BREAKING: Twins Option Royce Lewis to Minor Leagues, Will Call Up Orlando Arcia

[jmlease1]

59 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

-4.0 WAR and counting on the Polanco trade

That's just made up math. It's -1.4 bWAR, because Topa has really sucked this season. Going into the year it was -0.8 bWAR with GG still to play out. You simply can't honestly count Polanco's second season with Seattle, where he signed as a free agent, against the trade. Hells bells, why not count Polanco's rotten season (and terrible contract) to date with the Mets?!?

[Western SD Fan]

15 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Choose a position for him and let him get comfortable.  This anyone can play anywhere is getting old.  If it is shortstop and Houston or someone else comes along and is better, move him at that point.  But choose a position for him, not everyone has to be a utility player.

I tend to agree.  He should just play one position if he is going to get called up and be effective at one position so he can concentrate on his defense and batting.  Especially if, as an organization, you believe he is the next wave of difference-making prospects.  I'm just reporting what I see and surmising what it may mean.

[NYCTK]

39 minutes ago, Nshore said:

Regarding Jeffers, I thought hamate bone injuries usually resulted in their removal and were season ending.  Hope not.  Kirilloff's wrist put the final nail in the coffin of his career.

Not season ending. 6-8 weeks but often elimates their power upon return. 

 

25 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Wallner is flailing badly today in St Paul. Old habits die hard.

Happened in 2024 as well. Took him 3 weeks in AAA to get back to productive. 

[jorgenswest]

1 minute ago, NYCTK said:

Not season ending. 6-8 weeks but often eliminates their power upon return.  

Is it different for catchers? It seems like a burden on the wrist of the catching hand. Would that impact the recovery time and the performance once returning to play?

[NYCTK]

2 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Is it different for catchers? It seems like a burden on the wrist of the catching hand. Would that impact the recovery time and the performance once returning to play?

Mets catcher Alvarez had the injury and he was on the shorter end of that timeline. 

[Patzky]

17 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

BREAKING:  Watching the Saints game and Culpepper just got hit on his left hand/wrist and is currently staying in the game.  Hopefully this is just a bruise and not anything more serious.

Those guys get hit all the time. Is the pitching that bad or they are still learning to get out of the way .

[Dave Borton]

1 hour ago, Nshore said:

 Emergency move of Abel and Rojas to the pen - assuming everyone is healthy.  

 

Abel is busy managing The Berkshire Manor Bees since Buffett retired. He's not available.

 

 

[jmlease1]

41 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Wallner is flailing badly today in St Paul. Old habits die hard.

I don't think anyone really expected a quick return to form for Wallner, so probably not much of an indicator...yet.

We'll see: maybe he gets it together or maybe he simply can't catch up to fastballs any longer. at 28. But at least the Twins have properly sent him down to AAA to figure it our, which is the same for Royce. They both got extended looks this season, both had an excuse that maybe bought them some additional time (Wallner was exposed to too many LHP, Royce had an injury that put him on the shelf for a bit) but both have been not just bad at the plate but looked entirely lost.

I appreciate the fact that the Twins didn't wait until June (or later) to make some of these calls. I like to think that if Rodriguez was healthy they would have pulled the pin on Outman as well by now, especially with Wallner's performance.

be interesting to see what Arcia brings: he should be at least solid defensively at 3B and it seems impossible for him to hit less. Mostly a platoon with Gray? Maybe give Keaschall some breaks at 2B?

Lineup is missing some thump with Jeffers out, so really need Buxton back. 

[Chembry]

Injury update on ERod is he tore the UCL in his thumb and is set for surgery this week.  Initial MRI showed only a sprain due to swelling, but second MRI showed torn UCL.

[amjgt]

2 minutes ago, Chembry said:

Injury update on ERod is he tore the UCL in his thumb and is set for surgery this week.  Initial MRI showed only a sprain due to swelling, but second MRI showed torn UCL.

Well, I guaran-f&cking-tee that he never slides into first base again. What a disaster.

[Possumlad]

57 minutes ago, karcherd said:

Choose a position for him and let him get comfortable.  This anyone can play anywhere is getting old.  If it is shortstop and Houston or someone else comes along and is better, move him at that point.  But choose a position for him, not everyone has to be a utility player.

