Greggory Masterson

I'm here for solicitation. I am soliciting questions you'd like answered on Thursday's Twins Off-Daily Podcast. We're recording tomorrow (6/24) afternoon, so if you've got a question you'd like Sweet Lou and Ol Gregg (and maybe a mystery guest) to answer, leave 'er here!

Used to be the Twins third base coach

No worries, and I apologize if I came across harshly. It's important to me that people don't believe that I write with AI.

There’s a way to alert me that I missed adding “in his career before coming to Minnesota” without accusing me of using AI

Image courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Since Opening Day, the Twins’ shortstop position has been in flux. The club has already had four players play shortstop more than 10 times this season: Brooks Lee, Tristan Gray, Ryan Kreidler, and Orlando Arcia. Lee was the team’s Opening Day shortstop, but he played his way off the position and has not appeared there for over a month. Gray, Kreidler, and Arcia have been fighting for time there since, though Arcia has been designated for assignment and returned to St. Paul, effectively creating a timeshare between Gray and Kreidler at the position. The two inexperienced, though not young, form a natural platoon—Gray is a lefty and Kreidler is a righty—and the Twins have held firm to that setup. They have played Gray at shortstop in every game a righty started since May 23, a game he missed on paternity leave. I’m not one to call for sweeping changes, but is it time to end this type of usage? Gray is not playing like an everyday shortstop. Kreidler probably isn’t an everyday shortstop either, but he can at least defend like one. In May, Lee was moved off the position he had held since last July (when Carlos Correa was traded) due to his defense. And rightly so—Lee was, by some metrics, the worst defensive shortstop in baseball. Even if you don’t trust defensive metrics, which is justifiable, watching him told you that, at a minimum, he was not a good defender. At the time of his move off of shortstop, by defensive runs saved (DRS), he was a league-worst -7. His outs above average (OAA) and fielding run value (FRV) told a similar story, -6 and -5, respectively. The average is 0 on these metrics. In 44 games, he’d only committed two errors, but there were head-scratching plays galore, and many balls he simply could not get to because of his range. Gray has played 24 games at shortstop this season (184 innings), and wouldn’t you know, after Friday night’s game, he’s accumulated -8 DRS, -6 OAA, and -6 FRV. Those figures are as bad or worse than Lee’s, but they’re counting stats. He would be on pace to have accumulated -17 DRS, -13 OAA, and -13 FRV by the time he reached Lee’s 390 total innings (that’s not exactly how it works, but you get the point). If you’re an errors person, he’s already racked up six this season, committing one for every four games he plays at shortstop. Part of the reason Lee was moved to third base was that he isn’t a long-term shortstop, so it was sensible to move him to a place that better suited his skillset. Another part of that move was to help improve the team’s defense today. And they replaced Lee with an even worse defender at shortstop. Kreidler is clearly the superior defender out of the group of four Twins shortstops. He’s made a couple of mistakes defensively this season, including miscommunicating on a pop-up that resulted in Luke Keaschall knocking the ball from his glove, but he remains an at minimum average defender. He’s had only 61 innings at the position this season, but he has been an average defender by DRS and has accumulated 1 OAA and 1 FRV. He came to the Twins with a reputation for excellent play in the field, and compared to Lee and Gray, it’s a night-and-day difference. The issue with Kreidler is his hitting, though. Or, at least, that was the issue with his reputation. Kreidler has not played terribly often this season. He’s only accumulated 80 plate appearances. But he’s hit well enough in that time, slashing .243/.338/.486 (.823), about 20% better than league average. A lot of that is buoyed by his four home runs and 10 walks, and his .383 OPS prior to joining Minnesota (yes, OPS, not OBP) casts a cloud over anyone who wants to believe that he’s a competent hitter. But he’s hit enough to at least give him a look at more regular playing time. Kreidler has been slightly better against lefties than righties this season (.821 vs. .809 OPS), though his performance against righties is a bit inflated because three of his four home runs have come against same-handed pitchers (he has a .256 OBP but a .553 SLG against right-handed pitchers). In reality, he’s probably meaningfully better against lefties than righties, which isn’t great for an everyday shortstop candidate whose performance against southpaws also probably isn’t sustainable. However, it’s not as if Gray has lit the world on fire in his platoon-aided appearances. Gray has 126 plate appearances against righties this season, and he’s slashed .252/.294/.365 against them. He had a hot start to the year and was one of the early-season fun stories, slashing .269/.316/.462 (.777) overall through the end of April with three home runs and 13 RBI in 58 plate appearances. Since then, though, he’s cooled off considerably, slashing .222/.261/.296 (.558) overall, and his performance against righties has been just higher, his .608 OPS about 35% below league average. Twins fans (and managers, and front office members) should be under no impression that either Gray or Kreidler is a good hitter, or even an average hitter over a full season. But if neither of them is going to be good, why not play the only player on the team who wouldn’t be in competition for the worst defensive shortstop in baseball? Shortstop is an incredibly important defensive position, and the Twins have largely played poor defenders there. At some point, you have to give the guy who can field the position a shot. Of course, hopefully at some point within the next month, Twins Daily’s #2 prospect, Kaelen Culpepper, will be in that spot. But for now, I feel like I speak for a lot of people when I say that I’m growing weary of watching what’s going on at shortstop. Gray could have a role as a utility infielder, giving the Twins’ bevy of right-handed infielders a day off against same-sided pitching, but we’ve probably seen enough from him as the primary shortstop. Please, just play the sure glove. View full article

