Has Matt Wallner Earned Another Shot with the Twins?

[Cody Pirkl]

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Matt Wallner)

Matt Wallner had posted a slash line of .167/.259/.292 when he was sent to St. Paul last month. It was a deserved demotion and was immediately justified when he struggled to begin his time in Triple-A. More recently, he’s looked a lot more like the hitter he was expected to be, and it’s possible he finds himself back with the big-league club very soon.

 

As recently as May 24th, Wallner was hitting .171/.250/.229. Then he had a 10-game hot streak during which he put up a .275/.383/.500 line with the Saints, and that was before crushing three homers on Thursday night. More encouraging was that he had posted a 21.3% K rate in that stretch, as the whiffs had become untenable at the big-league level.

 

Even in the friendly confines of CHS Field, Wallner’s production has been noteworthy. Through Saturday, he's hit in each of his past seven games. In that stretch, he is 13-for-31 (.419) with a double and five home runs. The first five of those games were multi-hit games. Overall, he is hitting .275/.359/.538 (.897) with six doubles, five homers in 20 Saints games.

It’s not the greatest feather in his cap that Matt Wallner has had to be sent down for a similar reset before, but it’s worth something that he’s done so in the past and returned to the big leagues able to carry over his production. Whether his adjustments can last is a real concern, but at 28 years old, there isn’t much reason for the Twins to keep him in Triple-A if he’s producing like this.

 

Making matters easier for the Twins, the big-league roster hasn’t done much to keep Wallner stuck in St. Paul. Austin Martin’s production was cited as a driving factor in Wallner’s demotion. He’s backed up the Twins’ decision by going .149/.203/.230 since he became a full-time player on May 14. Martin may be best served as a short-side platoon player, and while Wallner’s struggles were widespread, his numbers were undoubtedly dragged down by facing lefties. The ideal scenario may be a straight platoon pairing these two players to bring out the best in each.

Wallner’s defense has become a major problem this season, but there should be at-bats available in the DH spot now that Buxton is playing center field again. Josh Bell has posted a .635 OPS and has no chance of being a part of the Twins’ future. Either he turns things around and is traded, or the Twins cut bait at some point. Either way, there’s plenty of opportunity on the horizon for Wallner to get another shot.

 

Matt Wallner has done his part by working in St. Paul and putting up encouraging numbers. The MLB roster is struggling, and other outfielders who were also in the minor leagues being injured have kept the door open for him. He’ll always be a streaky hitter, and both fans and the Twins themselves will likely look at him more questionably moving forward, but as for right now, he’s likely earning himself another opportunity.

 

 

How long should Matt Wallner need to continue tearing up Triple-A before he earns another shot? Should the Twins give us one at all? Let us know below!

 

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[D.C Twins]

I'll go with no because his defense continues to be and will remain atrocious.

The only way you bring him back is if you think his bat will be good enough to justify being a DH. 

[tony&rodney]

Trade him to Arizona for a comp pick.

[roger]

Keep him in St Paul until early July.  If he continues doing extremely well, trade him.

[DJL44]

If Bell gets injured they can bring Wallner up to DH. Otherwise I would like to see Roden after he has had two weeks to get his timing back.

[DaveW44]

Wallner is about the 7th best player on the saints.  No, he has not earned another chance. 

[Mai.K]

We won't see Wallner again unless Bell gets injured or traded.

[karcherd]

31 minutes ago, Mai.K said:

We won't see Wallner again unless Bell gets injured or traded.

Bell won't be traded because there will be no interest in him just like last year at the trade deadline.

To me, Wallner is the perfect change of scenery candidate.  I still think he can be a productive player in the major leagues but I think it needs to come with another organization and at this point I am fine with that.  And I am not really worried about what we could get back for him if anything.

 

[Parfigliano]

59 minutes ago, Mai.K said:

We won't see Wallner again unless Bell gets injured or traded.

Traded for what?

[LakesPibble]

[Eris]

I’m liking the Austin Martin experience in RF. Defense and accuracy of throws matter. (Although since May 1, Martin has a 0.220 BA so that is not going to work either). 

[CRF]

I almost forgot about him...but then again, I have dementia🤪

[GopherMike]

Nobody is going to give us anything for Bell.

We could potentially DFA him and either pray someone makes a claim...but I doubt it. He's arguably not even worth a roster spot....let alone at $7 mil a year. 

Or we could just DFA him because he's literally cooked.

That's really the big question right now. Because Wallner is basically a DH at this point. So...whose bat is more cooked, Bell or Wallner?

I'm willing to give Bell a few more weeks to see

[RpR]

3 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Trade him to Arizona for a comp pick.

Along with Lewis.