Fine in theory, but then you've gotta commit to some other decisions. Playing Culpepper at 3rd is evidence that we'll likely see him in the bigs soon. If that's the case, you can either A) play him at 3B, or B) Play him at SS. But if you play him at SS, you have to either move Brooks to a utility role and/or move Brooks to 2B and move Keaschall to St. Paul. Let him get comfortable" is a fine idea, but doesn't account for the other things going on, given how close he is to the bigs.

[Possumlad]

7 minutes ago, amjgt said:

Well, I guaran-f&cking-tee that he never slides into first base again. What a disaster.

Some of the Twins injuries are insane. There is absolutely no reason any meaningful prospect in the minors should EVER jump in to a wall (Jenkins) or slide into 1st base. It's a very easy thing to coach. Games matter in the majors - if you want to jump in to walls there, you could at least justify it. In the minors it's completely asinine for a top prospect.

[HarmonK03]

15 minutes ago, Possumlad said:

Fine in theory, but then you've gotta commit to some other decisions. Playing Culpepper at 3rd is evidence that we'll likely see him in the bigs soon. If that's the case, you can either A) play him at 3B, or B) Play him at SS. But if you play him at SS, you have to either move Brooks to a utility role and/or move Brooks to 2B and move Keaschall to St. Paul. Let him get comfortable" is a fine idea, but doesn't account for the other things going on, given how close he is to the bigs.

Lee has experience at 3B, it's not as difficult as they make it.  If they want Culpepper to play at 3B, then have him play there every day for a period of time.  It's the moving back and forth that is not helping the development of the players.  There used to be a time when they would send a player down to change positions to give them time to get acclimated to it.

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

Mets catcher Alvarez had the injury and he was on the shorter end of that timeline. 

Good find. That would put a possible early return of July 6. I wonder if the coming all star break might motivate the Twins to push it to after the break.

Alvarez also matches your comment about performance. Alvarez had a first half OPS of .652 and a second half OPS of .921. His prolonged offensive and defensive slump caused the Mets to option him to the minors to rest and reset 8 weeks after his return. He came back after that month down and put up excellent numbers.

I wonder if the results would have been different they had been more cautious and given him a few more weeks initially or DH’d him upon his return. In reality they didn’t get back the major league catcher they needed until July 21 a little more than 19 weeks after the injury.

A matching time span for Jeffers would be September 30.

[Danchat]

42 minutes ago, Chembry said:

Injury update on ERod is he tore the UCL in his thumb and is set for surgery this week.  Initial MRI showed only a sprain due to swelling, but second MRI showed torn UCL.

Fantastic... and he's out of options next year, so he will have to be on the 2027 Opening Day roster without any experience in the majors. Not ideal!

[Geminizer9]

Lewis looked good in his first spring training game, I think a home run and another hit.  His swing looked like it did  when he first came up - just not as high with the leg kick.  Then he got injured right away and when he came back he was back to doing this odd stuff with his swing.  He looks like he's falling away from the plate and lunging over it at the same time. 

[Riverbrian]

This is the way it should work. There is only so much down performance that teams can absorb. 

Arcia doesn't excite me because he most likely won't be back next year but if Arcia is being given an opportunity to earn playing time and he earns it. That will be better than giving exclusive opportunity to someone who is not earning it. 

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Western SD Fan said:

BREAKING:  Watching the Saints game and Culpepper just got hit on his left hand/wrist and is currently staying in the game.  Hopefully this is just a bruise and not anything more serious.

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Fantastic... and he's out of options next year, so he will have to be on the 2027 Opening Day roster without any experience in the majors. Not ideal!

Games played the last 3 seasons - assuming this is a season ending surgery...

2024 - 47 games 
2025 - 65 games
2026 - 25 games

Right thumb surgery in 2024, Ankle and Oblique injuries in 2025, left thumb surgery in 2026. 

[Peter]

Garcia is one of our closers!!!!! DFA would be huge mistake!!!

[AceWrigley]

1 hour ago, Possumlad said:

Yeah he did. To be clear I'm not expecting much... I'm just a sucker for new blood that hasn't proven to be predictably terrible at the MLB level.

I think the over/under for Alex Jackson could be the performance of Jhonny Pereda who was our 3rd catcher before MLB Musical Chair season. He's in Seattle now (called up when the Big Dumper went on the IL) and sitting at 0.0 WAR and 33 OPS+ in 5 games.

