Was Wallner Just The First Domino? What's Next?

[DocBauer]

This is the part where I eat crow. I DON'T think having faith in Wallner coming in to 2026 was misguided. He's been a quality producer, had what we hoped was a fine offseason, and had a good ST. And then the wheels came off. Has he just lost the ability to hit a FB? Numbers say he has. Or did the Twins trusting him to play every day, facing a plethora of LHP early, totally mess up his approach? 

Meanwhile, Larnach, being shielded against LHP, has gotten off to one of the best seasons of his career as  BATTER, but the power has been absent. And I, and many others, never thought he should have been brought back.

The GOOD NEWS is Larnach is performing against RHP, and Martin is continuing what he did the final 2 months of 2025. But let's give Martin a little additional credit. While he didn't make the opening day roster in '25, he raked at St Paul before an injury robbed him off time that might have seen an earlier promotion. So Kudos to him! He was ready in '25, and now gets a chance to play daily. I still don't understand him in RF and the slower and stronger arm of Larnach in LF, but the Twins just believe Larnach is more comfortable in LF. Considering he's looked better in the field than I think I've ever seen him, don't fix what ain't broke I guess.

Kreidler was brought up to replace Wallner. That choice is somewhat questionable. While I expect NOTHING from Kreidler offensively, I do expect good defense wherever he plays. But it IS curious that SSS at St Paul and with the Twins in SSS, he's been more productive than he's ever shown before. 

Of *NOTE, of course, Roden, Rodriguez, and Jenkins are all currently out due to injury. And Gonzalez is struggling. 

Why not Fedko or Arcia instead of Kreidler? A valid question. But they would require a 40 man move that the Twins aren't ready to make currently, right or wrong. Again, right or wrong, Kreidler provides quality defense wherever they play him, and hope for the best offensively. He can even still cover Larnach against LHP for now.

But what's next? Because I don't think moves are done.

1] Lewis is either sent down with one of his options, or he gets an IL and rehab to protect his ego. I've been a faithful believer in Lewis the past couple of years because there's just too much talent in his body, even if his body has had to make adjustments. He's still only 27yo. I STILL think there is something there worth working with. But he needs a MAJOR re-set somehow. Sorry about his ego.

This might be my 2nd round of crow and asking for a recipe that might be palatable. 

2] K-Pepper is probably not ready just yet. MAYBE the Twins are OK with removing Lewis and playing Kreidler at SS and moving Lee to 3B. Or MAYBE they just say; "the hell with it.  K-Pepper was going to be promoted at some time this season, let's just add him to the 40 man now and see what we have". EITHER WAY, it's a gut punch to Lee and Lewis. Should we care? Lee's defense has looked much better lately, but he's not a ML SS. His BAT has started to look like the hitter we sorta expected. [NEVER understood all the disappointment after only 1.5 seasons of MLB service time] I'd HOPE Lee is fine being the every day 3B in this scenario. His hands and arm are good enough. But I'm to the point where I say, "screw with development", let the kid play and grow at the ML level, and get him ready for 2027 and improve the defense right now, and potentially the lineup. 

IF and WHEN Lewis gets his BAT RIGHT, he can play both 3B and 1B. Despite all the injuries that have unfortunately affected him, at some point he has to overcome those...or not. Tremendously sorry to state the obvious.

3] I WANT to address the OF. But I just can't currently due to injury. Get back to me in a couple of weeks. At least Martin is a good story. 

4] The rotation has been surprisingly solid even with the injury to Lopez. We have the enjoyment of watching Bradley, Abel, Prielipp and even Matthews take step forwards. This is exciting stuff!

5] The bullpen has cost a decent Twins team how many games so far? I'd wager 4-6 more wins with a decent, not great, bullpen. And Morris lost the game tonight, Friday, against the Brewers. It happens.

But I'm TIRED of of being overly cautious about injuries to the rotation. I'd let Morris and Klein just be 1 IP high velocity options. I'd LOVE Festa and Lewis later in the season getting ready for 2027. I'd also be happy to have a more focused Funderburk as an option. 

Wallner's demotion is a start. What comes next and why?

[jaimedude]

Josh Bell. He doesn't have a real defensive position and he isn't really contributing a lot on offense. At a minimum he should not bat 3 or 4 anymore.  He is not a good fit for a team still trying to develop a core group of players. 

[jorgenswest]

10 hours ago, jaimedude said:

Josh Bell. He doesn't have a real defensive position and he isn't really contributing a lot on offense. At a minimum he should not bat 3 or 4 anymore.  He is not a good fit for a team still trying to develop a core group of players. 

If you are DH only you only help if you hit like Nelson Cruz. I don’t see a healthy replacement though. It is Wallner’s spot to win back if he can get reset. They really need a healthy Rodriguez, Walker and Roden.

[SteveLV]

Bell is fizzling out as a late-to-the-dinner-table signing.  Had a nice run during the win streak, not much since.

