Week in Review: Turning the Page

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Weekly Nutshell:
The past week felt like an official turning of the page. There are still 13 games left to be played in the 2026 season, but focus is shifting to 2027 as the reality of a missed playoff bid sets in. Following a seventh consecutive week in which the Twins failed to post a winning record, they are now a season-high nine games below .500, with their postseason odds down to 1.7%.

While the stakes have faded, the intrigue hasn't entirely disappeared. A third top prospect joined the big-league team this week, giving the Twins and their fans a meaningful glimpse at a young core that could shape the next era. At this point, the final two weeks are less about where the Twins finish in 2026 and more about what they can learn for 2027.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/7 through Sun, 9/13
***
Record Last Week: 2-4 (Overall: 70-79)
Run Differential Last Week: -14 (Overall: -62)
Standing: T-3rd Place in AL Central (6.0 GB); 5.5 games out of WC

Latest Game Results

Game 144 | DET 5, MIN 4: Twins Keep Things Close But Fall Short in Ryan's Return

• Ryan: 4 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K

Game 145 | MIN 3, DET 2: Bullpen Backs Up Kremer with Four Hitless Innings in Win

• Twins bullpen: 4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Game 146 | DET 7, MIN 2: Pitchers Walk 8, Lineup Can't Mount Rally in Lifeless Loss

• Matthews: 2.1 IP, 5 ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 K

Game 147 | CLE 5, MIN 2: Tie Game Slips Away in Erratic Ninth Inning for Gómez

• Gómez: 0.1 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB

Game 148 | MIN 4, CLE 3: Rodriguez Homers in Debut, Bullpen Holds Slim Lead

• Twins bullpen: 3.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 8 K

Game 149 | CLE 9, MIN 2: Non-Competitive Loss Pushes Twins Closer to Elimination

• Ryan: 4 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 K

NEWS & NOTES

Sidelined for almost all of August by a glute injury, Joe Ryan was activated from the injured list on Monday to start the series opener in Detroit. Reliever Garrett Acton was optioned to the minors in a corresponding move. Ryan made two starts over the course of the week, looking reasonably sharp in the first and much less so in the second. He should be in line to make two more turns before season's end. 

Another injured player returned a few days later when Austin Martin was activated, bumping Gabriel Gonzalez off the roster and overtaking his role as righty-hitting corner outfielder. 

Then, on Saturday, the big news of the week: Emmanuel Rodriguez was promoted from Triple-A, adding another top prospect to the Twins roster alongside Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper. Rodriguez's arrival displaced Ben Ross, who like Gonzalez had seen very little usage during his short time with the Twins. 

For Byron Buxton, an outcome that already seemed highly likely has now been made official: he's shutting it down for the season. Buxton is slated to undergo arthroscopic surgery next Friday on his problematic right hip, and the team hopes he'll be ready for spring training. We can only hope that this procedure proves anywhere near as effective as the one he had for his knee after the 2023 season.

HIGHLIGHTS

Batting ninth in his major-league debut on Saturday, Rodriguez wasted little time making his presence known. In his very first at-bat, he sent a pitch from Franco Aleman over the fence in left center for a solo home run. Rodriguez became the first Twins player to homer in his first MLB at-bat since Eddie Rosario, whom he coincidentally drew comparisons to when originally signed out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager.

 

Kody Clemens also supplied some power, launching two home runs among his seven hits and driving in five. He's up to 26 long balls this season, and will certainly draw some consideration for team MVP as we reflect back on the season. The overall results are more solid than spectacular, but no other position player has matched his combination of availability and performance.

 

Taj Bradley has done that on the pitching side, though. He did miss a few starts in May with a pec issue, but Bradley has been healthy enough to throw 165 innings over 29 starts and he's been very good through most of it. That includes his latest outing on Friday, which saw the right-hander shut out Cleveland over six innings of one-hit ball. He handed out four walks but also struck out six, giving him the fifth-highest strikeout total (190) in the American League.