[The Great Hambino]

Gleeman writes an article about Wallner being on the verge of getting sent down, gets sent down later that day

Gleeman writes an article about Lewis being on the verge of getting sent down, gets sent down the following day

Since leaving The Athletic, Gleeman might have unlocked the lamest superpower ever (Or he's getting tipped off on impending moves.  I'd believe it either way)

[Chembry]

56 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Fantastic... and he's out of options next year, so he will have to be on the 2027 Opening Day roster without any experience in the majors. Not ideal!

Not necessarily...UCL thumb injuries typically return to action in 8 weeks.  That would put him back in action sometime around end of July.  This study showed a mean return at 8 weeks with no meaningful differences in performance.  However, that doesn't account if the Twins will call him up or not though so your statement may still be correct.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5757434/

Edit: https://www.espn.com/fantasy/baseball/story/_/id/19513187/mlb-mike-trout-thumb-procedure-recovery-process

This is another article showing Andrelton Simmons and Mike Trout undergoing UCL surgery in their thumb.  It states a return to unrestricted baseball activities is possible within 4 weeks.

[Scott51104]

"Maybe Royce should burn his bats and start over with a complete new set of bats. Seriously. "

That would be a shame. They look like they've never been used.

[weitz41]

For better or worse, this needed to happen. Here's hoping he finds his swing and confidence and is back sooner than later.

[howeda7]

2 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

BREAKING:  Watching the Saints game and Culpepper just got hit on his left hand/wrist and is currently staying in the game.  Hopefully this is just a bruise and not anything more serious.

-5 points for use of BREAKING....

[howeda7]

1 hour ago, Possumlad said:

Fine in theory, but then you've gotta commit to some other decisions. Playing Culpepper at 3rd is evidence that we'll likely see him in the bigs soon. If that's the case, you can either A) play him at 3B, or B) Play him at SS. But if you play him at SS, you have to either move Brooks to a utility role and/or move Brooks to 2B and move Keaschall to St. Paul. Let him get comfortable" is a fine idea, but doesn't account for the other things going on, given how close he is to the bigs.

Brooks could also play 3B?

[Sjoski]

Topa had one really poor outing that pretty much inflated his era.....not speaking in his defense.....but....I anticipate he will land somewhere else and possibly performs well.......

It's how the Twins roll.

Anyone remember this sad saga?

2009

The Twins designated Craig Breslow for assignment in May of 2009 to call up fellow left-handed reliever Sean Henn. The Oakland Athletics quickly snatched him up off waivers on May 20, 2009.  

It ended up being a tough loss for Minnesota's bullpen, as Breslow went on to have a fantastic run in Oakland, appearing in 60 games for the A's that season with a stellar 2.60 ERA.

 

Henn pitched a handful ( 11)  of innings and was DFA'd himself. 

Breslow pitched for 12  years in MLB...—not to mention picking up a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013.

 

[howeda7]

49 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

This is the way it should work. There is only so much down performance that teams can absorb. 

Arcia doesn't excite me because he most likely won't be back next year but if Arcia is being given an opportunity to earn playing time and he earns it. That will be better than giving exclusive opportunity to someone who is not earning it. 

If Arcia is decent, you could give him a cheap 1 year deal to be the 2027 UI. 

[Vanimal46]

8 minutes ago, Sjoski said:

Topa had one really poor outing that pretty much inflated his era.....not speaking in his defense.....but....I anticipate he will land somewhere else and possibly performs well.......

It's how the Twins roll.

Anyone remember this sad saga?

2009

The Twins designated Craig Breslow for assignment in May of 2009 to call up fellow left-handed reliever Sean Henn. The Oakland Athletics quickly snatched him up off waivers on May 20, 2009.  

It ended up being a tough loss for Minnesota's bullpen, as Breslow went on to have a fantastic run in Oakland, appearing in 60 games for the A's that season with a stellar 2.60 ERA.

 

Henn pitched a handful ( 11)  of innings and was DFA'd himself. 

Breslow pitched for 12  years in MLB...—not to mention picking up a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013.

 

Old friend Steven Okert has a 3.19 ERA in 90 games for Houston since the Twins got rid of him. Something is still rotten in this organization and we haven’t found the source yet.