Week in Review: Patience Wears Thin

The Weekly Nutshell:
We've reached the second half of May, and that's where things start coming into focus. Samples are growing more substantial, and patience is wearing thin for struggling players who are derailing the team's results. 

The Twins haven't had a winning week since early April and are 10-19 in their last 29 games. They've been constantly hanging around five-to-seven games below .500, which mostly lines up to preseason expectations. (They're currently on about a 70-win pace after winning 70 games in 2025.) 

What makes it frustrating though, is that the bar for relevance does not feel out of reach. You see the Cleveland Guardians leading the division with an unspectacular 26-22 record, you see some of the pitching performances being put forth by Minnesota's starters, and it really doesn't feel like Tom Pohlad's stated goal of competitiveness is out of the realm. As unimpressive as they've looked for the most part, the Twins are currently within two games of a wild-card position in the American League.

However, they are being held back and dragged down by too many dreadful performances that go well beyond merely "bad" and as we approach the season's one-third marker in the schedule, the time for action is upon us. We saw that begin to unfold this past week and there could be more to come. Let's dig in. 

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/11 through Sun, 5/17
***
Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 21-26)
Run Differential Last Week: +7 (Overall: -6)
Standing: 3rd Place in AL Central (4.5 GB) 

Latest Game Results

Game 42 | MIN 3, MIA 0: Ober Throws a Maddux, Shutting Out Marlins on 89 Pitches

• Ober: 9 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K

Game 43 | MIA 9, MIN 5: Two Buxton Homers Not Enough to Overcome SWR Clunker

• Woods Richardson: 3 IP, 8 R (6 ER), 7 H, 4 BB, 1 K

Game 44 | MIN 9, MIA 1: Twins Take Series with Blowout Win in Zebby's Return

• Matthews: 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Game 45 | MIL 3, MIN 2: Lead Slips Away on Iffy Ruling in One-Run Loss to Brewers

• Ryan: 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 7 K

Game 46 | MIL 2, MIN 1: RISP Woes Prove Costly as Twins Come Up Just Short Again

• Twins offense: 10 K, 1 BB, 0-8 RISP

Game 47 | MIN 5, MIL 4: Twins Steal One from Brewers Behind Bullpen and Bats

• Twins bullpen: 4 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K

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NEWS & NOTES

The morning after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in Wednesday's loss to Miami, his second golden sombrero in a row, Matt Wallner was optioned to Triple-A for a much-needed reset. Heading back to the minors is a devastating setback for the 28-year-old with more than 1,100 plate appearances in the majors, but his increasingly untenable performance left the Twins with little choice. An 0-for-14 slump (with 11 Ks) had dropped his OPS to .551, and the defense was somehow worse than the offense. He'll look to get back on track with the Saints and return with renewed confidence, similar to his journey in the 2024 season. 

Recalled to replace Wallner on the roster was glove-first utilityman Ryan Kreidler. In terms of day-to-day utility, we're seeing Austin Martin step into a true everyday role in right field. He has been the starter there in all four games since Wallner was sent down.

Also on Thursday, the Twins called up Zebby Matthews and sent down Travis Adams. Matthews steps into the vacant spot opened up by Taj Bradley's pectoral injury, chiseling away the final piece of remaining rotation depth in Triple-A. Any further attrition would put the Twins in a tough spot. 

Luckily, Bradley appears to be moving toward a somewhat imminent return. He made a rehab start for the Saints on Sunday, although it didn't go especially smoothly (42 pitches in 1.2 IP with 2 H, 2 BB allowed). Cody Laweryson, recovering from a forearm strain, also initiated a rehab at Triple-A over the weekend, and tossed a 1-2-3 inning in his return to action on Saturday.

HIGHLIGHTS

The starting rotation, with one glaring exception, continues to carry weight for this team. Bailey Ober opened the week with the best performance of his career: a complete-game shutout on just 89 pitches, with just two hits allowed. He retired the last 16 batters he faced consecutively. His second start on Sunday wasn't nearly as brilliant, with the righty surrendering three runs over five innings, but he exited with a lead and a 3.63 ERA on the season.

