First SDI Rankings Highlight Minnesota's Defensive Strengths and Weaknesses

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Defense can be one of the most difficult aspects of baseball to evaluate. While fans can easily identify a diving catch or a costly error, modern metrics attempt to capture the countless subtle plays that impact run prevention over the course of a season.

The first installment of the 2026 SABR Defensive Index (SDI) rankings has been released, providing an early look at how Minnesota Twins players stack up defensively against the rest of the American League. The SDI serves as a key component in determining Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners and combines multiple defensive metrics, including Statcast data and traditional play-by-play analysis.

While it's still early in the season, the rankings reveal several surprises for Minnesota—both positive and negative. All rankings were through games played on June 7, 2026.

Bradley Leads the Pitching Staff

Grading pitching defense is still challenging, and this year's rankings largely reflect that reality. Among Minnesota pitchers, Taj Bradley leads the way with a 0.6 SDI, ranking 16th among American League pitchers. Bailey Ober sits at an even 0.0, while Connor Prielipp checks in at -0.5.

Joe Ryan's ranking stands out the most. His -0.7 SDI places him near the bottom of qualified AL pitchers, with only nine qualified hurlers posting a lower mark. For the entire 2025 season, he had a -1.9 SDI. While pitcher defense generally carries less value than other positions, it remains an area where Ryan has struggled throughout his career.

Jeffers Showing Improvement Behind the Plate

One of the more encouraging developments comes at catcher. Ryan Jeffers currently owns a 0.0 SDI, ranking eighth among American League catchers. That might not sound impressive on the surface, but it's a significant improvement from last season when he posted a -6.2 SDI. In 2025, only Logan O'Hoppe graded worse among qualified AL catchers.

Victor Caratini sits slightly below average at -0.4 SDI, but he has seen more regular action since Jeffers went on the IL and his numbers have improved. Jeffers' improvement represents a notable step forward for a player whose offensive production has often overshadowed concerns about his defense.

Can Clemens Continue Minnesota's Gold Glove Tradition?

For years, the Twins have received strong defensive production at first base. Carlos Santana and Ty France each earned Gold Glove recognition during their time in Minnesota, and Kody Clemens appears determined to keep the Twins in the Gold Glove conversation.

Clemens owns a 1.8 SDI, ranking sixth among American League first basemen. However, he is only 0.6 out of ranking among the top three. His defensive performance has quietly become one of the team's strengths. With Royce Lewis beginning to see more action at first base, it will be interesting to see whether he can develop into a capable defender there as the season progresses.

Middle Infield Remains a Concern

If there is one area where these rankings raise red flags, it's the middle infield. Luke Keaschall's -5.0 SDI ranks last among qualified AL second basemen. The sophomore’s bat has helped him remain in the lineup, but manager Derek Shelton has already acknowledged the defensive challenges. Shelton has reportedly discussed late-game defensive substitutions with Keaschall, recognizing that run prevention can become critical in close contests.

Things look even rougher at shortstop. Brooks Lee's -5.9 SDI ranks last among qualified American League shortstops. While defensive metrics can fluctuate throughout a season, the struggles help explain why Minnesota has increasingly shifted Lee to third base. His offensive versatility remains valuable, but the organization appears to be searching for a more sustainable long-term defensive alignment.

Interestingly, no Twins third baseman had accumulated enough innings to qualify for the rankings. Lewis had been demoted and moved off the hot corner. Lee will start showing up on the SDI ranking later this season. 

Mixed Results in the Outfield

Minnesota's outfield rankings offer a blend of surprises. Trevor Larnach owns a -0.4 SDI in left field, with only three qualified AL left fielders ranking lower. While Larnach's offensive contributions remain valuable, defense continues to be an area where he grades below average.

In center field, Byron Buxton sits at -0.1 SDI, tied for eighth among American League center fielders. While those numbers don't jump off the page, they represent improvement from last season's -4.6 SDI. Some of Buxton's decline in defensive metrics can be attributed to diminished arm strength. Opposing runners have been more willing to take extra bases against him than they were during his Gold Glove peak years, impacting his overall value despite still covering plenty of ground.

The biggest surprise may come in right field. Austin Martin's 2.9 SDI ranks third among AL right fielders, trailing only Wilyer Abreu and Cam Smith. Martin's athleticism has long been evident, but his defensive impact has become one of the more underrated aspects of his game. While much of the focus remains on whether he'll hit enough to secure a long-term role, his glove is making a compelling case.

