Twins Video
Alex Kiirilloff was off to an underwhelming start to the 2024 campaign. In 57 games, he hit .201/.270/.384, with an 86 OPS+ and a career-high 26.4 K%. He provided the team with uncompetitive at-bats and racked up negative value on the field. FanGraphs pegs him at -0.3 WAR, while Baseball Reference has him even lower, at -0.4. Something needed to change, so the Twins decided to option him to Triple-A, there to try and rediscover his swing. Unfortunately, the story gets murkier from here.
Kirilloff never reported to St. Paul, and was in the Twins’ clubhouse before their series against the Rays began Tuesday. He’s going on the major-league 10-day injured list for a back issue. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters before the game that communication about the injury needed to be better, from Kirilloff's end. Kirilloff has dealt with a brutal share of injuries, including nagging wrist problems, resulting in multiple offseason surgeries. Kirilloff, Baldelli, and Derek Falvey have been asked about Kirilloff’s health throughout his prolonged slump, and the answer was always that the player was healthy. Now, the optics look bad, as the player heads to the IL instead of trying to fix his approach at Triple-A.
Baseball is a game unlike many other major sports, because there is less contact, and the season is stretched over 162 games. In every sport, the culture of playing through injuries has been lauded for decades. Old-school managers like one-time Twins skipper Billy Martin threw around the phrase “rub some dirt on it,” and sent the player back out there to suffer through ailment while providing the team with compromised performances. Minnesota saw some of this last season with Carlos Correa, as he dealt with a plantar fasciitis injury that caused him to have the worst season of his career. He was playing poorly, but the Twins knew about the injury, and there was a conscious decision to continue playing him regularly.
It’s unclear when Kirilloff’s back began bothering him, but his offensive performance took a significant downturn at the beginning of May. Over his last 31 games, he went 11-for-77 (.143), with six extra-base hits and a 27-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Some of his home runs came in critical spots for the team, so his WPA was positive during this stretch. However, a batting average below .150 is unsustainable for a corner outfielder. He was becoming unusable, and hiding an injury was hurting himself and the team.
In recent memory, Kirilloff isn’t the only young player to hide an injury from the Twins. Last season, Joe Ryan took the mound in Atlanta after tweaking his groin muscle during warm-ups. He tried to pitch through the injury, but the Braves teed off on him for six earned runs on nine hits in three innings. Instead of telling the team about the injury, he continued to pitch in the coming weeks, but the results remained lousy. In a seven-game stretch, he posted an 8.63 ERA, with opponents posting a 1.137 OPS with 17 home runs. Ryan was worth -1.12 WPA before telling the team his groin was bothering him. Minnesota was in the heart of a pennant race, and there’s no question that Ryan’s performance hurt the team’s chances of winning.
Baseball is a game that takes pride in its storied history, but it also means that it takes generations for meaningful change to impact the game. Kirilloff and Ryan's decisions to hide injuries from the Twins are part of a deeper baseball culture that needs to be remedied throughout the organization, and in others. Players shouldn’t sit out every time they have a bump or bruise, but they need to disclose injuries to their team to avoid prolonged slumps that can cost the team significant wins.
No player will have a Cal Ripken Jr. streak of consecutive games played in the modern game. Players must make a concerted effort to seek medical attention, even if they feel like it is a minor issue. Teams, in turn, have to think hard about how they respond to reports of nagging injuries or soreness, to best engender that kind of transparency.
How can the Twins foster this culture change in their players? Leave a comment and start the discussion.
Follow Twins Daily For Minnesota Twins News & Analysis
- Dman, The Mad King and nicksaviking
-
3
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now