Twins General Manager Jeremy Zoll Explains Why Walker Jenkins Hasn’t Been Called Up

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

They had an injury to a bench player and called up a bench player.

Martin was a bench player?

[IndyTwinsFan]

It appears to me that the team is almost intentionally trying to create or perpetuate roadblocks to prevent them from calling up Jenkins.

If there's even a hint of truth in that, I consider it a pretty damning indictment on the organization as a whole.

[Whammy]

47 minutes ago, 90stwinskid said:

I appreciate this take on the Jenkins situation. I would have loved to see the Twins call him up weeks ago, but at the same time, there are a lot of factors that we as fans might not always be privy to, as this article demonstrates. I just hope he gets his chance sooner than later.

Curious how Gleeman would react to this given his spicy take on the podcast yesterday.

I agree with Gleeman's thesis of "I want Walker Jenkins with the MN Twins right now" but I believe Gleeman's "just put him in the effing lineup" stance doesn't account for a key aspect that is mentioned in this article, which is that the AB come from somewhere and there are consequences to that.

You can't just give him Roden's AB and feel satisfied. If that's all you had to do, this would be easy. Jenkins needs more AB for it to be worth calling him up. So where do those come from? First what are the measurable consequences of taking those AB away from players who, at this moment, are performing pretty well?

Bell - 22 game on-base streak. OPS over 1.000 in August
Keaschall - 165 OPS+ since July 1
Larnach - Struggling in August, but has been a key part of the offense this year.

Second, what are the non-measurable (clubhouse level) ramifications of making those changes? I can't have any real way of knowing that, but it's something that Zoll and Shelton need to consider. 

[Whammy]

In general I agree that Jenkins is doing really well at AAA, but I feel like we need to level set on what's average at AAA.

As of this morning Jenkins had a 123 OPS+ at AAA this season. We should all be really pleased with that from a 21yo who likely has strong defense, but that's not "dominating"

[Mike Sixel]

Why aren't the twins as good as Milwaukee, people ask..... Well, they play rookies a lot. Cleveland has something like a dozen young players? The Twins? Old. 

[HarmonK03]

24 minutes ago, Permanent Twins Fan said:

So maybe not Jenkins, but why Jackson?????

Jackson is a good clubhouse guy and integral to their success.  And you can pinch hit Jeffers now, going without a second catcher for two innings is just too big a gamble.

[HarmonK03]

22 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

It is not easy to make these decisions. Is Larnach struggling, or is it just a small sample size blip? Is Jenkins ready or did he just see a string of lousy AAA pitching? It takes about a month’s worth of plate appearances to really know. By the time they have enough data it will be September.
 

A lot of this comes down to the manager. If Shelton won’t play Jenkins over Larnach, then they should keep him in AAA.

If they wait long enough an injury will make the decision for them and they won’t have to stick their neck out.

Shelton is willing to move players around just to get Caratini time at 1B, but he wouldn't do it for Jenkins.  That is totally baffling to me.  Philadelphia moved a gold glove second baseman to 3B to get Arraez 's bat into the lineup.

[jimbo92107]

Sounds more like they're protecting the Twins from winning more games than protecting their best prospect. Look, Walker Jenkins is BETTER. At what? EVERYTHING. Put him in for Roden, and what happens? Good stuff. Better hitting, better glove, better arm, better bat, better speed. The only outfielder you don't bench for Jenkins is Buxton, and that's because you need three outfielders. 

Pretty simple: Thank you for your service, Alan Roden. We found a better player. Have a seat.

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, jimbo92107 said:

Sounds more like they're protecting the Twins from winning more games than protecting their best prospect. Look, Walker Jenkins is BETTER. At what? EVERYTHING. Put him in for Roden, and what happens? Good stuff. Better hitting, better glove, better arm, better bat, better speed. The only outfielder you don't bench for Jenkins is Buxton, and that's because you need three outfielders. 

Pretty simple: Thank you for your service, Alan Roden. We found a better player. Have a seat.

Alan Roden is getting 10 plate appearances a week. He has already taken a seat. 

[HerbieFan]

All acceptable reasons to not call him up.  I think it comes down to this:

He's only 21

He's not on the 40-man so he could play in the minors next season when there's a lockout

Waiting to next year (if/when there is mlb baseball) delays the start of his service time

[Wedman13]

I really appreciate the article.  You do a great job.  But maybe just give the quotes.... then your perspective.  Your thoughts are great but I did struggle to see Zoll's actual quotes.  That's kinda what really matters and I thought the point of the headline

 

[bean5302]

Seems like people don't understand what Zoll said.