A Snapshot, Not a Final Verdict

As always, defensive metrics should be viewed as one piece of a much larger puzzle. Small samples, positioning, team strategies, and statistical variance can all influence these rankings.

Still, the first SDI update highlights several clear trends. Minnesota continues to receive strong defense at first base, Martin is emerging as a legitimate defensive asset, and Jeffers appears to be making strides behind the plate. On the other hand, the middle infield remains a concern, with both Keaschall and Lee ranking at the bottom of their respective positions.

With the Twins fighting to remain in the American League playoff race, every run saved could prove just as important as every run scored.

What surprises you most about these rankings? Are you buying Martin as one of the AL's best defensive right fielders, and how concerned are you about the defensive struggles of Keaschall and Lee? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Patzky]

The numbers jibe with the eye test. I understand the lag in reporting, on the shoe it seems like our defense has been a smidge better in June than it was at the beginning of the season. Shuffling and removing non-working parts is an ongoing process.. I'm curious where Alex Jackson will show up if he registers enough innings.

[c24]

As bad as the pairing of Lee and Keaschall is up the middle, it doesn't get better with Gray at SS. Kreidler being the everyday SS is the only option there is to have a mediocre infield defense

[JD-TWINS]

Seems Martin is back to being platooned and late inning defense - pinch runner.

Clemens seems to becoming a fixture in RF. 

Lee obviously, w/o injuries to others, will not see SS again!

Early results on Lewis at 1B are very encouraging in my opinion.

Jeffers probably isn’t on the Team more than another month.☹️

[stringer bell]

These rankings mirror Defensive Runs Saved posted daily by The Fielding Bible, with some minor variations. The Twins "trouble spots" have been pitcher, shortstop, right field and second base. Keaschall has gone from slightly below average to bottom quartile in the last few weeks, with some blooper reel misplays recently. Larnach has gone from a positive DRS to -3. With Martin and Clemens playing right field recently, the numbers for right field have improved dramatically and a shorter term improvement has happened at shortstop with Kreidler getting the lion's share of playing time for the last week.

Clemens was on track for recognition at first base, but the move of Lewis there has limited Clemens' playing time there. 

[stringer bell]

6 minutes ago, c24 said:

As bad as the pairing of Lee and Keaschall is up the middle, it doesn't get better with Gray at SS. Kreidler being the everyday SS is the only option there is to have a mediocre infield defense

Gray and Lee rank dead last in DRS in MLB, with Gray only playing a bit more than half of the innings that Lee has played there. Kreidler ranks neutral, but that is a huge improvement over Gray or Lee.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

14 minutes ago, c24 said:

As bad as the pairing of Lee and Keaschall is up the middle, it doesn't get better with Gray at SS. Kreidler being the everyday SS is the only option there is to have a mediocre infield defense

Kreidler is not the only option. There are Culpepper and Houston.

[Cody Christie]

I’m interested in people’s thoughts on why Joe Ryan ranks so poorly. He seems athletic enough. Does his follow through make it tricky to field balls? Does he just not care about balls and let the fielders behind him take care of it?

[stringer bell]

13 minutes ago, Patzky said:

The numbers jibe with the eye test. I understand the lag in reporting, on the shoe it seems like our defense has been a smidge better in June than it was at the beginning of the season. Shuffling and removing non-working parts is an ongoing process.. I'm curious where Alex Jackson will show up if he registers enough innings.

Jackson has superior defensive tools to either Caratini or Jeffers when it comes to limiting a running game--stronger arm and quicker pop time. I think it is hard to measure throwing at almost all defensive positions, but particularly catcher. 

[bean5302]

4 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Kreidler is not the only option. There are Culpepper and Houston.

Yeah, no need for MiLB at all. Don't even know why guys play there? Get Houston up!

For the record, Culpepper is viewed as an "adequate" SS. He's not a good shortstop. He just might not be terrible, and he's probably below average as it stands today.

[stringer bell]

1 minute ago, Cody Christie said:

I’m interested in people’s thoughts on why Joe Ryan ranks so poorly. He seems athletic enough. Does his follow through make it tricky to field balls? Does he just not care about balls and let the fielders behind him take care of it?