Technically both Castros showed up to a tryout with this organization

Image courtesy of © Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Sometimes, our experiences become our prison wardens, rather than our teachers. Every player we don’t like is “just another Miguel Sanó.” When Derek Shelton manages the bullpen well, he “reminds me of Tom Kelly.” When the bullpen blows up, Shelton “has too much Rocco Baldelli in him.” One such trope is figuring out who The Next Willi Castro is. If you don’t believe me when I say people are hung up on the idea of finding the Next Willi Castro, a couple of quick Twitter searches showed me that the following players have been called the Next Willi Castro or the New Willi Castro: Kody Clemens, Austin Martin, Vidal Bruján, Tristan Gray, Dan Altavilla, and Ryan Kreidler. Our own Eric Blonigen asked last year if Thomas Hatch was the Next Willi Castro. To paraphrase the honorable Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, I don’t know how to define a Willi Castro, but I know one when I see one, and it is hot, hot, HOT! Well, I lied. I think I’ve defined a Willi Castro. Or at least I’ve tried to. In the never-ending search to find the Next Willi Castro, it’s important to know what we’re looking for. What is a Willi Castro? Willi Castro played two and a half seasons for the Minnesota Twins. He was a roughly league-average hitter; he played every position except first base and catcher; and he stole a handful of bases. Prior to coming to Minnesota, he was an exciting prospect for the Tigers who fizzled out and was released. Minnesota signed him to a minor-league contract, but gave him $1.8 million when he made the team. Given this, he would probably be classified as a late bloomer. He was traded at the 2025 trade deadline for Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. Obviously, no current Twins are going to map perfectly onto that. But if we’re going to continue to ask “is Mickey Gasper the Next Willi Castro??”, the least we can do is try to attack this scientifically. Positional Flexibility Love it or hate it, the Twins prefer players who can play multiple positions. That’s probably the most obvious place to start the Willi Castro discussion. It’s probably his most notable feature (though not the only Willi Castro feature). The Twins have several players with positional flexibility. Ryan Kreidler has played short, third, center, and left, and he can also play second and right, essentially matching Castro’s flexibility, though with better fielding. Kody Clemens has played all three outfield spots, second, and first. He can also be an emergency option at third. Austin Martin has lost positional flexibility over the years, and is now mostly confined to right field. Royce Lewis can play first, second, and third, and he’s allegedly asked to play the outfield as well—probably in an effort to establish himself as the Next Willi Castro. Orlando Arcia is technically still in the system, and he played all four infield positions and pitched. The newest Twin, Kyler Fedko, can play all three outfield positions and first base, and he’s also played a little second base in the minors. Luke Keaschall is a second baseman, but he’s played first and outfield in the minors, so maybe someday he’ll be in the running. I’m giving Willi Castro points to Kreidler, Clemens, Arcia, and Fedko, because they all have at least five positions in their bag. Speed The Twins haven’t been very fast in a long time. But Castro was. Anyone on the team who has a red bubble (anything over league-average) for sprint speed wins a Willi Castro point here. Byron Buxton, Keaschall, Kreidler, Martin, Clemens, Lewis. Fedko doesn’t have a competitive sprint in the majors yet, but I’ll add him in. Late Blooming Castro had a rough first four seasons in the major leagues, playing at roughly replacement level. He wasn’t old when he joined the Twins, but he was 26 with little MLB success. Clemens certainly fits this criterion, as he seems to have finally become an everyday-caliber player in his late 20s. Martin is trending in that direction, as well. Fedko went from being a non-prospect to being on an MLB roster at 26. Trevor Larnach might fit the bill, too, but he’s basically been who he’s always been this year. Kreidler has played well, but probably not enough to have “bloomed” yet. But let’s not forget the pitchers. Yoendrys Gómez is 26 and might be developing into a real late-inning arm. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober were both old when they debuted (25), but only Ober was surprising, performance-wise. I’ll give points to Clemens, Martin, Fedko, Gómez, and Ober. Average or Better Hitter This is pretty easy. If your OPS+ is 100 or higher this season, you get a point: Buxton, Clemens, Kreidler, Larnach, Gabriel González, and Ryan Jeffers. Signed to a Minor League Contract The Twins got Castro as a 26-year-old MiLB free agent. What a steal! Other players on the team to have been acquired as such are: John Klein, Cody Laweryson, and I guess Emmanuel Rodriguez, if you wanna get technical. I’d also give a point here to players purchased or claimed on waivers: Clemens, Kreidler, Gómez, Justin Lawrence, Anthony Banda, and Taylor Rashi (I bet you didn’t expect Taylor Rashi to score a Next Willi Castro point). Half-points to Gray, Alex Jackson, Eric Orze, and Garrett Acton for being acquired in unremarkable trades. Played for the Tigers Yes, we’re getting this granular. The funny thing is, though, the top candidates for the role, Clemens and Kreidler, both played for Detroit. They’re the only two guys on the current roster to have done so. Traded at the Deadline Castro was part of the 2025 selloff. Now this hasn’t happened yet, but I’m gonna boldly predict who it’ll be this year: Josh Bell, Matt Wallner, Larnach, Banda, Lewis, Ryan, and Clemens. If you disagree, argue with the wall. Final Tally .5 Willi Castro points: Acton, Gray, Jackson, Orze 1 Willi Castro point: Arcia, Bell, Gonzalez, Jeffers, Keaschall, Klein, Laweryson, Lawrence, Ober, Rashi, Rodriguez, Ryan, Wallner 2 Willi Castro points: Banda, Buxton, Fedko, Gómez, Larnach, Lewis, Martin 5 Willi Castro points: Kredlier 7 Willi Castro points: Clemens Kody Clemens went seven-for-seven in this very scientific, peer-reviewed analysis (Matthew Trueblood is, after all, a peer who reviewed this before publication). Congratulations, Kody. You are the Next Willi Castro. View full article

conflabbit

No, I completely understand the allure of the Fedko Class, like Helman, Keirsey, Severino, Chris Williams, and Mark Contreras. I clapped like a seal when McCusker got called up and I hope to see Sabato at some point.

DaShawn Keirsey and Carson McCusker walked so Kyler Fedko could run (straight into the hearts of Twins fans)

The Twins selected the contract of 26-year-old outfielder Kyler Fedko, 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. Oftentimes, 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 hasn’t had an appearance at either position since the return of Royce Lewis). 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 potentially 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 toward playing time. In the minors, he’s carried an OPS around .900, good for 35% above league-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-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 likely 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, James Outman, was jettisoned from the roster last week to make room for Royce 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, and Kreidler is a solid center fielder, but the club will be relying on him in the infield more often. If 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—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 to use him in moderation. And 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%. So the Twins are under no pressure to force him into the lineup. But he certainly has opportunity. Martin has slowed down in recent weeks and is not set in stone as the Twins’ fourth outfielder. And even if bigger names like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Alan Roden, or Matt Wallner are called up to the MLB team, they’re all lefties, so the team would be well-served to carry a righty. There’s certainly opportunity. The door is open for Fedko, who had a 28-homer, 38-stolen-base season last year, to carve out a part-time role going forward. 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. View full article

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