Spring Temperature Check: Who's Hot and Who's Cold in Twins' Camp? (March 16-19)

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Twins entered the week looking to bounce back from a winless weekend, and they did just that with a 5-1 win over the Pirates on Monday. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to build much momentum from there, dropping a 2-0 game to the Phillies on Tuesday and a 4-2 contest to the Red Sox on Thursday. They did, however, cap things off with an impressive 9-3 win over the Phillies in Thursday’s Spring Breakout game, bringing them back to .500 on the week.

While the results themselves don’t carry much weight in spring training, the way players are performing within those games can still be telling. At this point in camp, roles are starting to come into focus, and these outings can offer a clearer sense of who’s finding their stride at the right time and who may still be trying to put things together.

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

Who’s Hot?

Emmanuel Rodriguez: Rodriguez put together, arguably, the most impressive individual performance of the Spring Breakout game. He opened things up with a 115.6 MPH single in the third inning — which was not only the hardest-hit ball of the game, but the third hardest-hit ball by any Twins hitter since the start of the 2024 season. He followed that up in his next at-bat with a 113 MPH triple to left-center field, continuing to show off the kind of raw power that’s always made him such an intriguing prospect. The tools have never been in question. If he can stay healthy and continue to string together results like this, there’s a lot to be excited about.

 

Joe Ryan: After a solid first spring outing, Ryan turned things up a notch on Monday. Over four strong innings, he allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out six. He generated nine whiffs on 68 pitches (48 strikes), and his fastball sat just below 93 MPH. It’s also a good sign that he’s already getting his pitch count that high in just his second outing of the spring. Ryan is lined up to start Saturday to get one last tune-up outing before (presumably) taking the hill on Opening Day. 

Gabriel Gonzalez: It was an impressive showing in big league camp for Gonzalez, and he carried that momentum into the Spring Breakout game. He went 2-for-3 with a walk, including a 105 MPH RBI single that highlighted his ability to drive the ball with authority. It’s been a strong overall spring for Gonzalez, and if that continues into the regular season, he may not be far off from putting himself in the conversation for a call-up.

Matt Wallner: Wallner has quickly turned a slow start into a very productive spring. Over his limited opportunities this week, he’s gone 3-for-5 with a double and two walks, continuing to show a much more disciplined approach at the plate. He’s now up to eight walks this spring and owns a 1.022 OPS, a strong indicator of how well-rounded his offensive performance has been. With consistent at-bats near the top of the order, Wallner looks like someone the Twins will be counting on to carry this momentum into the regular season. 

Who’s Not?

Royce Lewis: Spring numbers don’t mean everything, but it’s getting harder to ignore the slow start from Lewis. After a hitless start to the week, he’s now just 3-for-33 this spring with 11 strikeouts, dropping his average below the .100 mark. The underlying contact quality hasn’t been particularly encouraging either, with an average exit velocity of 88.4 MPH and a hard-hit rate below 40 percent. For a player with Lewis’s talent, it’s still not quite time to full-on panic. But it would certainly be reassuring to see him square some balls up over the next few days.

Josh Bell: After trending in the right direction just last week, Bell has cooled off considerably. He’s 0-for-6 with three strikeouts over the past few days, and the contact he’s made hasn’t been especially loud. Given his track record, this isn’t something that should raise major concern. But with the season right around the corner, you’d still like to see him finish camp on a stronger note.

James Outman: This has been a tough stretch at a time when Outman could least afford it. He’s 1-for-8 this week with four strikeouts, and his lone hit came on a soft blooper. After putting himself firmly in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot earlier in camp, he now sits at 8-for-37 with 15 strikeouts this spring. With time running out, he’ll need a very quick turnaround if he has any chance of getting back into the conversation.

Spring training always comes with the usual caveats, but there’s still value in looking at how players are trending. A few Twins are clearly building momentum as camp winds down, while others haven’t quite clicked yet. With only a handful of games left, these final performances could play a big role in shaping both the roster and early-season expectations.

