It’s Time to See More Ryan Kreidler

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Since Opening Day, the Twins’ shortstop position has been in flux. The club has already had four players play shortstop more than 10 times this season: Brooks Lee, Tristan Gray, Ryan Kreidler, and Orlando Arcia. Lee was the team’s Opening Day shortstop, but he played his way off the position and has not appeared there for over a month.

Gray, Kreidler, and Arcia have been fighting for time there since, though Arcia has been designated for assignment and returned to St. Paul, effectively creating a timeshare between Gray and Kreidler at the position. The two inexperienced, though not young, form a natural platoon—Gray is a lefty and Kreidler is a righty—and the Twins have held firm to that setup. They have played Gray at shortstop in every game a righty started since May 23, a game he missed on paternity leave.

I’m not one to call for sweeping changes, but is it time to end this type of usage?

Gray is not playing like an everyday shortstop. Kreidler probably isn’t an everyday shortstop either, but he can at least defend like one.

In May, Lee was moved off the position he had held since last July (when Carlos Correa was traded) due to his defense. And rightly so—Lee was, by some metrics, the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Even if you don’t trust defensive metrics, which is justifiable, watching him told you that, at a minimum, he was not a good defender.

At the time of his move off of shortstop, by defensive runs saved (DRS), he was a league-worst -7. His outs above average (OAA) and fielding run value (FRV) told a similar story, -6 and -5, respectively. The average is 0 on these metrics. In 44 games, he’d only committed two errors, but there were head-scratching plays galore, and many balls he simply could not get to because of his range.

Gray has played 24 games at shortstop this season (184 innings), and wouldn’t you know, after Friday night’s game, he’s accumulated -8 DRS, -6 OAA, and -6 FRV. Those figures are as bad or worse than Lee’s, but they’re counting stats. He would be on pace to have accumulated -17 DRS, -13 OAA, and -13 FRV by the time he reached Lee’s 390 total innings (that’s not exactly how it works, but you get the point). If you’re an errors person, he’s already racked up six this season, committing one for every four games he plays at shortstop.

Part of the reason Lee was moved to third base was that he isn’t a long-term shortstop, so it was sensible to move him to a place that better suited his skillset. Another part of that move was to help improve the team’s defense today.

And they replaced Lee with an even worse defender at shortstop.

Kreidler is clearly the superior defender out of the group of four Twins shortstops. He’s made a couple of mistakes defensively this season, including miscommunicating on a pop-up that resulted in Luke Keaschall knocking the ball from his glove, but he remains an at minimum average defender.

He’s had only 61 innings at the position this season, but he has been an average defender by DRS and has accumulated 1 OAA and 1 FRV. He came to the Twins with a reputation for excellent play in the field, and compared to Lee and Gray, it’s a night-and-day difference.

The issue with Kreidler is his hitting, though.

Or, at least, that was the issue with his reputation.

Kreidler has not played terribly often this season. He’s only accumulated 80 plate appearances. But he’s hit well enough in that time, slashing .243/.338/.486 (.823), about 20% better than league average. A lot of that is buoyed by his four home runs and 10 walks, and his .383 OPS prior to joining Minnesota (yes, OPS, not OBP) casts a cloud over anyone who wants to believe that he’s a competent hitter.

 

But he’s hit enough to at least give him a look at more regular playing time.

Kreidler has been slightly better against lefties than righties this season (.821 vs. .809 OPS), though his performance against righties is a bit inflated because three of his four home runs have come against same-handed pitchers (he has a .256 OBP but a .553 SLG against right-handed pitchers). In reality, he’s probably meaningfully better against lefties than righties, which isn’t great for an everyday shortstop candidate whose performance against southpaws also probably isn’t sustainable.

However, it’s not as if Gray has lit the world on fire in his platoon-aided appearances.

Gray has 126 plate appearances against righties this season, and he’s slashed .252/.294/.365 against them. He had a hot start to the year and was one of the early-season fun stories, slashing .269/.316/.462 (.777) overall through the end of April with three home runs and 13 RBI in 58 plate appearances. Since then, though, he’s cooled off considerably, slashing .222/.261/.296 (.558) overall, and his performance against righties has been just higher, his .608 OPS about 35% below league average.

Twins fans (and managers, and front office members) should be under no impression that either Gray or Kreidler is a good hitter, or even an average hitter over a full season. But if neither of them is going to be good, why not play the only player on the team who wouldn’t be in competition for the worst defensive shortstop in baseball?

