What is Kyler Fedko’s Job with the Minnesota Twins?

The Twins selected the contract of 26-year-old outfielder Kyler Fedko Sunday, designating veteran infielder Orlando Arcia in the process to make room on both the 40-man and active roster. Now that he’s finally in Minnesota, what will the Twins do with him?

Fedko is a right-handed outfielder who can play all three outfield positions, though scouts suggest that his defense in center field isn’t good enough to be an everyday player out there. He’s also added first base to his bag of tricks, but he’s only got about 300 innings there across three seasons between Double- and Triple-A. He’s also played three games at second base this season, but it’s unlikely that the Twins will need to play that card.

Often, transactions clearly show what a team’s plan with a player is. If the team cuts a left-handed corner outfielder and promotes a different left-handed corner outfielder to replace him, the old guy’s job is the new guy’s job. Not so with an Arcia-Fedko swap. We can’t just look at Arcia’s playing time and copy and paste it onto Fedko’s ledger.

However, we can start with Arcia’s playing time and work from there, because there’s playing time to go around as a result of that move. Arcia has been playing approximately every other day. He’s been starting at shortstop against lefties, and he’s been filling in at first and second base, though he hadn’t had an appearance at either position since the return of Royce Lewis. (That's probably why, in the end, it made more sense to give Fedko a look than to hang onto Arcia. Having cut James Outman to recall Lewis, they were tipping toward being infielder-heavy and outfielder-light.)

Arcia’s playing time at shortstop actually directly translates to Fedko's playing time, though. During each of Arcia’s recent appearances at shortstop, righty superutility player Ryan Kreidler has started in the outfield. Going forward, those platoon shortstop appearances can easily be transferred over to Kreidler, and Kreidler could take time from the strong side of the platoon, Tristan Gray—but this is a Fedko writeup, so we’ll skip that discussion.

Fedko serving as a platoon outfielder is the most straightforward path to playing time. In the majors, he’s carried an OPS around .900, about 35% better than average for the level, but he’s been especially good against lefties this season, with an OPS of 1.262—though he’s historically had somewhat neutral platoon splits. The Twins have gotten below-average production from their corner outfielders against lefties—20th by OPS and 17th by wRC+. If Fedko can provide some thump against southpaws, he’ll have a place on this roster, joining Austin Martin as the right-handed corner outfielders. Trevor Larnach has been entrenched in left field, but he’s been platooned all season. Kody Clemens has seen more time in right field recently, but the Twins are probably open to playing a full righty lineup against lefty starters.

It’s unclear if Clemens (who has a slightly above-average .714 OPS against lefties this season) would continue to get playing time against lefties in this alignment, because the Twins now have two righty corner outfielders, as well as the right-handed Luke Keashcall and Royce Lewis, who can play first and second base against lefties. But, again, that’s a conversation for another day.

Speaking of Clemens, there’s also a center field component to discuss. Fedko is a bit stretched in center, but he’ll likely get some opportunity out there, given that Clemens has been used as their primary backup center fielder in recent weeks. The Twins’ previous fifth outfielder, Outman, was jettisoned from the roster last week to make room for Lewis after spending most of the season collecting dust at the end of the bench.

The Twins have been hesitant to play Martin in center field, suggesting Fedko could be ahead of him on the depth chart. Kreidler is a solid center fielder, but the club will be relying on him in the infield more often. Given the choice between playing Clemens or Fedko in center field when Byron Buxton has a day off, it wouldn’t be surprising for Fedko to get the nod—even against righty pitching.

As mentioned, Fedko can also play first base, but it’s difficult to see that happening often, given the presence of Clemens, Lewis, Josh Bell, and even Keaschall on the roster. Could it happen that he ends up over there for an inning or two? Maaaaybe. I could see that, and the fear is there. Given that about a third of starting pitchers are lefties, you’re looking at about two starts a week for Fedko in a corner. Then, if he gives Buxton a day off in center field, he’ll get another start every week or two, pending Buxton’s health. And of course, he could be used as a pinch-hitter. He’s a Minnesota Twin, after all.

Two or three starts a week doesn’t sound like much, but it’s certainly more action than Outman was getting. And Fedko isn’t a prospect, per se; he’s a late-blooming 26-year-old. Even if he has a multi-year MLB career, he’s going to be a part-time player. They’re not doing him a disservice by using him in moderation. In games he doesn’t start, he could be used as a pinch-runner. He’s gone 47-for-59 as a basestealer over the past two seasons in the high minors, just under 80% of his attempts proving successful. So the Twins are under no pressure to force him into the lineup.

But he certainly has an opportunity. Martin has slowed down in recent weeks and is not set in stone as the Twins’ fourth outfielder. Even if bigger names like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Alan Roden, or Matt Wallner are called up to the big-league team, they’re all lefties, so the team would be well-served to carry a righty. There’s certainly an opportunity to show what Fedko can do.

The door is open for Fedko, who had a 28-homer, 38-stolen-base season last year, to carve out a part-time role and try to stake a claim to more. He’s become a fan favorite, among fans who get attached to low-ceiling prospects, and it will be fun to see how it shakes out for him this season.