It is a pretty small sample size compared to defender who play in excess of 150 games at nine innings per game. Also, I don't know if it is poor fundamentals such as not backing up bases or covering first on ground balls to the right side or if it is gloving balls hit up the middle.

The Twins, as a team, have had real problems with their pitchers throwing to bases, particularly on balls in play, but I don't remember Ryan being particularly bad at that. 

[DJL44]

Clemens is pretty good at 2B. Roden to RF and Clemens to 2B improves the defense.

Martin is exactly what they hoped they would get from Manny Margot.

[stringer bell]

18 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Clemens is pretty good at 2B. Roden to RF and Clemens to 2B improves the defense.

Martin is exactly what they hoped they would get from Manny Margot.

I've been a Martin backer at least since he debuted with the Twins. It is great that he grades out so well defensively, after struggling early in his career, but it appears the Twins don't consider him a center fielder at all, which is strange (the numbers back this up SSS). Also, he makes more than his share of mental mistakes like throwing to the wrong base and his value as a base runner hasn't been good despite his good speed.

 

[Twins GFP]

42 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Yeah, no need for MiLB at all. Don't even know why guys play there? Get Houston up!

For the record, Culpepper is viewed as an "adequate" SS. He's not a good shortstop. He just might not be terrible, and he's probably below average as it stands today.

It would be interesting to know why there isn't a (public) SDI for MiLB. The metrics seem to be available. Even if it is a sample size issue, I would imagine there is enough interest in 2A and 3A to make it doable. 

[tony&rodney]

Not a big fan of defense metrics. My view of the gloves puts Kreidler as an average to possibly plus shortstop and Clemens as an above average defensive player at first base and right field. Clemens may be good at second base as well. That is what I see.

The Twins appear to be transitioning to a more stable alignment in the field with the moves of Brooks Lee to third base, Royce Lewis to first base, Ryan Kreidler to shortstop, and Kody Clemens to right field. More changes could be in the near future (this season). I would not expect Kaelen Culpepper to be more than an average defensive player but if he hits an average glove in the middle infield would be an improvement. Both Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins would provide average or better corner outfield defense. The changes from the Falvey dream of a DH at every position has been challenging to change but it is going to happen. The mistakes by the pitchers are pretty head scratching and should be easier to clean up.

[Linus]

32 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I've been a Martin backer at least since he debuted with the Twins. It is great that he grades out so well defensively, after struggling early in his career, but it appears the Twins don't consider him a center fielder at all, which is strange (the numbers back this up SSS). Also, he makes more than his share of mental mistakes like throwing to the wrong base and his value as a base runner hasn't been good despite his good speed.

 

From my observations he has made several good plays coming in on balls, taking hits away. Going back on balls is a different story especially when it comes to catching balls at the wall where he has misjudged where the ball was. Nothing he would receive an error for but balls that many outfielders would make. His throwing seems okay when he manages to throw it to the right base. 

[bean5302]

18 minutes ago, Twins GFP said:

It would be interesting to know why there isn't a (public) SDI for MiLB. The metrics seem to be available. Even if it is a sample size issue, I would imagine there is enough interest in 2A and 3A to make it doable. 

It's so hard. MiLB has massive differences between leagues and there are multiple leagues for the same level. Beyond that, there isn't the kind of precise ball tracking in MiLB. 

UZR/DRS use a framework which divides up the field into dozens or hundreds slices of pie and determines how often a position player gets to those balls in their zone.

OAA uses an exact location the position player is standing with precise batted ball tracking to identify the likelihood a player would be able to make a play on a batted ball relative to their peers.

I use RF/9, which sucks because Baseball Reference uses RF/G as the default so I have to visit each teams' site, evaluate who is the primary position player to compare (ignore the 28 year old journeyman, etc) It's only valuable inside a specific league due to the differences in pitcher quality across leagues. RF/9 determines the number of put outs and assists a player at a position has per 9 innings played. Comparing RF/9 can get some picture of defensive value, in concert with fielding percentage. It's still a little iffy, though. For a team which has a lot of ground ball pitchers vs. a team with a lot of fly ball pitchers, the infield values could change quite a bit. RF/9 for a SS is basically 4.00 is the minimum. 4.25 is good. 4.50 is elite, historically. Fielding percentage of .970 is the minimum, .975 is good, .980 is elite. The margins are really tight and those are "general" numbers, historically.