Shortstop is an incredibly important defensive position, and the Twins have largely played poor defenders there. At some point, you have to give the guy who can field the position a shot. Of course, hopefully at some point within the next month, Twins Daily’s #2 prospect, Kaelen Culpepper, will be in that spot. But for now, I feel like I speak for a lot of people when I say that I’m growing weary of watching what’s going on at shortstop.

Gray could have a role as a utility infielder, giving the Twins’ bevy of right-handed infielders a day off against same-sided pitching, but we’ve probably seen enough from him as the primary shortstop.

Please, just play the sure glove.

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[DJL44]

Agree that Kreidler deserves more playing time at SS. They can have him replace Gray on defense more often and get more starts. Gray will still be available to pinch hit for Kreidler if the situation calls for it.

I think they should be done playing Kreidler anywhere except SS. They have better options for CF.

[CRF]

Kreidler has to be the guy playing ss right now. Hands of stone Gray can ride the pine and pinch hit.

[Jeff K]

And Kriedler had a great game last night.  I would like to see a comparison of defensive metrics for Gray & Arcia.  The eye test says Arcia fields the position better than Gray.

[Senior Softball Guy]

Great article! I was just thinking that having Kreidler everyday is the way to go. You get your runs from the other positions. SS and catcher are defensive positions.

[Linus]

I believe Kreidler is 28 so he’s not some ancient guy out there. May be part of the improvement in hitting is opportunity. Some

guys that can’t hit have bad swings and fundamental flaws: Kreidler actually looks like a hitter from the standpoint that his swing is sound. Run him out there and see what we have. 

[Saxophone Joe]

Team Kreidler for the win! Liked him ever since I saw him play in Mankato for the MoonDogs.

I just like the way he goes about his business…Cory Provus mentioned earlier in the season that Kreidler was none too pleased at starting the season in Triple A, and told Shelty as such. Now, he’s earned a place as the everyday SS. Love to see it. 

[tony&rodney]

Ryan Kreidler is a big man and very athletic. His defense is good everywhere and might even improve if he were an everyday player. The problem has been that Kreidler doesn't hit enough to hold down a regular spot. The Twins are going to promote Kaelen Culpeppper when he is ready, which may have been delayed due to his recent injury. In the meantime Twins fans will need to hope that Kreidler hits enough to get his name on the lineup card more often. Last night was a good start. The play to nip Corbin at first base was a pitcher's best friend gift. 

[mnfireman]

Wrong thread...

[Coach JT]

Time to DFA gray and let’s take a look at Gonzalez . Play Kreidler everyday at Ss and you can always send Lee over for a day off and Lewis can play 3B if a break is needed . 

[saviking]

Can't believe the Twins won't bring up Culpepper right after the all-star break. All these other guys are bandaid's

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, saviking said:

Can't believe the Twins won't bring up Culpepper right after the all-star break. All these other guys are bandaid's

Why wait? What does Culpepper have to do to prove he’s ready?

[High heat]

Yes Kriedler as the everyday SS. His bat speed has increased significantly and the defense alone makes up for any bat deficiencies.  
 

 

[Mai.K]

AAA prospect Ben Ross is viewed by FanGraphs as a utility player with above-average shortstop defense.

Because of that, I think he could potentially become this generation's version of Nick Punto or Willi Castro.

Regardless of whether Culpepper gets called up, how about giving Ross a chance?

Honestly, it's strange that the team already has nine pure outfielders on the 40-man roster as it is... and that's not even counting Clemens and Kreidler.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Why wait? What does Culpepper have to do to prove he’s ready?

Play a week healthy

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Coach JT said:

Time to DFA gray and let’s take a look at Gonzalez . Play Kreidler everyday at Ss and you can always send Lee over for a day off and Lewis can play 3B if a break is needed . 

Gabriel Gonzalez still has a lot to prove in AAA.

[Mike Sixel]

17 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Why wait? What does Culpepper have to do to prove he’s ready?

Be healthy 

Edit....ninjad.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

to the OP, Kreidler’s hitting will likely suffer from where he has been, but can’t be any worse than Gray’s and is a much better fielder. Agreed, Kreidler should be the primary SS until Culpepper is healthy.

[DocBauer]

I didn't want Kreidler on this team because he simply projected as literally one of the worst hitters in all of MLB. I was fine keeping him as depth, but I was also fine simply cutting him to add someone else.

There's just no way he's as good of a hitter as he's been in his short time with the Twins. But while also a relatively SSS, what I noticed...before he was brought up...was that he was having a season in AAA far superior to his career MILB numbers. That gave me some hope that maybe something had changed in his approach or swing that might indicate actual improvement. 