Jenkins wasn't forcing the issue by producing or looking good enough to replace one of the existing starters, but he's trending the right way.

I agree. Jenkins was barely an above average MiLB hitter in AAA by actual production, and well below average in terms of how balls looked coming off the bat until about 2 weeks ago (12 games ago). He was a no-power slap singles ground ball and pop up machine until something seems to have clicked just recently. It's nice he had a great game against terrible MiLB pitching. 

Last 12 games = .380/.436/.640 OPS 1.076, 9.1% BB, 18.2% K, wRC+ 174
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
prev. 12 games = .244/.358/.356 OPS .714, 15.1% BB, 13.2% K, wRC+ 90 BABIP .289
prev. 20 games = .263/.356/.434 OPS .791, 12.6% BB, 14.9% K, wRC+ 104 BABIP .351

Jenkins was pedestrian in performance and assisted with a higher than expected BABIP.

Jenkins doesn't need to replace Martin and ride the bench 75% of the time. He needs to replace Keaschall, Buxton or Larnach.

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

All acceptable reasons to not call him up.  I think it comes down to this:

He's only 21

He's not on the 40-man so he could play in the minors next season when there's a lockout

Waiting to next year (if/when there is mlb baseball) delays the start of his service time

I agree this is a big part.

[LA Vikes Fan]

22 minutes ago, Whammy said:

I agree with Gleeman's thesis of "I want Walker Jenkins with the MN Twins right now" but I believe Gleeman's "just put him in the effing lineup" stance doesn't account for a key aspect that is mentioned in this article, which is that the AB come from somewhere and there are consequences to that.

You can't just give him Roden's AB and feel satisfied. If that's all you had to do, this would be easy. Jenkins needs more AB for it to be worth calling him up. So where do those come from? First what are the measurable consequences of taking those AB away from players who, at this moment, are performing pretty well?

Bell - 22 game on-base streak. OPS over 1.000 in August
Keaschall - 165 OPS+ since July 1
Larnach - Struggling in August, but has been a key part of the offense this year.

Second, what are the non-measurable (clubhouse level) ramifications of making those changes? I can't have any real way of knowing that, but it's something that Zoll and Shelton need to consider. 

These are good points although I have to admit I disagree with your conclusion. I'm in favor of calling up Jenkins but I think the only if you have a good plan for getting him regular playing time, at least 4 days a week. That's really the rub here is much as anything. He could get a day a week in CF but to get much more he either has to displace Keaschall, our best hitter since May 1, Bell, who leads the team in RBIs and has an over 1.000 OPS in August, or Larnach. He's not going displace Keaschall or Bell, and he would not displace guys like that on anybody's team. This is why it made so much sense for the Twins to trade Larnach for a reliever but the Astros owner shot that idea down and apparently there wasn't another option. Larnach was great in the first half, not so great in the second half. Are we ready to bench him and basically play him at most 2 days a week so Jenkins can get regular playing time in the OF? As tempting as I think it is to try that, there may be some serious locker room implications and it is quite possible that Jenkins will be worse at the plate (not possible he'll be worse in the field, he'll be an upgrade). I don't think they're ready to make that call. I would; I would call up Jenkins and play him regularly in RF, move Keaschall to LF, demote Roden, and play Larnach 1 day a week at DH and I day in week in the OF. 

Unfortunately, I don't think the Twins are going to do what I would do. I think it takes an injury for Jenkins to come up before September 1 and I think on September 1, Emma is probably the call since he is at least theoretically out of options for next season. I think it's the wrong choice but I think that's what's going to happen. 

[DJL44]

36 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Martin was a bench player?

Yes, he’s a short side platoon player, pinch runner and defensive replacement. He has played in 110 games but only started 71 of them. Of those 71 starts, he only finished 57. 

[mrmpls]

1 hour ago, HarmonK03 said:

Cody, thank you for the article.  Zoll's word are just a bunch of corporate speak for I am too afraid to take a chance.  A talent like Jenkins you find at bats for him.  Larnach is scuffling and you had people in yesterday's game thread calling of Roden, there are AB's right there.  Buxton is not going to play every day as they manage his hip injury, more AB's.

They just need the will and they don't have it.  Other teams make this kind of move but Zoll is either too scared or incompetent to do it.

He is carrying two players on the roster that Shelty won't use.  And if what Dan Hayes says is true the only reason Jackson is on the roster is because he is a good clubhouse guy.  So does he lose at cards and that the puts the players in a good mood to go out and slay their opponent on the field.

Jenkins needs to be in San Diego tomorrow, there really is no excuse.  This is the only time I will ever advocate for Tom P. to be involved in personnel decisions, but he needs to go into Zoll's office and say do it now.

