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.

[HarmonK03]

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.

[Jim H]

I don't know if Wallner or Lewis have earned a return to the majors after a multi season stretch of not being very good. Most of the top prospects are injured or are deemed not quite ready for the majors. So, get him back to the majors, give both him and Lewis another chance to prove the belong in the majors. They haven't really earned a long runway, so if they don't perform like the middle of order bats they are supposed to be, I would like to see any of the top prospects that are earning an opportunity.

[nicksaviking]

If a rebuilding team is talking about platooning players, they should be looking to move those players.  

This ship isn't getting steered toward meaningful contention until there is six, seven or even eight players in the lineup that can play every day, starting pitcher be damned.

If we're not playing for anything this year, I'm all for having young players get plenty of reps against same-handed pitching. If two guys only play the same position, pick one, not both. But I'm not sure Wallner or Martin are considered young any longer (so maybe someone else who has never had a shot?). In any case, the goal this year absolutely CAN'T be to  chase .500, the goal needs to be to put the franchise in a spot where 2027 and beyond are set up to be playing real baseball games.

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

If a rebuilding team is talking about platooning players, they should be looking to move those players.  

This ship isn't getting steered toward meaningful contention until there is six, seven or even eight players in the lineup that can play every day, starting pitcher be damned.

If we're not playing for anything this year, I'm all for having young players get plenty of reps against same-handed pitching. If two guys only play the same position, pick one, not both. But I'm not sure Wallner or Martin are considered young any longer (so maybe someone else who has never had a shot?). In any case, the goal this year absolutely CAN'T be to  chase .500, the goal needs to be to put the franchise in a spot where 2027 and beyond are set up to be playing real baseball games.

This. Are there any players in the lineup today you want as a starter? Nope. Bring up the youth and get them experience..

Also, no, Wallner is not ready, and I'm his biggest defender. If you are replacing Bell, and you should, it's Mendez. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

I don't at all love his defense. Maybe as a DH, otherwise I'd just prefer to wait for Jenkins to eventually get healthy.

[Sampson5]

My uneducated guess would be another 10 -14 days of tearing up AAA pitching and he will be back in the majors has to continue hitting tho . Pretty sad that martin been so bad once he landed a starting job would of been nice if he ran with it it's now obvious that martin vs lefties & wallner vs righties is the best thing for both players which is fine until jenkins & e rod are healthy and ready for the mlb . Even with wallner coming back at some point think there's a real chance that by opening day next season he's no longer a twin either he's traded or non tendered only way he's not is if neither top prospect is in the mlb yet because of injury. Unfortunate because I thought after last year wallner figured some things out although Shelton playing him vs lefties this season certainly didn't help 

[weitz41]

Has he earned another shot? Not yet. We'd have to move a DH (realistically) and the Twins don't have Nelson Cruz at DH...Roden may even be ahead of him as a call up and he just started his rehab assignment. Like a few others said. He just might need to be the Padres RF'r the twins just don't have the players to have any more turning a single into a double on D 35% K rate guys.

[mikelink45]

NO - Lewis was better than him in St Paul, and he is back to being a pumpkin in Mpls. We need some new blood.

[thelanges5]

Emma, Jenkins and Roden are hurt, which complicates things. Don’t make moves to win a few extra games in June 2026. They need to be making decisions for the future, ie who is gonna be on the team in 2027 and beyond?

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

NO - Lewis was better than him in St Paul, and he is back to being a pumpkin in Mpls. We need some new blood.

Lewis has had two games back up here, kind of early to say he has turned into a pumpkin.  He looks a lot better at the plate than he did.  Now we just need to see it result in more production.

[DocBauer]

 

"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."

 So IDK if he's ready yet or not. But this particular portion of the OP spoke to me. 

Before signings began, my plan was as follows: 1] Make Wallner the primary DH, 2] Give RF to Gonzalez as long as he's healthy coming out of ST, 3] Give Roden the job as primary LF, 4] Use Martin as a 4th/5th OF, 5] Go find a decent, ML caliber 1B instead of trusting Clemens to be a starter, 6] Find the best backup SS/utility player you can.

IMO, this was the best usage for Wallner, let the young OF begin their tenure in the OF, and there would still be room in the near future for Jenkins, Rodriguez, and Mendez.

They sort of did OK at the back up SS. They never did get the 1B I thought they really needed, but Clemens has been better than expected. The signing of Bell, and the injury to Roden screwed my personal plan for sure. And then, of course, both Rodriguez and Jenkins got hurt.

I believe the hope is for Bell to follow his career path and get hot enough to have decent trade interest. Roden could be ready within 3-4 weeks if he begins his rehab as reported. Jenkins might be ready for promotion before Rodriguez, but with some luck they might both appear and finish the season strong.

But it's fairly likely that if and when the Twins are ready to bring Wallner back, he might not be a full time OF much longer. We still might get to see 2 or 3...(4??)...of the young OF before the season is done. (And K-Pepper might be up by July 1st to settle SS). 

Whether he's kept or possibly traded, we should all be hoping for Wallner to return to previous norms. It's up to the Twins decide if and when he's ready for another shot. But regardless, I think his time as a STARTING OF in Minnesota will be coming to an end.

 

 

 

[sweetmusicviola16]

I was in the camp that Wallner would have a nice bounce back season in 2026. Maybe he still will. But for now it should be in St.Paul. He was terrible here to be kind. 

[Jacksson]

Keep him exiled in AAA oblivion until at least the 2026 trade deadline.

[bean5302]

4 minutes ago, Jacksson said:

Keep him exiled in AAA oblivion until at least the 2026 trade deadline.

Why not just advocate for DFA'ing and releasing him?

[bean5302]

Wallner's K rate is like 22% over his past 15 games and the Twins are like dead last in MLB for RF production. He's got a wRC+ of like 169 over that time frame, but he was ice cold to start. Seems like he's controlling the strike zone well. 

It remains to be seen if MLB pitchers are just going to eat him up inside again, but might as well find out.

[RpR]

16 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Why not just advocate for DFA'ing and releasing him?

Good idea!

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Absolutely not. Neither was Lewis. 

A handful of good games against pitching he should Absolutely be crushing doesnt mean hes magically fixed. His defense is non existent. This team has too many bat only players already, and they cant hit either this year. 

I like Wallner and his bat has, in the past, been capable of changing games. But unless he can crush MLB pitching enough to DH, I just dont see a spot for him.