Greggory Masterson

Happy Independence Day! I have been abandoned by my cohosts. I’m recording an episode of Twins Off-Daily this evening by myself, and I’m looking for mailbag questions. Submit them here, and I’ll answer them, no matter how asinine.

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

At 6 o'clock tonight, the Twins Off-Daily crew will be hosting a YouTube livestream (on a non-off-day!). We're looking for mailbag questions. If you've got something you'd like us to answer, reply here and head on over to YouTube at 6! We hope to see you soon!

Image courtesy of © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Ryan Jeffers was the best player on the Twins through the first quarter of the 2026 season. In 37 games, he slashed .295/.408/.541, with a .949 OPS about 60% above league average. That OPS is the best in the league among primary catchers with at least 140 plate appearances, and by fWAR, he ranks fifth, despite not playing since May 18. He’s also graded out as an average defender behind the plate, and he was on track to play about 120 games between catcher and DH. Simply put, he was playing like one of the premier catchers in baseball. Due to Jeffers’s broken hamate bone, he will remain out of commission for another 4-6 weeks, by most estimates. He struck an optimistic tone when he met with reporters this week, but even he noted that he can't predict how things will go, and that he was advised not to rush it. The Twins sorely miss him, as his backups Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson have combined to hit just over .200 and have not provided even average defense behind the plate. Jeffers is eligible for free agency this offseason. Let’s break down the case and context for him to receive a qualifying offer. There are a lot of moving pieces here, so buckle up. What is a qualifying offer? Per the current CBA, free agents are eligible to receive a qualifying offer from their current team once in their career. Since this is Jeffers's first time eligible for free agency, the Twins can give him the qualifying offer. The qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average yearly salary of the 125 highest-paid players the previous year. For the 2026 season, that was approximately $22 million, and for 2027, it will likely be slightly higher. Let’s conservatively call it $23 million. If the player accepts the offer, they will return to their team for one more year. If they reject the offer, they will be a free agent. However, other teams are disincentivized from signing the player because they will lose a draft pick (or two, depending on their payroll) the following season. The original team will receive an additional draft pick between the first and fourth rounds as compensation for losing the player, varying based on their revenue-sharing status. Of note, the ongoing CBA negotiations ahead of the 2027 season will (probably) not affect the qualifying offers at the end of the 2026 season. Even if the entire system were removed in the 2027 CBA, the 2026 qualifying offers will be grandfathered in because they occurred before the current CBA expires. Why would the Twins extend a qualifying offer to Ryan Jeffers? Well, obviously, the primary reason would be that Jeffers is a good catcher. It’s unlikely that Jeffers is truly the best offensive catcher in baseball, but he has been a good hitter over the past four seasons—about 20% better than league average—at a position where the average hitter is below league average. His defense is not outstanding, or potentially even good, but it’s average, and good enough that he’s not a disaster at the most difficult position to play. Furthermore, the alternatives are not appetizing. Caratini and Jackson are both under contract for 2027 (with Caratini owed $7 million), but neither has given much reason to have confidence they will be dependable everyday options. The Twins have a handful of high-minors catchers, such as Noah Cardenas and David Bañuelos, but none of them have starting catcher potential. Eduardo Tait is their top catching prospect, but he’s a 19-year-old at High-A. They might draft Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, but even if he’s fast-tracked to the majors, he shouldn’t be counted on to be the everyday catcher in 2027. There's also the subject of Jeffers's trade value. If the Twins are not in contention around the trade deadline, Jeffers is a player teams will be calling about. However, he's projected to return to action just weeks before the deadline, giving teams limited time to evaluate him in a trade. Whatever packages he may have netted two weeks ago have probably been reduced since his injury, which makes the prospect of keeping him around more valuable. The return may even be less valuable than the draft-pick compensation the Twins would receive (and by next year's trade deadline, he would be eligible to be traded again, should he accept the qualifying offer). Is Jeffers worth a qualifying offer? At $23 million, Jeffers would be the highest-paid catcher in the world, by a wide margin. The top-paid catchers projected for 2027 are Atlanta’s Sean Murphy and Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto, at $15 million each. Jeffers would make about 50% more. Put simply, even if Jeffers maintained his 2026 performance upon his