Twins Slugger Matt Wallner Fighting Through First Real Slump

I’d stop short of calling the start of Wallner’s career “torrid.” I’d also stop short of saying he had established himself as in of the very best hitters in baseball. 
he’s had some good streaks and he’s had some awful streaks. He’s a work in progress and the remainder of this season might show us what to expect from Wallner in the future, and if he be counted on to be a regular contributor in the lineup going forward. 

Wallner has to figure this out. He is often a slow starter at the beginning of the season, unless he has mastered that level of baseball. Well, he had the injury, came back and was dominating AAA pitching. Many were hollering for the Twins to rush him back. He hasn't had his timing back since then. 

Matt Wallner needs to become Nelson Cruz in order for him to hold off players like Jenkins or Rodriguez if he is to continue as an outfielder. Best he adapt quickly and follow Cruz as a DH masher who can perform consistently against all types of pitchers. The challenge for Wallner is formidable because, similar to the fall of Julien, it appears the pitchers have developed a book on Big Matt. Baseball is tough.

17 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Wallner has to figure this out. He is often a slow starter at the beginning of the season, unless he has mastered that level of baseball. Well, he had the injury, came back and was dominating AAA pitching. Many were hollering for the Twins to rush him back. He hasn't had his timing back since then. 

IMO, there was no rush to bring him up, the Twins were winning w/o him. I agree they should have left him in AAA and let him regain his timing and confidence. 

he needs help ... and no one in Twins organization can figure it out.. huge liability right now.. BIG K machine in Key RBI situations and rally stopper when it counts..

34 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

IMO, there was no rush to bring him up, the Twins were winning w/o him. I agree they should have left him in AAA and let him regain his timing and confidence. 

In 27 plate appearances he had a 1.330 OPS. This wasn't like royce down in AAA. 

1 hour ago, DaveW44 said:

I’d also stop short of saying he had established himself as in of the very best hitters in baseball. 

Agreed. Someone that had established themselves as one of the best hitters wouldn't have been demoted to AAA just last season 

21 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

IMO, there was no rush to bring him up, the Twins were winning w/o him. I agree they should have left him in AAA and let him regain his timing and confidence. 

He played 6 games in AAA, with a .320/.370/.960/1.330 with 5 homers and a double and only 5 K's in 27 plate appearances. Not really sure how much more was needed to regain timing and confidence in AAA? 

The statement that Wallner is/was/has been one of the better hitters in the game is ludicrous and a slap in the face to whole bunch of players that are actually the better hitters in the game. He has been pretty good in a limited role for half a season the two years prior against right handed pitchers. 

Lets not forgot he ended 24 with a .243/.333/.405/.739 month of September. (Not terrible but not great either. July was amazing in limited playing time and August was great. 

His career oWAR is 4.6, 2 players have that or more just this year, 27 had that or more last year and 23 had that in 2023. I like him and hope like heck he can become a really solid major league starter. 

Wallner's bringing the team down, and so is Lewis. 

Twins didn't need these two players to have fantastic years - they just needed them to provide solid reliable contributions. They've miserably failed, to see two of the top prospects absolutely crash and burn has been incredibly deflating. 

59 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Agreed. Someone that had established themselves as one of the best hitters wouldn't have been demoted to AAA just last season 

Spencer Torkelson would like to come into the conversation.  I'm not trying to compare Torkelson to Wallner or suggest that Torkelson or Wallner are considered the best hitters in the league.  I would just point out that Torkelson struggled in 2024, sent down to AAA for just over 1/3 of the season, and was on the verge of being replaced on the roster.  Obviously, the main differences are that there are no readily immediate replacements for Wallner, nor do I believe the coaching staff is up to the challenge of fixing Wallner.  Other examples could be Larnach or Lewis as it seems like the staff have no answers in helping them through their respective struggles either.  Another example can be that Lee complimented his father's coaching staff at Cal Tech - SLO for his bat handling skills resulting in the game-winning hit instead of any coaching that the current staff has done for him.  We can only hope that a team sale comes sooner rather than later for players like Lee, Lewis, and Wallner so there can be a complete turnover of the staff in the entire system rather than eventually trade them as the team failed to properly develop them as the players that they originally showed promise to be.  As the Joker has so eloquently stated in the 1989 Batman movie, "This town (team) needs an enema!".

Have Molitor spend some time with him. He's gonna have a short career if he doesnt figure it out soon. He does not pass the eye test 

There seems to be a systemic problem with this bunch. Look at young hopefuls like Lewis, Lee, Julien, Miranda and Wallner. They do well in the minors, come up to the big leagues and have some initial success. People start to think they are going to have that kind of production for 10 years and hail them as potential stars. Then MLB teams get them on film, figure out their weaknesses, and attack them. This is where either these guys make adjustments and have some level of success (Lee, Lewis), or are unable to make adjustments and fall off a cliff (Julien, Miranda, Wallner). It seems to me that this organization either isn't setup to help these guys make adjustments, or the players are unwilling/unable to do so. I tend to favor the organizational explanation.