Lewis to AAA for a re-set makes sense.  I think they bring up Arcia instead of CPepper, at least until and if his bat heats up in AAA.  Hasn't been bad, but could be better to be sure.

Lee to 3B is fine.  He also might be called upon for 2B for Keaschall if that young man doesn't figure things out better, both at the plate and in the field.

We are past the quarter pole.  Another month and start to start up the trade machine and bring up the rest of the youngsters who hopefully have returned to health.

[Mike Sixel]

5 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

If you are DH only you only help if you hit like Nelson Cruz. I don’t see a healthy replacement though. It is Wallner’s spot to win back if he can get reset. They really need a healthy Rodriguez, Walker and Roden.

Anyone. Someone that might have a future. 

[lecroy24fan]

I don't want anymore recycled veterans called up. Let the kids get experience at the MLB level. I realize the OF's there are hurt but Fedko is raking and Culpepper is likely close enough to give it a go up here. He struggles they can always send him back down. Would like to see Sabato get a chance at 1B, as I was advocating for his call up last September. 

On the pitching side, well just the bullpen, there is only one pitcher down there right now that is pitching well and that's Matt Bowman, who has an opt out coming up shortly. I'd give him a shot. Worse thing would be he pitches as bad as everyone else has and is wished well in this future endeavors. Yes not a kid but the kids down there, as well as the vets, are bad. John Klein hasn't hit the 15 option days yet but he's the other one I'd call up. And Funderburk can come back after his 15 days in St. Paul too. I don't care that he was walking a lot of batters he was getting outs.

I do want to touch on Bell for a brief moment too. This is the hitter he is. Gets hot for a stretch and then gets ice cold for a bit. This was to be expected when he was signed. I think he has a little more rope than some think because of that and the FO knew this when he was signed. Anyone who is surprised by his streakiness shouldn't be.

[RpR]

5 hours ago, lecroy24fan said:

I don't want anymore recycled veterans called up. Let the kids get experience at the MLB level. I realize the OF's there are hurt but Fedko is raking and Culpepper is likely close enough to give it a go up here. He struggles they can always send him back down. Would like to see Sabato get a chance at 1B, as I was advocating for his call up last September. 

On the pitching side, well just the bullpen, there is only one pitcher down there right now that is pitching well and that's Matt Bowman, who has an opt out coming up shortly. I'd give him a shot. Worse thing would be he pitches as bad as everyone else has and is wished well in this future endeavors. Yes not a kid but the kids down there, as well as the vets, are bad. John Klein hasn't hit the 15 option days yet but he's the other one I'd call up. And Funderburk can come back after his 15 days in St. Paul too. I don't care that he was walking a lot of batters he was getting outs.

I do want to touch on Bell for a brief moment too. This is the hitter he is. Gets hot for a stretch and then gets ice cold for a bit. This was to be expected when he was signed. I think he has a little more rope than some think because of that and the FO knew this when he was signed. Anyone who is surprised by his streakiness shouldn't be.

Yeah, let the kids turn into another Wallner and Lewis and drive fans away as no one want to pay Major League prices for a AAA team, except some people on TD.

[lecroy24fan]

25 minutes ago, RpR said:

Yeah, let the kids turn into another Wallner and Lewis and drive fans away as no one want to pay Major League prices for a AAA team, except some people on TD.

You want Lewis gone so I provided an option for that.

[RpR]

40 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

You want Lewis gone so I provided an option for that.

Just start Kreidler, Outman and Gray in every game, Lewis can go to AAA to see he is not what only hype said he was or he can sit on the bench and learn.

[djvang]

This guy should be next.

[lecroy24fan]

Matt Bowman has exercised his opt-out clause. Twins have until Wednesday to make a decision.

[Linus]

Royce needs to go down. And I don’t say that out of frustration or spite. If he is going to ever have success in the bigs he needs to clean up his swing and then gain some confidence. This would be a several month process I think to do properly. 

[DocBauer]

So noth Wallner and Lewis are down. Totally the right move for the team and for them and their future. While the bullpen has certainly cost a few game, virtually zero production from those two also has to have cost us 2 or 3 games as well.

I liked bringing up Arcia at this time. It might be an illusion, but he's been doing very well at St Paul. He provides a decent glove and experience. Hopefully his bat can be at least ML average. Even that is better than what Lewis has been providing. And now Martin gets to play almost daily as well.

Speaking of the bullpen, glad the Luis Garcia experience is behind us. While I don't know if Adams has a decent ML career ahead of him or not, I'd rather have him up ans go with the young arm. And Gomez, so far, has looked a possible find. We'll see. But again, better to have the younger arm with potential.

I still like the idea of Kline up for 1-2 innings and cutting loose, preparing him for the future. But I don't think there's anyone I'm in a hurry to replace at the moment. While still average at best, the pen has sort of stabilized the past couple of weeks. And I think the full conversion of Morris and keepibg Rojas and letting him let it rip has also make a real difference.