[Andy MacPhail]

Some players make easy plays look difficult. I wasn't surprised by the results. For years the Twins  focused only on big bats & ignored defense. especially 2B. Dozier was great but 2B has been terrible since with Arraez, Julien & Keaschal. They got nothing for Dozier in trade, Dozier loved MN, they could have extended him easily, he could have played 2B until Polanco would take his place, he'd then moved to 1B. Twins never took good care of them, they abused their heart for the team & ended up wrecking them. When Martin was ready, he could have started to hone his skill at 2B. Dozier could have moved to DH after Cruz, Polanco could be extended & move to 1B. Instead of the Twins being disappointing at 2B, 1B & DH, they could be at the top, w/o dipping into expensive FA. Twins do not value heart & are quick to trade it away & have suffered for it.

 

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, Cody Christie said:

I’m interested in people’s thoughts on why Joe Ryan ranks so poorly. He seems athletic enough. Does his follow through make it tricky to field balls? Does he just not care about balls and let the fielders behind him take care of it?

93.1 Innings Pitched - 7 CHANCES. 

How do you weight 7 chances? How do you weight one chance every 13.1 innings pitched? How many of those chances are considered to be routine. 

What happens to his numbers if he gets an assist or put out on play in a low percentage zone on his 8th chance?

Taj Bradley also has 7 chances over his 76.2 innings pitch.

How many of those 7 chances are routine? 

Did one singular play from each cause the difference in .06 and -.07? If it did... how much should any of us pay attention to the small sample data? 

What is the significance of .6 and -.7 

How does 7 chances on the mound every 13.1 innings compare to 216 chances for Brooks Lee at SS and 3B over 655.1 innings? Or one chance every 3 innings. How many of those plays at SS or 3B are considered routine? 

 

 

 

[The Great Hambino]

23 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

It is a pretty small sample size compared to defender who play in excess of 150 games at nine innings per game. Also, I don't know if it is poor fundamentals such as not backing up bases or covering first on ground balls to the right side or if it is gloving balls hit up the middle.

The Twins, as a team, have had real problems with their pitchers throwing to bases, particularly on balls in play, but I don't remember Ryan being particularly bad at that. 

Yeah, pitchers naturally are going to have a smaller number of chances relative to other positions, particularly in an environment where bunting is minimal.  I think this is reflected in the ranges of figures between the top and bottom players at pitcher (4.2 in the AL, or 3.7 without extreme outlier Drew Rasmussen at -2.4 - is he just hucking the ball into the stands or what?) and every other position, where the range between top and bottom is more than double that figure, even at 1B.  And that's with pitchers having around five times as many qualifying players compared to other positions, which in theory should result in a broader range.  So a few rough plays here and there can really skew your ranking at pitcher.

So I wouldn't worry too much about Ryan.  Even if his numbers are real and not statistical noise, the actual effect is relatively low and vastly outweighed by the value of his actual pitching

 

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, Cody Christie said:

I’m interested in people’s thoughts on why Joe Ryan ranks so poorly. He seems athletic enough. Does his follow through make it tricky to field balls? Does he just not care about balls and let the fielders behind him take care of it?

I'm guessing a combo of small sample size and the imperfect-at-best nature of defensive metrics.  

[rdehring]

I'll admit I don't understand what these numbers represent.  And yes, I understand Buxton no longer has a cannon in center field.  But I can't give a lot of credibility to any system that says Buxton has a negative value in center field, no matter how small that negative number is.

[bean5302]

47 minutes ago, Andy MacPhail said:

Some players make easy plays look difficult. I wasn't surprised by the results. For years the Twins  focused only on big bats & ignored defense. especially 2B. Dozier was great but 2B has been terrible since with Arraez, Julien & Keaschal. They got nothing for Dozier in trade, Dozier loved MN, they could have extended him easily, he could have played 2B until Polanco would take his place, he'd then moved to 1B. Twins never took good care of them, they abused their heart for the team & ended up wrecking them. When Martin was ready, he could have started to hone his skill at 2B. Dozier could have moved to DH after Cruz, Polanco could be extended & move to 1B. Instead of the Twins being disappointing at 2B, 1B & DH, they could be at the top, w/o dipping into expensive FA. Twins do not value heart & are quick to trade it away & have suffered for it.

 

Hindsight looks pretty favorably on trading Dozier. He wasn't good enough to be a starter the rest of his career.

[The Great Hambino]

11 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Hindsight looks pretty favorably on trading Dozier. He wasn't good enough to be a starter the rest of his career.