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[Patzky]

Liam Hendricks released today. 

[Aggies7]

Never been less excited in my life for the start of the twins season 

[Vanimal46]

2 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Never been less excited in my life for the start of the twins season 

Hey now, 2013 and 2014 was bad enough that the Star Tribune's Twins season preview talked about Buxton and Sano down in A ball or rookie ball at the time. Silver linings! 

[Vanimal46]

42 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Liam Hendricks released today. 

Zebby optioned to AAA so Mick Abel is making the opening day roster.

[arby58]

9 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Never been less excited in my life for the start of the twins season 

For excitement value, I really wish they had kept Emma (and maybe even GG) and found somebody to trade with for Larnach while releasing Outman. 

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, arby58 said:

For excitement value, I really wish they had kept Emma (and maybe even GG) and found somebody to trade with for Larnach while releasing Outman. 

Yeah, losing with disappointing vets is not preferable to losing with young guys IMO.

[Dawgzilla]

Gonzolez and Rodriguez got sent down...and they were "hot", meaning actual.players going north....stink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

What a joke and travesty!!!

[Patzky]

21 minutes ago, arby58 said:

For excitement value, I really wish they had kept Emma (and maybe even GG) and found somebody to trade with for Larnach while releasing Outman. 

Arcia and Urshela out there.. Coach Buttermaker gotta make a change 

[DJL44]

Royce Lewis has options remaining

[ziggy]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Royce Lewis has options remaining

He should go down but who do the Twins have to man third base that's better?

[bean5302]

Royce Lewis at 88.4mph average exit velo is fine, just not great. He's got a 12.5% barrel rate and a 37.5% hard hit rate with a ridiculous .045 BABIP. Calls for him to be optioned aren't warranted.

Keeping Outman despite making mostly poor contact with lots and lots of Ks, plus his history doesn't make sense to me. Even in Outman's rookie year which was good, the expected metrics suggested it was mostly luck.

Emma's going to be burning his 3rd option now without a single PA at the MLB level. I don't believe in his success at the MLB level, but keeping Outman over him and seeing what you've got? These are NOT the kinds of moves a team expecting to be competitive makes.

Too bad Hendriks just don't have it. What a rough way to end his career :(

Keeping Urshela? Like... REALLY???????

 

[DJL44]

15 minutes ago, ziggy said:

He should go down but who do the Twins have to man third base that's better?

Wagaman or Clemens could fill in until Royce starts hitting in AAA. They could keep both and use them as a platoon at 3B. Wagaman has a career 731 OPS against LHP and Clemens can hit RHP.

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Keeping Outman despite making mostly poor contact with lots and lots of Ks, plus his history doesn't make sense to me. Even in Outman's rookie year which was good, the expected metrics suggested it was mostly luck.

I agree. It looks like they'll keep two automatic outs on the roster - Outman and Kreidler. I don't know when either of them would get in the lineup. Kreidler can field CF well enough to do Outman's job. I wouldn't keep either of them over Roden or Rodriguez.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

Wagaman or Clemens could fill in until Royce starts hitting in AAA. They could keep both and use them as a platoon at 3B. Wagaman has a career 731 OPS against LHP and Clemens can hit RHP.

I agree. It looks like they'll keep two automatic outs on the roster - Outman and Kreidler. I don't know when either of them would get in the lineup. Kreidler can field CF well enough to do Outman's job. I wouldn't keep either of them over Roden or Rodriguez.

Lewis has a 12.5% barrel rate. He's hitting balls hard enough, they're just finding gloves.

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Royce Lewis at 88.4mph average exit velo is fine, just not great. He's got a 12.5% barrel rate and a 37.5% hard hit rate with a ridiculous .045 BABIP. Calls for him to be optioned aren't warranted.

Keeping Outman despite making mostly poor contact with lots and lots of Ks, plus his history doesn't make sense to me. Even in Outman's rookie year which was good, the expected metrics suggested it was mostly luck.