Thats why i wanted Larnach Traded, and Roden is a afterthought ,  yup SCARED !!!!

[HarmonK03]

14 minutes ago, HerbieFan said:

All acceptable reasons to not call him up.  I think it comes down to this:

He's only 21

He's not on the 40-man so he could play in the minors next season when there's a lockout

Waiting to next year (if/when there is mlb baseball) delays the start of his service time

They had an opening on the 40 man roster but deemed a third string catcher who doesn't play more worthy of that spot.

You don't make the moves they made at the deadline and then stop and that is exactly what they have done.  Are they contenders or not, back it up with action.

[Whammy]

9 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Yes, he’s a short side platoon player, pinch runner and defensive replacement. He has played in 110 games but only started 71 of them. Of those 71 starts, he only finished 57. 

Correct. There was a 4-6 week stretch where Martin was what I would consider to be an everyday regular (May into June). Other than that he’s been almost a textbook platoon outfielder. 

[Greglw3]

10 minutes ago, Whammy said:

In general I agree that Jenkins is doing really well at AAA, but I feel like we need to level set on what's average at AAA.

As of this morning Jenkins had a 123 OPS+ at AAA this season. We should all be really pleased with that from a 21yo who likely has strong defense, but that's not "dominating"

OPS+ with its extreme favoring of power hitters is not a fair statistic to use for a line drive hitter like Walker Jenkins. It’s not as inappropriate but in the same spirit as using OPS+ to compare Rod Carew to his contemporaries when he hit .388 in 1977 and won the batting title by 52 points plus the MVP award.

Carew had a 178 OPS+ but Ken Singleton had a 165 OPS+, despite Carew having 239 hits to 176, 38 doubles to 24, 16 triples to none, 128 runs scored to 90, a .388 average to .328, a .449 OBP to .438, 23 SB to none (though not a great %). Singleton appears to be in the same league as Carew simply based on hitting 24 HR to Carew’s 14. 

[Greglw3]

23 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Seems like people don't understand what Zoll said.

Jenkins wasn't forcing the issue by producing or looking good enough to replace one of the existing starters, but he's trending the right way.

I agree. Jenkins was barely an above average MiLB hitter in AAA by actual production, and well below average in terms of how balls looked coming off the bat until about 2 weeks ago (12 games ago). He was a no-power slap singles ground ball and pop up machine until something seems to have clicked just recently. It's nice he had a great game against terrible MiLB pitching. 

Last 12 games = .380/.436/.640 OPS 1.076, 9.1% BB, 18.2% K, wRC+ 174
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
prev. 12 games = .244/.358/.356 OPS .714, 15.1% BB, 13.2% K, wRC+ 90 BABIP .289
prev. 20 games = .263/.356/.434 OPS .791, 12.6% BB, 14.9% K, wRC+ 104 BABIP .351

Jenkins was pedestrian in performance and assisted with a higher than expected BABIP.

Jenkins doesn't need to replace Martin and ride the bench 75% of the time. He needs to replace Keaschall, Buxton or Larnach.

For the whole month of August, 13 games .389/.450/.741

 

[tony&rodney]

In March I wanted Emmanuel on the team to start the season and was not a big fan of the moves last winter. EmRod then gets injured and is slowed up quite a bit, looking rusty still. That combined with Larnach playing well through July made for a more than full and sticky roster issue. The Twins apparently tried to move Larnach and I was surprised that the Twins were unable to complete a deal involving him. However, they didn't.

So it appears that Walker Jenkins is ready for his opportunity. I agree with that. We can safely agree that he is not replacing either Buxton or Keaschall. That leaves Trevor Larnach. We are not in the clubhouse and do not have a handle on how benching Larnach for the remainder of the year would be received. The thoughts that Bell will sit are not much of an option, maybe once per week for a maximum. If Buxton and Keaschall are healthy, they are playing. Austin Martin will be the reserve outfielder versus LH pitchers when he returns. Roden is already sitting most of the time. To me it is really simple, if everyone remains healthy, Walker Jenkins is only called up to play full time and that means both Roden and Larnach become superfluous. I'm not sure the Twins are ready to make that decision. 

[farmerguychris]

I think Zoll is right - If he starts hitting like Royce did when he was sent down (what like 8HR in 11 games?) - thats forcing his way up.  Until then, our OF is fine.

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 hour ago, Whammy said:

He's struggled in August, but he had an 0.837 OPS in July (130 OPS+)

True. Look at the ops since mid or even early July to now though. Really poor since about mid July. 
I have a theory that he just hunted fastballs solely for the first 2-3 months, and now teams know that.