scratch competition; SWR has pitched too well in MLB over the past 2 seasons for him not to get more consideration. I think the competition between Bradley, Matthews, and Abel has been more open, though I think there was a preference for Bradley to earn a spot.

So far Abel has been the strongest of any of them, but it's spring training so who knows. But I agree: based on what we know, it should be Abel & Bradley in the last 2 spots, with Matthews as next man up in AAA with Morris.

[LambchoP]

Abel and Bradley have looked the best so far. If they keep pitching well they should start in the rotation with Zebby being the first man up from AAA. Roden has cooled down a bit but I'd much rather see him and Martin on the team over Outman. The bullpen is where I have no clue what they're going to do...

[Nshore]

The rotation has a chance to be pretty exciting with Ryan, Ober, SWR, Abel, and Bradley.  The bullpen is still pretty weak (well...terrifying).   Hopefully, they'll still make some kind of move yet to shore it up, or even try Matthews out there.

[bean5302]

The Twins' rotation depth is pretty light, actually. Need starters for AAA, too, and it feels like a desert for AA right now.

Ryan
Ober (throwing 89mph today...)
Bradley
Matthews
SWR

AAA
Abel
Morris
Rojas
----------
Festa - injured, not ready
Prielipp (looks headed for the 'pen)

[twinstalker]

4 hours ago, rdehring said:

Believe that Keaschall has a chance of being a special player.  Reminds me so much of Bobby Witt.  Can he become Bobby Witt light?  Love seeing him have a big spring.

Should the Twins have any chance of sniffing at the playoffs...

I really like Keaschall, but there's really no more opposite a player than Bobby Witt.  Everything Keaschall is good at, Witt is average or bad at.  Everything else Witt is great at and Keaschall is bad at.  Take a look at their Baseball Savant pages.  Plus, Witt is a fantastic shortstop, while Keaschall. thus far, is bad in the field.  The only thing they have somewhat in common is their running...Keaschall very good, Witt the best.

[mark sills]

Andrew Morris could have stayed  in the hot column even though sent down. Only gave up runs in his first inning in spring and only one hit last two games. ?hope they don't move zebby down just move him to the pen where we really need help.

[Scott51104]

Better Bobby Witt-Light than Bobby Witt-Less.