On the surface, it appears Griffin Jax has had a fairly similar season in Tampa, with a 3.99 ERA and some success in the transition from reliever to starter. But Jax has thrown just 99 innings while dealing with elbow discomfort. His underlying metrics aren't nearly as strong, explaining why Bradley has a healthy advantage in Wins Above Replacement. Most importantly, the Twins have control of Bradley for the next three seasons while Jax is now just a year from free agency.

Not every decision from last year's deadline looks great in hindsight, but the Bradley trade looks like a slam-dunk win after year one. So how about this year's deadline?

It's unfortunate that the front office's acquisitions aren't contributing in the stakes we would have hoped for, but they are contributing. Tuesday's win over Detroit was exactly the type that Minnesota's front office likely envisioned as a post-deadline standard. Five solid innings from Dean Kremer, followed by a lockdown performance from the relief corps: four hitless innings, including one apiece from A.J. Minter and Jeff Hoffman. Those two also protected a one-run lead in the final two innings of Saturday's win, with Minter becoming the 12th Twins pitcher to record a save this season.

Hoffman has been utterly phenomenal in September, with just one hit and one walked allowed across five scoreless innings. He has struck out 10 of the 17 batters he's faced. It's very reassuring to have him back in the mix for 2027, especially as some of the bullpen's previous fixtures falter down the stretch. I'd also love to see the Twins make an effort to bring back Minter as a free agent. He has a 1.56 ERA in 18 appearances since being acquired.

LOWLIGHTS

Minnesota's offense is sputtering to the finish line. They scored four or fewer runs in every game last week, and eight of their past nine. 

Jenkins continues to look overmatched in his first go at the big leagues. He came through with his biggest hit yet as a Twin on Monday, ripping a two-run double to cut down a late deficit in Detroit, but otherwise was 0-for-13 with six strikeouts. Culpepper also cooled off a bit, with three singles in 15 at-bats, and he got hit in the upper back by a pitch on Saturday night that forced him out of the game. X-rays came back negative but Culpepper sat out Sunday's finale against the Guardians. 

 

Through the ups and downs — certainly more downs than ups in Jenkins' case — I'm still glad and appreciative to see these prospects getting a chance to acclimate themselves in the majors at the tail end of a lost season. Same now goes for Rodriguez, who is 2-for-8 through two games. In fact, I'll voice that even more strongly with Emma, since going back to the minors to start next year isn't an option for him. The sample will be small, but at least he'll be able to gain some idea of what he needs to work on to hit the ground running as a big-leaguer in 2027.

As we look toward a hopefully brighter future spearheaded by the likes of Jenkins, Culpepper and Rodriguez, we're also led to wonder whether Royce Lewis is going to be a part of it. He represents a key decision point for the front office heading into this offseason, and isn't make a convincing case for himself.

Lewis was 2-for-20 with a single, a double, a walk and six strikeouts. He continues to put forth brutally ugly at-bats, frequently lapsing into guesswork at the plate, and has homered just once in his past 33 games. This has been arguably Lewis' worst season and yet it has also been his healthiest season, as he's reached career highs in games played (114) and plate appearances (462). Incidentally, he left Sunday's game with a shoulder injury, so we'll see if those numbers are final. 

The question the Twins need to ask: is there any valid reason to believe he's going to be significantly better next year? If he's not, there isn't much an argument for keeping him around, even at a relatively modest arbitration price tag. Looking over Minnesota's projected 2027 lineup, there is no more obvious place to aim for an upgrade than first base. 

TRENDING STORYLINE

Sunday's starting outfield gave us a potential glimpse into the next era for the Twins: Rodriguez in left, Jenkins in center, Luke Keaschall in right. It's got the makings of a solid defensive alignment with tantalizing offensive upside. Keaschall has already tapped into his, with a .392 wOBA since the start of July that ranks top-10 in baseball. Jenkins has shown glimpses amidst a slow start to his career, and Rodriguez started things out with a bang on Saturday. Of course it remains to be seen how all three of these players will fit into the short-term outfield picture alongside Buxton, but for now it's all just about getting Buck right physically.

Throw in Culpepper at short, plus Connor Prielipp wrapping up his rookie season in the rotation, and there is plenty of future-facing motivation to tune in for these final 13 games, especially compared to September of last year when the team was running out the string with mostly veteran placeholders. The ending of this season brings a better sense of direction and momentum, but how the Twins — and specifically these players — finish undoubtedly have an effect on the vibe going into the winter. 