Emma's going to be burning his 3rd option now without a single PA at the MLB level. I don't believe in his success at the MLB level, but keeping Outman over him and seeing what you've got? These are NOT the kinds of moves a team expecting to be competitive makes.

Too bad Hendriks just don't have it. What a rough way to end his career :(

Keeping Urshela? Like... REALLY???????

 

Urshela was released today. Agree on the rest. 

[HerbieFan]

No idea why Urshela and Chafin were ever in camp.  Outman can go.  I'll keep Roden instead and play the guy four years younger with at least a little upside

[big dog]

19 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Never been less excited in my life for the start of the twins season 

Oh, that 1980 had even less hope. The starting lineup had 3 players- Castino, Smally, and Wynegar- who ended up with a WAR above 1.1. Next-best was Rob Wilfong. Two full-year starters had negative WAR (Ken Landreaux and Rick Sofield) and the two DHs (Glenn Adams, Jose Morales) combined for a WAR of 0.6. This team had Rivera, Powell, Norwood, Mackanin, Vega, Faedo- all household names, for the wrong reasons.

The bullpen had Doug Corbett and the ghost of Mike Marshall.

The team went 77-84, somehow. They were even worse in 1981, where a strike mercifully reduced the amount of Twins baseball. The record that year was 41-68. There must have been some bad luck, though, because their Pythagorean record was 42-67...

I remember that era mostly for a couple of Billy Gardner comments. One player, Rick Sofield, was complaining about playing time and saying there were a few teams that wanted him if the Twins weren't going to play him. Gardner said something along the lines of "The only teams that want him are the Army and the Marines." 

I really hope this year doesn't devolve into that kind of disaster. It wasn't like 1985, where we had a bad record with good, inexperienced young players. In 1981 it was a bad record with a combination of has-been veterans and never-became young players.

[Whitey333]

It's going to be a long tough year for many of us Twins fans?  Lewis will play third to start.  However he needs to step up big this year or its time to dump him.  I think this would have been the year to start a couple of those "can't miss" prospects since the team isn't going to compete.  There surely isn't much to get excited about this year.  Plus the bullpen will probably battle for the worst bullpen in baseball.  

[Aggies7]

3 hours ago, big dog said:

Oh, that 1980 had even less hope. The starting lineup had 3 players- Castino, Smally, and Wynegar- who ended up with a WAR above 1.1. Next-best was Rob Wilfong. Two full-year starters had negative WAR (Ken Landreaux and Rick Sofield) and the two DHs (Glenn Adams, Jose Morales) combined for a WAR of 0.6. This team had Rivera, Powell, Norwood, Mackanin, Vega, Faedo- all household names, for the wrong reasons.

The bullpen had Doug Corbett and the ghost of Mike Marshall.

The team went 77-84, somehow. They were even worse in 1981, where a strike mercifully reduced the amount of Twins baseball. The record that year was 41-68. There must have been some bad luck, though, because their Pythagorean record was 42-67...

I remember that era mostly for a couple of Billy Gardner comments. One player, Rick Sofield, was complaining about playing time and saying there were a few teams that wanted him if the Twins weren't going to play him. Gardner said something along the lines of "The only teams that want him are the Army and the Marines." 

I really hope this year doesn't devolve into that kind of disaster. It wasn't like 1985, where we had a bad record with good, inexperienced young players. In 1981 it was a bad record with a combination of has-been veterans and never-became young players.

Luckily I missed that, born in ‘86 😂

[USAFChief]

13 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Luckily I missed that, born in ‘86 😂

I missed it too.  Basic training, for one thing. 

[Senior Softball Guy]

Royce doesn't do slumps, but it's getting harder to remember when he wasn't in one. 

[big dog]

49 minutes ago, Senior Softball Guy said:

Royce doesn't do slumps, but it's getting harder to remember when he wasn't in one. 

I just hope it's a slump. Otherwise it's his new reality. That would be really bad.