Not just not good enough to be a starter, he was out of the league completely in two years.  I once read something that hypothesized that career 2B tend to have have steep aging cliffs since they're already starting further down the defensive spectrum and need to rake to be able to extend their careers.  Dozier certainly supports that hypothesis.

The Twins also had their best regular season ever the year after trading him, so ... yeah

[Twins GFP]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

It's so hard. MiLB has massive differences between leagues and there are multiple leagues for the same level. Beyond that, there isn't the kind of precise ball tracking in MiLB. 

UZR/DRS use a framework which divides up the field into dozens or hundreds slices of pie and determines how often a position player gets to those balls in their zone.

OAA uses an exact location the position player is standing with precise batted ball tracking to identify the likelihood a player would be able to make a play on a batted ball relative to their peers.

I use RF/9, which sucks because Baseball Reference uses RF/G as the default so I have to visit each teams' site, evaluate who is the primary position player to compare (ignore the 28 year old journeyman, etc) It's only valuable inside a specific league due to the differences in pitcher quality across leagues. RF/9 determines the number of put outs and assists a player at a position has per 9 innings played. Comparing RF/9 can get some picture of defensive value, in concert with fielding percentage. It's still a little iffy, though. For a team which has a lot of ground ball pitchers vs. a team with a lot of fly ball pitchers, the infield values could change quite a bit. RF/9 for a SS is basically 4.00 is the minimum. 4.25 is good. 4.50 is elite, historically. Fielding percentage of .970 is the minimum, .975 is good, .980 is elite. The margins are really tight and those are "general" numbers, historically.

And each team is going to use some combination of those numbers (and privately more) putting more weight on what they believe is more necessary or accurate.

SDI is nice for the general fan to get an idea of how MLB players are viewed defensively. It would be nice if some ambitious programmer/web builder were to amalgamate the MiLB information into one spot to give the fans something to go off of. That person is not me...

Thanks for the legwork!

[Patzky]

53 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

93.1 Innings Pitched - 7 CHANCES. 

How do you weight 7 chances? How do you weight one chance every 13.1 innings pitched? How many of those chances are considered to be routine. 

What happens to his numbers if he gets an assist or put out on play in a low percentage zone on his 8th chance?

Taj Bradley also has 7 chances over his 76.2 innings pitch.

How many of those 7 chances are routine? 

Did one singular play from each cause the difference in .06 and -.07? If it did... how much should any of us pay attention to the small sample data? 

What is the significance of .6 and -.7 

How does 7 chances on the mound every 13.1 innings compare to 216 chances for Brooks Lee at SS and 3B over 655.1 innings? Or one chance every 3 innings. How many of those plays at SS or 3B are considered routine? 

 

 

 

Math is gonna math but I always cringed a little when Griffin Jax would go for the ball.

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, The Great Hambino said:

Not just not good enough to be a starter, he was out of the league completely in two years.  I once read something that hypothesized that career 2B tend to have have steep aging cliffs since they're already starting further down the defensive spectrum and need to rake to be able to extend their careers.  Dozier certainly supports that hypothesis.

The Twins also had their best regular season ever the year after trading him, so ... yeah

Dozier got a ring with Washington in 2019. I think he’s fine with how things turned out.

[The Great Hambino]

4 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Dozier got a ring with Washington in 2019. I think he’s fine with how things turned out.

Yes, he did get to watch from the bench as his teammates won him a ring - no hits in 6 ABs that postseason.  He got to play in the World Series (in a losing effort) the year before with the Dodgers as well, where he went 2-16 in their postseason run.  So 2-22 in two full postseasons.  Don't know what they woulda done without him.  Point is, he was very far from the irreplaceable beating heart of a roster at that point in his career

[LA Vikes Fan]

Getting back to the current club, these numbers match the eye test and illustrate the real conundrum we have with Lewis, Lee, and Keaschall. I want to play them every day so we can see if their bats play at the MLB level but where? First, hitting is more important than fielding for every position except SS, C and maybe CF. You can find good fielders, Its MUCH harder to find quality hitters. 

First, I like the idea of playing Lewis at 1B and Lee and 3B. They both seem to be getting better and could/should be at least average or slightly at those spots. On a team bereft of middle of the order bats, you have to find a place for guys who can hit 20 plus HRs and drive in runs. The signs are there for both, so we have to find out if they can be that guy consistently. 