Ober's velocity remains the lowest in all of baseball, but he's demonstrating major resilience and adaptability by harnessing every other strength in his repertoire — command, intelligence, extension — to keep hitters off balance and give his team a fighting chance. 

Matthews took a page out of Ober's book in his return to the rotation on Thursday. He was throwing much harder than Ober, albeit down from his 2025 norm, but efficiency and execution were the name of the game for Zebulon in a crisp seven innings of one-run ball. He struck out five and walked one, displaying the strike-throwing prowess that needs to be his signature. You'd like to see a bit more swing-and-miss (just five on 83 pitches), but all in all it was an encouraging return to the big-league stage.

Connor Prielipp continues to look very good in his own introduction to the MLB level, allowing just one earned run over six innings against Milwaukee in his latest turn. He struck out eight and yielded just three hits. One day earlier, Joe Ryan delivered another quality start with six innings of one-run ball. In two outings since the elbow scare on May 3rd, Ryan has allowed just two runs on six hits in 12 innings with 12 strikeouts. It's starting to feel safe to say a bullet was dodged.

Speaking of bullets, Byron Buxton launched a couple more into the seats on Wednesday against Miami, pushing his total to 15 in 26 games since starting the season in a modest dry spell. Unfortunately, he started feeling soreness in his (historically pesky) right hip after that contest, and sat out the finale against the Marlins as well as the entire Brewers series. You don't love to see it, but Buxton is reportedly trending in the right direction and could be back in the lineup Monday. If not, I'd expect to see him land on the injured list.

A couple of other hitting performances of note: Kody Clemens was 8-for-19 with a home run, four doubles and some solid glovework at first — he's quietly ranked as the best fielder in baseball at the position, per Defensive Runs Saved. Kreidler had multiple hits in his first two starts after rejoining the fold, and now has a .997 OPS in extremely limited action, which certainly does not match up to his offensive rep. James Outman, who figures to see more playing time in Wallner's absence, had his best week of the season with four hits including a double and a triple. 

Finally, we've got to give some props to the bullpen. I still have very little faith in this unit as a general rule, but to give credit where it's due, the relievers were collectively very solid against Miami and Milwaukee, allowing only four runs in 18 innings (2.00 ERA). That included a pair of scoreless appearances from newcomer Yoendrys Gómez and solid rebounds from Justin Topa and Luis García. 

LOWLIGHTS

Start after start, Simeon Woods Richardson can't seem to figure it out. In fact, he's trending in the wrong direction, with Wednesday's clunker against the Marlins representing a new low. The same lineup that got carved up on surrounding days by Ober and Matthews was able to feast on the struggling Woods Richardson, who lasted just three innings while coughing up eight runs (six earned) on seven hits and four walks with just one strikeout. He fell to 0-6 on the year and saw his ERA inflate to 7.71. 

Too often, Woods Richardson is simply giving the Twins no chance to win, as evidenced by the team's 1-8 record with him on the mound. But there is scant action the team can take at this juncture. It sounds like they'll go with a bullpen game led by Kendry Rojas on Monday, which is Woods Richardson's next scheduled start, but that doesn't feel like a sustainable solution going forward. Matthews was the last layer of starting depth and he's now been called upon to fill in for Bradley. Until injured starters get healthy, the Twins are sort of stuck with Woods Richardson, but with Bradley on the comeback trail, decision time may soon be upon us. 

How safe Royce Lewis' roster spot? He could be next in line for a St. Paul demotion, with numbers that look equally bad to Wallner's and a broken plate approach that feels just as hopeless. Lewis was 2-for-16 with eight strikeouts on the week and his slash line for the season now sits at .163/.261/.279. He also had some brutal moments at third base, drawing an obstruction call on Friday and then botching a routine grounder on Saturday, with both leading to unearned runs in one-score losses.