With a likely lockout looming, we may have to hold onto this final batch of games for quite a while. 

LOOKING AHEAD

It's a full slate in the second-to-last week of the 2026 season, kicking off with Minnesota's toughest remaining matchup: three games at home against the dreaded Yankees. With contention already an afterthought, they can't hurt us anymore, so there's that. Now all but assured of a losing record, at this point I'm now mainly just curious to see if the Twins will finish closer to their preseason Vegas over/under (72 wins) or their FanGraphs projection (77 wins).

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14: YANKEES @ TWINS — RHP Will Warren v. RHP Bailey Ober
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15: YANKEES @ TWINS — LHP Max Fried v. RHP Dean Kremer
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16: YANKEES @ TWINS — LHP Carlos Rodon v. RHP Zebby Matthews
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17: TWINS @ ANGELS — RHP Taj Bradley v. RHP Walbert Urena
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18: TWINS @ ANGELS — LHP Connor Prielipp v. RHP Grayson Rodriguez
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19: TWINS @ ANGELS — RHP Joe Ryan v. LHP Reid Detmers
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20: TWINS @ ANGELS — RHP Bailey Ober v. RHP Ryan Johnson

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[mikelink45]

We are running out of things to say about this year.  My only thoughts are that Gonzales going down for Martin made no sense to me. 

And I am really curious about your thoughts about 2027 Catcher as well as 1B.

[D.C Twins]

Not sure if it ever mattered how the trade deadline acquisitions performed on a team that was never going to be playoff competitive. In fact, it hurt the team's draft position and minor league depth, so congrats.... or something.... 

[D.C Twins]

It is painful to see Jenkins struggling, but this is exactly what is needed.

The information he is gathering will be invaluable to his development over the offseason. He'll be just fine.

[TheLeviathan]

I wish we would've had the stomach to finish what we started last year.  I'm pretty excited about some of the pieces we have and would feel really, really good about this team becoming a fun, competitive team had we gone through with deals for Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers, Larnach, and others.

Hopefully we don't repeat the same mistakes when we turn that page.

[old nurse]

Buxton has a lot of pitchforks in him for someone that is beloved 

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, TheLeviathan said:

Hopefully we don't repeat the same mistakes when we turn that page.

The die is already cast. There's no value left for Ryan, Lopez or Buxton. Jeffers will walk. It's win or bust.

The next season, whether it's in 2027 or 2028, will be about rehabbing Ryan and Lopez. If the team isn't above .500 at or near the deadline, they better sell and then tear this thing down to the foundation.

Personally, I don't think it will matter. Cleveland isn't a great team, but they are truly competitive and competent. The Twins are neither, and that's a hard thing to fix in just one offseason. Especially on a team with more question marks than a Sherlock Holmes novel.

[Mike Sixel]

9 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

The die is already cast. There's no value left for Ryan, Lopez or Buxton. Jeffers will walk. It's win or bust.

The next season, whether it's in 2027 or 2028, will be about rehabbing Ryan and Lopez. If the team isn't above .500 at or near the deadline, they better sell and then tear this thing down to the foundation.

Personally, I don't think it will matter. Cleveland isn't a great team, but they are truly competitive and competent. The Twins are neither, and that's a hard thing to fix in just one offseason. Especially on a team with more question marks than a Sherlock Holmes novel.

Yup. They turned four or five legit prospects into a mid thirties pick and likely nothing else. Completely incompetent. 

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Some of these guys just need to go. Lewis, Larnach, and others. Bell and Rogers contracts are up and the end of the season. 

ERod, Buxton, Jenkins next season makes for a pretty solid defensive outfield. 

Lee and Culpepper are in place at 3B and SS. Keaschall at DH/4th OFer. 

Clemens has earned a spot either as a starter or Super Utility. I like Jackson as a Backup Catcher, too. 

My opinion. We need BIG upgrades at 1B and C. Possibly 2B, as well. 

Pitching side is even more open. Gomez, Morris, Hoffman, Nance I would assume are all back. Outside of that, I see no guarantees. Im hopeful we will be signing atleast a legit Closer. 

