Matt Wallner Makes Season's First Shuttle from St. Paul to Minneapolis

Matt Wallner was penciled in as the Saints designated hitter for the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, but the Twins made a call for the 25–year-old Forest Lake native to get back up to the big leagues. The move was retroactive to Max Kepler officially being placed on the 10-day injured list and the Twins needed another outfielder to take his place. 

Wallner and many of his Saints teammates were in a hitters meeting at the time Gardenhire received the call from the Twins' front office. No time was wasted thereafter. 

Wallner was scratched, Jair Carmargo took his place as the DH for game one, and Saints clubhouse manager Matt Tramp quickly organized Wallner’s belongings to get him off to Target Field in time for the first pitch against the Astros. 

“I told Wallner. I just said, ‘Be ready. You're not in the lineup (Saturday), but be ready to go off the bench,’” said Gardenhire. 

Given Wallner’s time in the big leagues late in the 2022 season and limited time before both the Twins and Saints games started. Gardenhire didn’t have many more words of wisdom to pass to Wallner that he had not already shared with him. 

“I talked to him a little bit during spring training and just told them, ‘Hey, just keep doing your thing. You're doing good. They got a lot of outfielders out there but stuff is gonna happen. It always does,” Gardenhire said on what he shared with Wallner. 

“Nobody knows how quick it's gonna be, but it all usually plays out at some point. It just happened to be the first full week of the season. He's a good player, a good hitter, and I hope he goes up there and it helps him grow more,” said Gardenhire. 

Gardenhire had not chosen Wallner to be the DH for the first game knowing this move was a certainty Saturday morning. Wallner had played all five games of the Saints season so far in right field and was in need of a defensive break. 

“I was planning on splitting him [Wallner] DH one game. playing in the field the other, but I had an idea that it was a possibility that he was gonna get called up. So I had a solid backup plan in case that happened,” said Gardenhire. 

Fortunately, Wallner was not needed in the Twins lineup for their 9-6 victory over the Houston Astros Saturday afternoon. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli shared with a pool of beat reporters after the game Wallner will see action in the Twins lineup, but did not comment on if it would be as soon as Sunday afternoon’s finale against the Astros. 

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