Lewis has an option left and unlike Woods Richardson, there are viable candidates in the minors to replace him, as we'll cover shortly. 

Tristan Gray has been kept busy by giving breaks to Lewis and Luke Keaschall, the latter of whom is probably not in danger of a demotion but has been almost equally unproductive. Gray started in place of Lewis, mired in a 2-for-27 slump, at third base on Wednesday and in place of Keaschall, mired in a 3-for-21 slump, at second base on Saturday. Keaschall, like Wallner and Lewis, has been a liability on both ends, and this was another rough week for him defensively. 

Keaschall did have a solid game on Sunday to get his OPS back over .600, but before that, he was among four Twins regulars with an OPS below .600, not counting Wallner who is now in Triple-A. Also included in that group are both of the front office's "big" veteran offseason additions, Josh Bell and Victor Caratini, who have been well below replacement level while earning $7 million apiece. 

TRENDING STORYLINE

Help is on the way via the St. Paul pipeline. As mentioned, Bradley and Laweryson both have rehab assignments underway and could be back as soon as this week. More interesting to track are the standout hitters who are making cases to unseat Minnesota's lineup laggards.

If the team is getting close to making a move on Lewis, there are two compelling options to step in as his replacement on the left side of the infield: Orlando Arcia and Kaelen Culpepper. 

Arcia is hitting .318 with a .932 OPS for the Saints and of course brings the benefit of a lengthy MLB track record. I'm not going to make too much out of his production as a 31-year-old in Triple-A, but I also don't know what more the Twins could want to see from the minor-league signing to convince them he's capable of at least filling in during a short-term reset for Lewis.

Culpepper would be more of a long-term commitment, and probably a bleaker sign for Lewis if he were the one swapped in. His performance in St. Paul has been more good than great but he's more than holding his own, both at the plate and in the field, and is viewed as a big part of the Twins' future. He hit his ninth homer of the season on Friday. 

A couple of other noteworthy players to monitor in St. Paul as potential offensive reinforcements in the near future: 

• Hendry Mendez, who hit his first Triple-A homer on Saturday and is batting 395 through nine games with the Saints. He's not the cleanest fit as a lefty-swinging corner outfielder, but the bat looks legit.
• Gabriel Gonzalez is shaking off a slow start and finding his groove. He went 8-for-13 with a homer and a double over the weekend, looking more like the dominant hitter we saw throughout the 2025 campaign. Gonzalez has been splitting time pretty evenly between right field and first base.
• Former first-rounder Aaron Sabato has homered six times with 17 RBIs in his past 11 games. He's a 26-year-old non-prospect and the slugging success in a favorable environment should be taken with a grain of salt, but it'd be a lot of fun to see him get a shot at some point.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Astros are coming to town, which is a series many were circling on the schedule at the beginning of the season: Carlos Correa's return to Target Field. But a season-ending injury to Correa has zapped that storyline, and in fact the entire Houston lineup is ravaged, which should theoretically make life easier for Twins pitching. Following on off day on Thursday, the Twins will head to Boston to face another struggling big-market team, kicking off a 10-game road trip at Fenway. Can Minnesota capitalize against two of the AL's most disappointing clubs?

MONDAY, MAY 18: ASTROS @ TWINS — RHP Lance McCullers Jr. v LHP Kendry Rojas
TUESDAY, MAY 19: ASTROS @ TWINS — RHP Mike Burrows v. RHP Zebby Matthews
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20: ASTROS @ TWINS — RHP Spencer Arrighetti v. RHP Joe Ryan
FRIDAY, MAY 22: TWINS @ RED SOX  — LHP Connor Prielipp v. LHP Payton Tolle
SATURDAY, MAY 23: TWINS @ RED SOX  — RHP Bailey Ober v. TBD
SUNDAY, MAY 24: TWINS @ RED SOX  — TBD v. RHP Brayan Bello