Taj is the only starter im writing down in pen. I think Prielipp will be there, too. Ryan and Pablo are question marks for me. Will Ryan still be here? Will Pablo be healthy and effective to start the season? After them, it seems there would be a competition for the last spot(s). I still feel this team needs a true Ace if we want to compete. 

I am asking for 4 or 5 acquisitions this off-season. Trade or non tender guys like Royce and Larnach. I truly feel thats how close we are to potentially being a legitimate postseason team.

We have a lot of really nice players. Now we need some offensive consistency, a shutdown closer and a slump busting Ace. 

[Peter]

As I’ve said before future looks great going forward!!! But it’s very important that twins finish season strong as all games are very meaningful and important as well must watch and win!!! 

[HarmonK03]

9 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

I wish we would've had the stomach to finish what we started last year.

Last year at the deadline we traded 6 players on expiring contracts plus Stewart.  Correa was a salary dump and the other two were Duran and Jax which Falvey had already shown he likes to trade relievers well before free agency.  Falvey never valued the bullpen highly.  How is this a start of a rebuild, it was just a continuation of the same strategy they had been following every year.  And then they tendered Larnach, which a rebuilding team would not have done.

Falvey never valued the prospects, he called up prospects when he had to.  He trusted players with experience regardless of talent level.  So to say they were starting a rebuild, I find it hard to believe regardless of anything said, history would say it wasn't happening.

[Wedman13]

8 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Yup. They turned four or five legit prospects into a mid thirties pick and likely nothing else. Completely incompetent. 

And last year they got 4-5 actually legit prospects plus Vahn Lackey.  

[wesnewy]

11 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

It is painful to see Jenkins struggling, but this is exactly what is needed.

The information he is gathering will be invaluable to his development over the offseason. He'll be just fine.

Jenkins has been a slow starter at every stop in his pro ball career. We just need to have some patience with him, and believe he will turn the corner

[Jeff K]

10 hours ago, old nurse said:

Buxton has a lot of pitchforks in him for someone that is beloved 

Isn't that the truth.  I love the guy and am sorry he just can't stay healthy for extended periods.  The sun shone brightly in 2025 and April/May/June of this year.  Sigh.

[Saxophone Joe]

Outside of the Braves series, it's seriously been one bummer after another since we woke up on August 1 with a winning record. Let the season...end. Please and thank you.  

[Saxophone Joe]

1 hour ago, Jeff K said:

 The sun shone brightly in 2025 and April/May/June of this year.  Sigh.

I'm still in shock he won't set the record this year for fewest RBI with 25 or more homers...because Buck already owns the record. 😬

[Vanimal46]

Not much left to say about this season. I think we all realize more changes are needed. Will Tom P make the first aggressive move by firing Zoll? 

[Fatbat]

Buck isnt going to take away AB’s in ‘27. He will get his and everyone else will get theirs. We actually should have a nice mix of LH and RH OF bats. Hendry Mendez should spend the offseason learning 1B. Dude has the bat already. 
Tinney might be in Wichita by July so Royce might be playing his last season n MN. 
Houston and Winokur need to bring their best AB’s to AAA in ‘27. They, along with Mendez should be the ‘27 rookie crop standouts! A few other guys in AAA and AA need to develop their game to get any serious run in MLB. 
Tanking is probably in the best long term interest of the ‘26 Twins. Get your development in but lose on the scoreboard. A top 6 pick would be nice next July!

[killercarewoliva]

3 hours ago, wesnewy said:

Jenkins has been a slow starter at every stop in his pro ball career. We just need to have some patience with him, and believe he will turn the corner

at this point with Jenkins, I like to pay close attention to every swing every non swing and he is not very close to putting it together. we always read people saying bring them up because they have nothing left to prove where they are. this is the hardest sport to truly evaluate and it come out right every time but there's more movement on those pitches in the major leagues and he's having a lot of problem catching up with them. He's a fantastic young man however. enormously respectful so I think he fits the persona of a Minnesota twins player so I'm really hoping for him to get it going. Right now though, I don't know if he's going to make the starting lineup next year. I like to see Mendez come up and get a few starts.

