Can anyone understand why Luke Keaschall gets a pass on all the mistakes and errors.

[jaimedude]

Derrick Shelton specifically called out dropped balls, mistakes, a wild pitch and defensive errors tonight in his press conference. Luke Keaschall is still a rookie and very little is mentioned of his inconsistent hitting, sloppy base running, and dropped balls, and errors in the field. He Luke seems to be treated with kids gloves by Twins FO and clubhouse management. Luke lacks focus and has been very below average on defense this year, at least from a fielding perspective. About time he stops making mindless errors, and it has nothing to do with athleticism. Take extra infield practice Luke. 

[Linus]

I think he gets a little more time because he is young and a good athlete. His arm is a problem- he is far enough past the injuries that what you see is what you get. 

[amjgt]

8 hours ago, jaimedude said:

Derrick Shelton specifically called out dropped balls, mistakes, a wild pitch and defensive errors tonight in his press conference. Luke Keaschall is still a rookie and very little is mentioned of his inconsistent hitting, sloppy base running, and dropped balls, and errors in the field. He Luke seems to be treated with kids gloves by Twins FO and clubhouse management. Luke lacks focus and has been very below average on defense this year, at least from a fielding perspective. About time he stops making mindless errors, and it has nothing to do with athleticism. Take extra infield practice Luke. 

I think your false assumption here is that he can fix his fielding issues by just working harder at it.

Maybe he's just not very good at 2B and never will be.

Also, I don't think he's been getting a pass for his crappy defense. He's getting a pass for his inconsistent offense because, well, he has like 100 games at the major league level. There's going to be some inconsistency. Also, since May 1st he has like an 775 OPS. Not world beating, but for a young guy who was in a deep April slump, I'll take the progress.

[tony&rodney]

Luke Keaschall has had some tough days but he isn't getting a pass. Luke had to sit a few times and has been dropped in the order. Despite the struggles Keaschall gives the club better plate appearances and he has shown some athleticism. MLB is a results oriented business and lengthy difficulties do result in demotions. Keaschall is being watched and coached quite closely.

[Jim H]

To answer your title question. It is pretty much the same reason  Bell is playing everyday, Outman is still on the team, Lewis and Wallner playing nearly everyday for 2 months, Caratini played nearly everyday for a month, and now we have 3 utility infielders getting lots of playing. Roster construction, injuries, and not ready for prime time prospects have left few other choices. 

For what it is worth, I believe they should be playing Keashall everyday at 2nd base. Maybe eventually there will be a better choice, but for right now they need to find out what they got in Keashall. I don't think they should change his position either. 2nd should be his best fit skill wise.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

15 hours ago, jaimedude said:

Derrick Shelton specifically called out dropped balls, mistakes, a wild pitch and defensive errors tonight in his press conference. Luke Keaschall is still a rookie and very little is mentioned of his inconsistent hitting, sloppy base running, and dropped balls, and errors in the field. He Luke seems to be treated with kids gloves by Twins FO and clubhouse management. Luke lacks focus and has been very below average on defense this year, at least from a fielding perspective. About time he stops making mindless errors, and it has nothing to do with athleticism. Take extra infield practice Luke. 

Keaschall has been getting pre-game reps at first. He will likely see some time there soon.

[DocBauer]

While I certainly haven't watched every game that Keaschall has played, I've certainly seen good and bad. I think what he's receiving is "patience" and not a "pass".

Knowing he was going to need TJ surgery, he played a lot of 1B and DH and some OF in 2024 to allow his bat to gain experience with a damaged arm. He played ZERO 2B that season. In fact, he didn't even play 2B early in 2025 until he was sent to the MILB camp and only then did he start to play 2B.

If you recall, the Twins promoted him early last season not because he was necessarily ready, but because massive injuries to the INF sort of made him "next man up". And then he had a broken arm from an errant pitch that cost him another couple of months.

So he really is a rookie, overall, despite his service time. I've seen him make some really nice plays to both sides, and some good charging plays. I've also seen him boot some plays that a solid 2B should make. But his offensive profile says he fits best at 2B. Athletically, he should be able to be a decent 2B, though his arm will probably never be anything better than average. 

He quietly had a really good May with his bat. There's a ton of potential there. So IMO, "patience" is the right word, and not "pass". I have no problem with him being the daily 2B all season for him to get comfortable again and improve.

[jaimedude]

Sounds like Luke has putting extra fielding practice, so he is putting in the work to fix things . Which is good to hear. Heard that on radio broadcast tonight. 

[jaimedude]

NM. 

[Bodie]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

While I certainly haven't watched every game that Keaschall has played, I've certainly seen good and bad. I think what he's receiving is "patience" and not a "pass".

Knowing he was going to need TJ surgery, he played a lot of 1B and DH and some OF in 2024 to allow his bat to gain experience with a damaged arm. He played ZERO 2B that season. In fact, he didn't even play 2B early in 2025 until he was sent to the MILB camp and only then did he start to play 2B.

If you recall, the Twins promoted him early last season not because he was necessarily ready, but because massive injuries to the INF sort of made him "next man up". And then he had a broken arm from an errant pitch that cost him another couple of months.

So he really is a rookie, overall, despite his service time. I've seen him make some really nice plays to both sides, and some good charging plays. I've also seen him boot some plays that a solid 2B should make. But his offensive profile says he fits best at 2B. Athletically, he should be able to be a decent 2B, though his arm will probably never be anything better than average. 

He quietly had a really good May with his bat. There's a ton of potential there. So IMO, "patience" is the right word, and not "pass". I have no problem with him being the daily 2B all season for him to get comfortable again and improve.

I'd just add that he should be getting his time with the same SS - whoever that may be.  The combination is second only to pitchers and catchers in the meshing needed to improve. 

Keystone Combo, and whatnot.