54 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

Spencer Torkelson would like to come into the conversation.  I'm not trying to compare Torkelson to Wallner or suggest that Torkelson or Wallner are considered the best hitters in the league.  I would just point out that Torkelson struggled in 2024, sent down to AAA for just over 1/3 of the season, and was on the verge of being replaced on the roster.  Obviously, the main differences are that there are no readily immediate replacements for Wallner, nor do I believe the coaching staff is up to the challenge of fixing Wallner.  Other examples could be Larnach or Lewis as it seems like the staff have no answers in helping them through their respective struggles either.  Another example can be that Lee complimented his father's coaching staff at Cal Tech - SLO for his bat handling skills resulting in the game-winning hit instead of any coaching that the current staff has done for him.  We can only hope that a team sale comes sooner rather than later for players like Lee, Lewis, and Wallner so there can be a complete turnover of the staff in the entire system rather than eventually trade them as the team failed to properly develop them as the players that they originally showed promise to be.  As the Joker has so eloquently stated in the 1989 Batman movie, "This town (team) needs an enema!".

Torkelson is a great comparison, because I don't think anyone in baseball would say he's established himself as one of the league's best hitters.  

Anyone with eyes can see he has lost all confidence in the box. He is swinging thru pitches middle middle and middle up. He should have been sent to St.Paul a week ago to get himself back. Could of been brought back after the ASG. As it stands he is a leftside Sano. You can't have him and Clemens in the lineup because of the strikeouts.

This isn't his first slump. We all know Wallner has major power, but the question is will he ever be able to produce anything other than the homers. His K rate is climbing sky high. He is a three true outcome guy with limited defense. With guys like Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Martin and Fedko coming up, I think Wallner will need to find a way to be a bit more consistent and make more contact or he could find himself losing starts. With our OF depth right now I wouldn't mind seeing what we can get for Wallner. Maybe another team is intrigued by his power and tears of control.....

4 hours ago, Nick Nelson said:

His wOBA since debuting is among the top 10 MLB hitters (at least was before this downswing). He really hasn't had any "awful streaks" before this one, which is the core point of the article.

I mean...this is just not true, considering we all saw him striking out in half of his plate appearances at the start of the 2024 season, coming out of a spring training where he was similarly struggling. And he continued to struggle for weeks at AAA until he got his swagger back. I don't know what we call that couple month stretch if it wasn't an "awful streak". 

You can't just pretend that didn't happen just because it didn't meet a particular MLB PA minimum that you've arbitrarily put in place. 

And I just am not overly impressed by someone with a relatively minimal number of plate appearances appearing in a rate stats leaderboard until they've put up full time work. That top 10? Well, he's 24th now, which is cool, but not showing how he's "established himself as one of the very best hitters in baseball". 

21 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

Lol it is a factual statement backed up by statistics. The only hitters who've been more productive in a larger sample since he debuted is a lineup of superstars and MVPs. Go see for yourself.

He also has a career 102 RBI. In over 700 PAs and 219 games. Not what you'd expect from one of the very best hitters in baseball... 

29 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

 

Why are we so committed to underrating one of our own??

Yup, Mauer and Perkins both went through this.  They were consistent punching bags for many fans.  Heck, many were ready to give up on Louie Varland last year, and this year he is one of the most reliable arms on the team.

We are the opposite of Yankee fans, who sometimes seem to think every player in the starting lineup is HOF-worthy..

51 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

Why are we so committed to underrating one of our own??

Minnesotans aren't happy unless they're tearing down their professional sports athletes. They're even more critical if the player is from here.

38 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

With guys like Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Martin and Fedko coming up, 

Fedko is never coming up. 

Just to completely refute this article, would you believe Matt Wallner had a 182 plate appearance stretch just last season where he hit: .169 / .275 / .338? And if you want to be cheeky and include exhibition stats, that is actually over 226 PAs with a 0.614 OPS. 

Seems relevant if you're going to claim this is his first real slump. 

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Minnesotans aren't happy unless they're tearing down their professional sports athletes. They're even more critical if the player is from here.

Minnesota Nice™️

IF he had Kepler's glove, he would not be being questioned so hard, but, he does not.

1 hour ago, Nick Nelson said:

Lol it is a factual statement backed up by statistics. The only hitters who've been more productive in a larger sample since he debuted is a lineup of superstars and MVPs. Go see for yourself.

Sure I guess if you ignore his .588 OPS against lefties and ignore that the most games in the majors he has ever played is 76 and the one season he is likely to eclipse that mark his OPS+ is 99 so far. 

FYI, when you say one of the best hitters in the game, the comparison becomes All Star/MVP candidates. If you said one of the best hitters in baseball against just right handed pitchers or one of the best part time players in baseball that would be more accurate. 

I love me some Matt Wallner and I want him to be the hitter/player you think he is, but he isn't yet and saying he is makes you and him look bad and that isn't fair to him because he has been pretty darn good.

3 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

He played 6 games in AAA, with a .320/.370/.960/1.330 with 5 homers and a double and only 5 K's in 27 plate appearances. Not really sure how much more was needed to regain timing and confidence in AAA? 

 

The statement that Wallner is/was/has been one of the better hitters in the game is ludicrous and a slap in the face to whole bunch of players that are actually the better hitters in the game. He has been pretty good in a limited role for half a season the two years prior against right handed pitchers. 

Lets not forgot he ended 24 with a .243/.333/.405/.739 month of September. (Not terrible but not great either. July was amazing in limited playing time and August was great. 

His career oWAR is 4.6, 2 players have that or more just this year, 27 had that or more last year and 23 had that in 2023. I like him and hope like heck he can become a really solid major league starter. 

My point wasn't that he was terrible in AAA. It was more than he could use more time to be more cemented in the process & having even more momentum going into MLB.