[LA Vikes Fan]

13 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Some of these guys just need to go. Lewis, Larnach, and others. Bell and Rogers contracts are up and the end of the season. 

ERod, Buxton, Jenkins next season makes for a pretty solid defensive outfield. 

Lee and Culpepper are in place at 3B and SS. Keaschall at DH/4th OFer. 

Clemens has earned a spot either as a starter or Super Utility. I like Jackson as a Backup Catcher, too. 

My opinion. We need BIG upgrades at 1B and C. Possibly 2B, as well. 

Pitching side is even more open. Gomez, Morris, Hoffman, Nance I would assume are all back. Outside of that, I see no guarantees. Im hopeful we will be signing atleast a legit Closer. 

Taj is the only starter im writing down in pen. I think Prielipp will be there, too. Ryan and Pablo are question marks for me. Will Ryan still be here? Will Pablo be healthy and effective to start the season? After them, it seems there would be a competition for the last spot(s). I still feel this team needs a true Ace if we want to compete. 

I am asking for 4 or 5 acquisitions this off-season. Trade or non tender guys like Royce and Larnach. I truly feel thats how close we are to potentially being a legitimate postseason team.

We have a lot of really nice players. Now we need some offensive consistency, a shutdown closer and a slump busting Ace. 

While I agree with a lot of this and generally respect your opinion, I can't understand why everyone is so down on Keaschall. He is our best hitter, Why on earth would we relegate him to a 4th OF spot on a team that couldn't score enough runs to be competitive in the second half? Write this down. In Pen. Absent injury Keaschall will start next year in a corner OF spot and most likely lead off if he doesn't move to the 3 hole. He's 23 and probably the best non-Buxton athlete on the team. He can learn to play a decent LF or RF. It's bat waaaaay over glove in the corner OF. It's hard to take anyone's lineup projection seriously that doesn't have Keaschall in a corner OF spot hitting in one of the top 3 spots.   

I do generally agree with the rest of your post, though. We need 4 guys -two middle of the order bats, a top of rotation starter, and a legit late inning arm. Re-signing Jeffers and Lopez returning in 2023/2024 form would help but Jeffers is a #5 hitter and Lopez is not a #1 starter. I'm hoping they trade Ryan and are willing to take on salary to get that #3 or #4 bat. IB, 2B, DH, LF, and C if Jeffers leaves are all open. Minter could be the late inning guy if he'll stay. I'd be willing to pay Freddy Peralta real money to join a Lopez/Bradly top 3 starters with Prelipp the #4 and real talent out there fighting for #5 (my money is on Abel or Rojas). Matthews could really lengthen the bullpen and rotation as a swing man/ long man. Add a legit #3 hitter to Keaschall, Culpepper in the top 3, put Jeffers, Lee, and Clemens in the 5-7 holes, add the traditional 80-100 games of Buxton and now the lineup looks legit. EmRod, Roden. and Jenkins fight it out for the open OF spot/ LH 4th/5th OF that can play CF, with Martin as the RH hitting 4th/5th OF, and Kriedler as the glove first UTL. You still have room for a bat first guy. Hire Ron Washington to teach Clemens to be more than just an average 2B with the glove and maybe to teach Larnach 1B if we can't get anyone else. I think Lewis may be gone or in a platoon at 1B. 

We have the complimentary pieces to have a good team in 2027. We need the tent poles. Jenkins and/or EmRod and/or GG, etc. are NOT those guys in 2027 and probably not in 2028 on the hitting side and neither Lopez not Ryan is that guy on the pitching side. We need to go out and get them. 

[Saxophone Joe]

Telling stats from Zack Pierce at the Athletic: Since the San Diego series, which, if you recall, we entered as the 3rd Wild Card, we're something like 28th in baseball in RISP average and 29th in RISP at bats. So your eyes weren't deceiving you: The bats have been really bad lately. 

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, Saxophone Joe said:

I'm still in shock he won't set the record this year for fewest RBI with 25 or more homers...because Buck already owns the record. 😬

991 game career for Buxton. 224 in leadoff. It is impossible to get RBIs with no one on base