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. 

[bean5302]

Keaschall was scouted as a poor fielder from the time he was drafted all through his time in the minors. He's a bad fielder working to become a passable one.

More concerning to me is not his "inconsistent" bat, it's his consistently poor bat. He's not remotely close to an MLB caliber player right now. He should be in AAA.

Over his last 334 PA (September last year through today)
.256/.326/.323 OPS .659, ISO .067, wRC+ 84. His wOBA .294, xwOBA .287.

 

[DJL44]

The Twins haven’t really cared about defense at second base since Todd Walker took over for Knoblauch.

 

[stringer bell]

On 6/5/2026 at 9:21 PM, DocBauer said:

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.

 

Just now, bean5302 said:

Keaschall was scouted as a poor fielder from the time he was drafted all through his time in the minors. He's a bad fielder working to become a passable one.

More concerning to me is not his "inconsistent" bat, it's his consistently poor bat. He's not remotely close to an MLB caliber player right now. He should be in AAA.

Over his last 334 PA (September last year through today)
.256/.326/.323 OPS .659, ISO .067, wRC+ 84. His wOBA .294, xwOBA .287.

 

Can both these things be true? I think so. Keaschall's offense was pretty poor in April and he has improved in May. He finished 2025 with some regression to the mean, so if you cherry pick, you can see a subpar hitter.

When last I checked, Keaschall checked in at -2 Defensive Runs Saved, not good, but better than three or four regular second basemen. The fact is, like so many other Twins players, to be a good player, he has to be a considerably above-average offensive player and for the first 60-some games he has not been that.

I would add that Keaschall provides value on the base paths, despite being caught stealing his last three attempts. Positive value on the base paths is also a skill lacking in a great majority of Twins' position players.

There is a video post out today calling for Keaschall to be optioned to St. Paul. I don't agree with that, but it certainly is not out of the realm of possibility. Keaschall hasn't hit for power and the underlying metrics don't predict a big surge. 

[Linus]

I think he can be an offensive contributor. We won’t know anything conclusive in this regard until he has another 600 - 700 at bats. Whats pretty clear at this point is his defense is a problem. He’s athletic so his range is decent but he just butchers too many plays. His arm is an even bigger problem - it’s not strong and he has a funny release that has a little hitch that makes it difficult for him to release the ball quickly. I just hope he doesn’t turn into another guy that is so limited defensively that he has to hit like Carew to justify playing time. 

[RpR]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

I think he can be an offensive contributor. We won’t know anything conclusive in this regard until he has another 600 - 700 at bats. Whats pretty clear at this point is his defense is a problem. He’s athletic so his range is decent but he just butchers too many plays. His arm is an even bigger problem - it’s not strong and he has a funny release that has a little hitch that makes it difficult for him to release the ball quickly. I just hope he doesn’t turn into another guy that is so limited defensively that he has to hit like Carew to justify playing time. 

We should have an idea by the All Star break as to whether or not he has the Julien curse at second base.

[bean5302]

5 hours ago, stringer bell said:

 

Can both these things be true? I think so. Keaschall's offense was pretty poor in April and he has improved in May. He finished 2025 with some regression to the mean, so if you cherry pick, you can see a subpar hitter.

When last I checked, Keaschall checked in at -2 Defensive Runs Saved, not good, but better than three or four regular second basemen. The fact is, like so many other Twins players, to be a good player, he has to be a considerably above-average offensive player and for the first 60-some games he has not been that.

I would add that Keaschall provides value on the base paths, despite being caught stealing his last three attempts. Positive value on the base paths is also a skill lacking in a great majority of Twins' position players.

There is a video post out today calling for Keaschall to be optioned to St. Paul. I don't agree with that, but it certainly is not out of the realm of possibility. Keaschall hasn't hit for power and the underlying metrics don't predict a big surge. 

Regression to the mean is generally for expected vs. actual results. Keaschall didn't experience regression in September, his expected and actual outputs were both very poor.

Check again. He's now at -4 DRS (16th of 19),  -2 FRV (tied for 57-62nd of 66), -3 OAA. (tied for 31-33rd of 36). Keaschall is unquestionably one of the worst fielding 2B in baseball.

Adding value on the base paths? Baseball Savant agrees with a +3 runs score. 

He's a replacement level player right now.

[Sampson5]

He's just not a good player if your ops is still in the low to mid 600s in june it's no longer a slump but just who you are . Sure he played well as a hitter as a rookie but since then teams have adjusted . Now even with him somewhat playing better he's now low batting average singles hitter . He's young so the hope is with more abs he continues to adjust and gets back to being a good hitter . Don't think twins are giving him a pass twins don't have many better options so he will play regularly. With Royce getting starts at 2nd recently I'd guess keashall starts getting more days off assuming Royce continue to play well 

[stringer bell]

A few days ago, I thought sending Keaschall down would not happen and that it was not in the player's best interest. If the Twins are going to play Royce Lewis every day at first or second base, then they should send Keaschall down and probably have him work on playing another position. I've thought that with his range, he could be adequate at second, but right nowit looks like he's fielding grenades. Maybe a reset can fix that, maybe not. Also, his power has vanished. I wasn't expecting 40 doubles and 30 bombs, but he would project to low 20s doubles and single digit homers. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

A few days ago, I thought sending Keaschall down would not happen and that it was not in the player's best interest. If the Twins are going to play Royce Lewis every day at first or second base, then they should send Keaschall down and probably have him work on playing another position. I've thought that with his range, he could be adequate at second, but right nowit looks like he's fielding grenades. Maybe a reset can fix that, maybe not. Also, his power has vanished. I wasn't expecting 40 doubles and 30 bombs, but he would project to low 20s doubles and single digit homers. 

Ya, this. I thought "no", but now I think "yes" is the right answer. Sigh. I still believe he's going to hit.....but he needs s reset or something?

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Sampson5 said:

He's just not a good player if your ops is still in the low to mid 600s in june it's no longer a slump but just who you are . Sure he played well as a hitter as a rookie but since then teams have adjusted . Now even with him somewhat playing better he's now low batting average singles hitter . He's young so the hope is with more abs he continues to adjust and gets back to being a good hitter . Don't think twins are giving him a pass twins don't have many better options so he will play regularly. With Royce getting starts at 2nd recently I'd guess keashall starts getting more days off assuming Royce continue to play well 

Lewis at Second is the second coming of Julien.

[jaimedude]

Ready for Keaschall to have some time with the Saints, rediscover his swing and get his confidence back. 

[Jim H]

I don't know Keashall's future, but I hope they don't juggle him around like they seem to be doing with both him and Lewis.  Keashall might have a future as regular 2nd baseman. He isn't good enough defensively to be a utility player, and while he could possibly be a corner outfielder or first baseman, I expect there will eventually better choices for those positions.

So either the Twins should continue to play him almost everyday at 2nd base or option him back to AAA. Doing some sort of juggling act with him and Lewis is likely counter productive for both players.