Keaschall and Martin

[stringer bell]

Austin Martin made the Twins' Opening Day squad as a platoon left fielder. He had immediate success and when Matt Wallner was optioned, Martin got everyday time as the right fielder. However, he slumped in May and July and now is back to platooning with Trevor Larnach in left field. 

Luke Keaschall began the season as the Twins' everyday second baseman, batting third in the order. Now, past halfway through the season, Keaschall started several games in right field and has taken over center field as the replacement for the injured Byron Buxton.

Buxton is likely to return shortly after the All-Star break and Keaschall would figure to go back to right field. For what it's worth, Alan Roden has been promoted and will get at-bats, particularly against right handed pitching. 

It would seem that the Twins prefer Keaschall overall over Martin. Neither is a power hitter and both have above average running speed. Both came up with much more experience as infielder. Keaschall has a.691 OPS while Martin sports a near-identical .688. Martin is considered the superior corner outfield defender, but he is four years older and has been given a chance at full-time play and found wanting. Keaschall also has provided value as a base runner, while Martin has not. 

Is there room on this Twins team for both Martin and Keaschall? 

[Linus]

I would say no. Martin has had some runway and hasn’t done much with it  He is going on 28. it’s hanging onto mediocre players like this that has got the Twins in this position. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

37 minutes ago, Linus said:

I would say no. Martin has had some runway and hasn’t done much with it  He is going on 28. it’s hanging onto mediocre players like this that has got the Twins in this position. 

After the first month I don't think this would have been a discussion. With how he has gone over the last month or two, I do agree more with this. Is he truly a starting level outfielder? I don't think so. Also, with Roden up (who I do think will hit) and Buxton and probably eventually Jenkins this year along with Keaschall, I can absolutely see Martin getting squeezed out. Well, Martin and more than a few guys currently at AAA.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

What should happen and what will happen don't always align with the Twins. I think Martin should be the odd man out but I fear it will be Roden.

[SF Twins Fan]

I don't think it's particularly close.  Keaschall is considerable younger and is improving.  He's hitting .281, .393, .791 over the last 57 games.

[darin617]

If Fedko would have stuck around and hit Martin might have got pushed out

 

[AlLagoon]

Martin has 1.1 WAR this season, compared to 0.6 for Keaschall.

[DJL44]

Martin can get on base versus LHP and play defense. That’s a 4th OF for most teams.

[Cory Engelhardt]

2 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

What should happen and what will happen don't always align with the Twins. I think Martin should be the odd man out but I fear it will be Roden.

Not if Roden continues to show he can hit and hit with a little bit of pop he won't. 

[Greglw3]

In support of Martin, he’s hitting .360 since June 22 and he still carries a .360 obp for the season. Plus he’s made some pretty spectacular catches in the outfield. 

He plays hard and takes good at bats. Plus he lends balance, with Keaschall to the lefty heavy of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DH_11]

Not sure why they do not like Martin

[mnfireman]

12 hours ago, AlLagoon said:

Martin has 1.1 WAR this season, compared to 0.6 for Keaschall.

Depends where you look:

fWAR - Keaschall 1.0, Martin 0.8

bWAR - Martin 1.1, Keaschall 0.7

 

[ashbury]

2 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Depends where you look:

fWAR - Keaschall 1.0, Martin 0.8

bWAR - Martin 1.1, Keaschall 0.7

 

I like WAR - for sure in concept, and mostly in execution. 

But there is no way that anybody's formula for WAR is meaningful down to the first decimal point. 

They publish it to that precision because it provides a little bit of illumination.  But anybody who did well in high school Chemistry class learned that "significant digits" are very important when measuring something even as precise as reagents can be - when human achievement is involved, even more so. 

Either version of these WAR computations tells us "[Martin/Keaschall] is contributing something, and is not an all-star candidate," and that is enough.

[TheLeviathan]

I think you could get by with both of them in the starting lineup if you were getting higher-than-normal production from other spots in the lineup but that isn't the case for the Twins other than CF.  Those corner spots would both have sub-par offensive players and I just don't think you can build a viable contender with that being the case.

 

[mnfireman]

51 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I like WAR - for sure in concept, and mostly in execution. 

But there is no way that anybody's formula for WAR is meaningful down to the first decimal point. 

They publish it to that precision because it provides a little bit of illumination.  But anybody who did well in high school Chemistry class learned that "significant digits" are very important when measuring something even as precise as reagents can be - when human achievement is involved, even more so. 

Either version of these WAR computations tells us "[Martin/Keaschall] is contributing something, and is not an all-star candidate," and that is enough.

I've noticed that a lot of posters, especially posters with a low post count, seem to value WAR and other metrics that can be misleading. I was just pointing out to the OP that WAR values vary from site to site.