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Matt Wallner has always been one of the more fascinating players in the Twins organization.
The Forest Lake, Minnesota native has shown flashes of being exactly the type of hitter every team covets. He's got legitimate plus power, he can hit baseballs as hard as anybody on the roster, and when he's on, he looks like someone capable of hitting 30-plus home runs in a full season. The problem is that we've been saying the same thing for years now, and here in 2026, it feels like we're having the exact same conversation all over again.
Before being demoted to Triple-A St. Paul earlier this season, Wallner was hitting just .167 with a .259 on-base percentage and a .556 OPS. He was striking out in roughly one-third of his plate appearances, he wasn't drawing walks at his usual rate, and maybe most concerning of all, he simply wasn't hitting the ball with much authority. For a power hitter, that's kind of an important part of the job description. Wallner has simply been a very poor major league hitter this season.
Now, to be fair, things have looked better since returning to Triple-A. In 36 games with the St. Paul Saints, Wallner has collected 19 extra-base hits, driven in 35 runs and posted a .909 OPS. On the surface, those are exactly the kinds of numbers you'd want to see from someone trying to force his way back onto the major league roster. But even then, the underlying issues haven't really gone away.
His strikeout rate at Triple-A still sits at 28%. Just for some perspective, Royce Lewis—who has also battled some strikeout issues of his own—is at a 27% clip in the major leagues. That should tell you everything you need to know. The same problems that have followed Wallner for the better part of a decade are still very much present. He struggles to consistently make contact, he doesn't put enough balls in play, he isn't getting on base enough to offset the strikeouts, and defensively, he simply doesn't provide enough value to make up for those offensive shortcomings. At some point, I think it's fair to ask how long the Twins are going to keep doing the same song and dance. Because, at least in my opinion, the Matt Wallner experiment should probably be over.
Not because Wallner lacks talent–quite the opposite, actually. He's one of those players who will probably always make you believe there's another breakout just around the corner. Every time he gets hot for a couple of weeks, you're reminded why the Twins have remained patient with him for so long. Unfortunately, those stretches have always been followed by long periods where the swing-and-miss becomes overwhelming, and the production disappears. At some point, potential has to turn into consistency, and I just don't know if that's ever going to happen.
The other factor working against Wallner is the current state of the Twins organization. Between Triple-A and the major league roster, the Twins have seven legitimate left-handed-hitting corner outfield options. Along with Wallner, you’ve got Trevor Larnach, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Alan Roden, Hendry Mendez, and Kody Clemens can slide into that role when needed. Unless there's a new rule that I'm unaware of, you can't use seven corner outfielders at once. Eventually, moves are going to have to be made. The problem for Wallner is that nearly everyone else on that list feels like a better long-term investment.
Jenkins, Rodriguez, and Mendez are three of the organization's highest-upside prospects, and all three should realistically be major league-ready sometime within the next year or so. Roden already looks like someone who could help a big league roster today, and all of this is without even mentioning Gabriel Gonzalez. The point is pretty straightforward: I have a hard time believing Wallner is part of the Twins' long-term outfield plans. And if that's true, why continue giving him opportunities that could instead be going to younger players who actually project to be part of the next competitive core?
Even if the Twins decide to move Larnach and/or Clemens before the trade deadline, Wallner still hasn't done nearly enough to show he deserves another extended opportunity in the majors. It might sound harsh, but it's the reality of the situation. Right now, Wallner feels like someone occupying a 40-man roster spot that could eventually go to a player with a much brighter future in the organization.
Nobody questions Wallner's effort, and it's always fun seeing a Minnesota kid get an opportunity with his hometown team. You want stories like that to work, and you want players like Wallner to figure it out. Like I said earlier–we've all seen what he looks like when everything clicks. The power is real, the raw talent is real. If he could make more consistent contact, we'd probably be having a completely different conversation. But after years of waiting for that adjustment to happen, it just hasn't.
The highs have never lasted long enough, and the lows have remained far too frequent. At this point, I'm not even sure what kind of trade value he would have around the league. Teams know exactly what Wallner is. They see the power, but they also see everything else: the strikeouts, not getting on base, and the defensive limitations. Maybe another organization believes it can unlock something the Twins couldn't, but if that opportunity isn't there, a DFA honestly feels like the most likely outcome.
I don't take any pride in saying that; I was hoping years ago that Wallner would become a fixture in the Twins' lineup. But it feels like we've reached the point where it's time for both sides to move on. Sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what a player needs, and sometimes an organization has to accept that it's time to turn the page. As unfortunate as it is, it really feels like we've reached the end of the road for Matt Wallner.
What do you think? Is it time to turn the page? Or will Wallner become the next David Ortiz? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Edited by John Bonnes
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