Has he? IDK. But so far it sure looks like he has potentially raised his floor as a hitter. The glove is clearly superior to any other SS they've played this season. So he clearly should be the primary SS for the time being. 

I agree that Gray might be a nice LH hitting utility option off the bench. And nothing says he can't play SS a a day or two a week, but that should be about it in regard to SS.

Unfortunately for him, K-Pepper will be up soon...should have been already...and someone else will be going down. And that's probably Gray.

[Possumlad]

"A lot of that is buoyed by his four home runs and 10 walks, and his .383 OPS (yes, OPS, not OBP) casts a cloud over anyone who wants to believe that he’s a competent hitter." 

?

Kreidler does not have a 0.383 OPS. Was this paragraph written by AI?

[Greggory Masterson]

36 minutes ago, Possumlad said:

"A lot of that is buoyed by his four home runs and 10 walks, and his .383 OPS (yes, OPS, not OBP) casts a cloud over anyone who wants to believe that he’s a competent hitter." 

?

Kreidler does not have a 0.383 OPS. Was this paragraph written by AI?

There’s a way to alert me that I missed adding “in his career before coming to Minnesota” without accusing me of using AI

[mnfireman]

38 minutes ago, Possumlad said:

"A lot of that is buoyed by his four home runs and 10 walks, and his .383 OPS (yes, OPS, not OBP) casts a cloud over anyone who wants to believe that he’s a competent hitter." 

?

Kreidler does not have a 0.383 OPS. Was this paragraph written by AI?

His career OPS before this season was .383.

[Possumlad]

3 hours ago, Greggory Masterson said:

There’s a way to alert me that I missed adding “in his career before coming to Minnesota” without accusing me of using AI

The AI comment was meant to be a joke, I apologize. It's a very good article, and I appreciate the clarification. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

9 hours ago, Linus said:

I believe Kreidler is 28 so he’s not some ancient guy out there. May be part of the improvement in hitting is opportunity. Some

guys that can’t hit have bad swings and fundamental flaws: Kreidler actually looks like a hitter from the standpoint that his swing is sound. Run him out there and see what we have. 

This. The guy has something of a pedigree; he was Detroit's opening day CF two years ago. He looks reasonably competent in the batter's box, and better than competent at SS. He should be playing SS every day. He deserves the shot the way he's played. More importantly, the pitchers deserve a chance to pitch before a competent MLB IF, at least at SS. 

Look, the name of this position is "hold down SS until Culpepper or Marek Houston is ready". Kreidler has won the job. Give him a real shot to hold it down.

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, Possumlad said:

The AI comment was meant to be a joke, I apologize. It's a very good article, and I appreciate the clarification. 

No worries, and I apologize if I came across harshly. It's important to me that people don't believe that I write with AI.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Been saying this since he was called up. Kriedler should be the every day SS until Culpepper is ready for a call up. Not only is he a FAR superior defender (and I believe his numbers will improve with regular playing time), his offensive numbers , so far, have also been better than Gray, Lee, and Arcia. (Although I doubt that will remain the case) 

On a separate note, I also think it should have been Gray sent down and not Arcia. Simply because Arcia is a much better defender. 

[stringer bell]

I old enough and old school enough to remember teams with shortstops like Mark Belanger and Eddie Brinkman, guys who batted eighth or ninth, and when they provided offense it was a bonus. Defensively, Kreidler looks the part of a plus-plus defender.

As noted above, he's a pretty big guy and when he makes contact he can clear the fence. 90 plate appearances doesn't undo the almost 200 he had with the Tigers, but he has reduced his K percentage and hit the ball harder than he did in any of his three previous seasons, With average defense from shortstop, pitcher and right field, the Twins are an average defense. In those three positions rank them among the worst in MLB. I think Kreidler improves the defense dramatically. 

[IndianaTwin]

Kreidler’s pre-2026 MLB stats are indeed horrible in sporadic playing time, but his OPS is .786 in 320 games at AAA. 

For context, the median team OPS in the International League is .760 this year (couldn’t easily find a mean). Makes me wonder if the AAA sample may be a bit more indicative of his hitting. Not an All-Star by any means, but not what he’d done in the majors before this year.
 

[Yoke]

Kreidler can keep the position warm until Culpepper is ready to come up, then ideally be a quality utility guy.

 

Gray can be replaced any time now.

[RpR]

10 minutes ago, Yoke said:

Kreidler can keep the position warm until Culpepper is ready to come up, then ideally be a quality utility guy.

 

Gray can be replaced any time now.

What crystal ball says Culpepper will not field like Keashall and hit like Fedko?