I really like the idea of moving Clemens to every day 2B if he can play there. Whither Keaschall? Well, we need a RH OF badly, Fedko ain't the guy, and GG is 22 and still hasn't mastered AAA.  Maybe we should try Keasch in a 4 OF rotation with Buxton, Larnach, and Martin. Keasch can play 2B once a week when Clemens plays CF (unless Keaschall could play CF). This means more ABs for Clemens and Martin, less for Keasch which I don't love, but I think would improve the D.  Also give us a place to play Culppeper when he's ready because he's not a great fielding SS for AAA, which means he will be even a less great fielding SS in MLB. Maybe 2B is his place to break in.  

SS is easy to fix on defense with Kreidler, but will he hit? So far, so good but his track record is abysmal. Still, he's only 28 and can hold down SS until Houston is ready in 2028 or so. 

Here's the basic lineup I would run with until the deadline:

C- Caratini, Jackson, Jeffers briefly until he's traded (has to happen)

IF - Lews (1B), Clemens (2B), Kriedler (SS), Lee (3B), Gray (UTL) 

OF - Buxton, Larnach, Martin, Keaschall

DH - Bell

Fedko stays until Jeffers comes back and then goes down. Culpepper can come up but only if we dump Gray. We will have to carry 3 catchers when Jeffers comes back because Jackson is out of options. He won't last 30 seconds on the waiver wire - teams are depurate for catching. Guys like Sandy Leon, Joey Bart, Austin Hedges, Aramis Garcia, and Kelbert Ruiz are on MLB rosters or have been in the last month. All of them can't hit water if they fell out of a boat and most of them are mediocre or even worse on D. Jackson can play the position and is hitting. No way he can be DFA'd and kept.  

[DJL44]

35 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Getting back to the current club, these numbers match the eye test and illustrate the real conundrum we have with Lewis, Lee, and Keaschall. I want to play them every day so we can see if their bats play at the MLB level but where? First, hitting is more important than fielding for every position except SS, C and maybe CF. You can find good fielders, Its MUCH harder to find quality hitters. 

First, I like the idea of playing Lewis at 1B and Lee and 3B. They both seem to be getting better and could/should be at least average or slightly at those spots. On a team bereft of middle of the order bats, you have to find a place for guys who can hit 20 plus HRs and drive in runs. The signs are there for both, so we have to find out if they can be that guy consistently. 

I really like the idea of moving Clemens to every day 2B if he can play there. Whither Keaschall? Well, we need a RH OF badly, Fedko ain't the guy, and GG is 22 and still hasn't mastered AAA.  Maybe we should try Keasch in a 4 OF rotation with Buxton, Larnach, and Martin. Keasch can play 2B once a week when Clemens plays CF (unless Keaschall could play CF). This means more ABs for Clemens and Martin, less for Keasch which I don't love, but I think would improve the D.  Also give us a place to play Culppeper when he's ready because he's not a great fielding SS for AAA, which means he will be even a less great fielding SS in MLB. Maybe 2B is his place to break in.  

SS is easy to fix on defense with Kreidler, but will he hit? So far, so good but his track record is abysmal. Still, he's only 28 and can hold down SS until Houston is ready in 2028 or so. 

Here's the basic lineup I would run with until the deadline:

C- Caratini, Jackson, Jeffers briefly until he's traded (has to happen)

IF - Lews (1B), Clemens (2B), Kriedler (SS), Lee (3B), Gray (UTL) 

OF - Buxton, Larnach, Martin, Keaschall

DH - Bell

Fedko stays until Jeffers comes back and then goes down. Culpepper can come up but only if we dump Gray. We will have to carry 3 catchers when Jeffers comes back because Jackson is out of options. He won't last 30 seconds on the waiver wire - teams are depurate for catching. Guys like Sandy Leon, Joey Bart, Austin Hedges, Aramis Garcia, and Kelbert Ruiz are on MLB rosters or have been in the last month. All of them can't hit water if they fell out of a boat and most of them are mediocre or even worse on D. Jackson can play the position and is hitting. No way he can be DFA'd and kept.  

Not a bad idea. I would have Keaschall play 2B when there is a LH starter and LF when there is a RH starting pitcher. I would use Roden instead of Fedko in the meantime as well. Roden hit LHP in AAA almost as well as Fedko and he’s crushing RHP.