return from injury, he’s not worth $23 million a year in his 30s. However, he might be worth $23 million for one year. Teams are much happier to overpay for a short contract (see Kyle Tucker’s deal with the Dodgers) than they are to cut a long deal for less money per year. There’s a cliché that goes “there’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal,” and there’s some truth to that. The Twins might be in a position in which their best option for having a starting-caliber catcher in 2027 is to overpay Jeffers in the short term. Other free-agent options would be Tyler Stephenson and Jonah Heim. The Twins extended Jake Odorizzi a qualifying offer in 2019 in a similar situation. Odorizzi didn’t command an annual contract of $18 million, but to keep the rotation stocked, they were willing to overpay to keep him for one more year. Furthermore, if Jeffers rejects the qualifying offer, the Twins could receive that compensatory draft pick, likely between the first and second rounds of the 2027 MLB Draft. Which raises another question: Would Jeffers accept the offer? (and also, why not just extend him?) It’s unclear whether Jeffers would even accept the offer, though I would probably bet yes, if I were forced to take a side. He's a Scott Boras client, but he's never been thought of as this caliber of player before this season, and he's hurt right now. Even Boras's aggressiveness has limits. However, there have not been many catchers who have hit the open market to base this discussion on. Most free-agent catchers are of the backup variety. Since the 2019-2020 offseason, there have been seven contracts signed by catchers for more than $23 million total: Yasmani Grandal (4/73M), James McCann (4/40.6M), Realmuto (5/115.5, 3/45M), Willson Contreras (5/87.5), Christian Vázquez (3/30M), Mitch Garver (2/24M). That being said, Jeffers is certainly in a position to join that group, and, like Contreras, his bat is insurance against potentially moving off the catcher position. Contreras now plays first base, but in the four seasons leading up to his $87.5 million contract with St. Louis, he had a similar 118 OPS+, albeit with more plate appearances. Jeffers could be in line for a big, multi-year payday. His estimated contract might be enough to allow him to opt out of a one-year, $23 million deal. There’s risk to signing a short deal, especially for a catcher on the wrong side of 30. Should Jeffers have a down 2027, those multi-year deals might dry up, and as a Boras client, Jeffers is likely to try to maximize his lifetime earnings rather than take the guaranteed money—hich I suppose could be twisted to support either side of this question. This bit also explains why the Twins are unlikely to offer Jeffers a long-term deal. Paying Jeffers in eight figures a year for three or more years is quite risky, especially for a team that might have its catcher of the future debuting in the next couple of seasons. And especially for a team whose low payroll has been an unending topic of conversation for three years now. Speaking of which: Would Tom Pohlad allow the Twins to pay Jeffers $23 million next season? Yeah, probably. The Twins are running a minuscule payroll right now. They’re projected to have an approximately $70-80 million payroll after arbitration in 2027, which includes the money owed to Carlos Correa. If they part with Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Trevor Larnach, or Royce Lewis either at the trade deadline or the beginning of the offseason, that figure will be even lower. Players like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Kaelen Culpepper, and Gabriel Gonzalez are likely to be filling roster spots on minimum-salary contracts. There’s a case to be made that even if the Twins are returning to a $105 million payroll, they’d have room for Jeffers to be paid $16 million more than his current $6.7 million salary next year. If the Pohlad family indeed intends to increase payroll (as Tom has suggested would have been the case this year, had he taken the reins earlier) to even $130 million, they have more than enough room to bump up Jeffers’s contract for a single year. When my co-host on the Twins Off-Daily Podcast (no free ads), @Lou Hennessy, proposed this idea earlier in the season, I initially scoffed a bit. But the combination of Jeffers’s performance, team needs, and room to spend, might make this a worthwhile endeavor. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images In 2025, one of the season-long storylines in the Twins’ system was the use of piggyback relievers. At many levels of the organization, in addition to the team’s starting pitchers, there were a handful of pitchers who threw in bulk but were not in the rotation. And they also threw more often, typically on three days’ rest, one day fewer than a typical starter’s four days. Many questioned whether that plan would ever be carried over into the majors, but after the trade deadline last season, the Twins utilized set piggyback bulk relievers like Travis Adams, Pierson Ohl, and Thomas Hatch, who would throw multiple innings out of the bullpen on a schedule. Of course, the second half of the 2025 Twins season came at the end of a lost year, when wins and losses didn’t matter. So it was still unclear at the beginning of the 2026 season whether the team would continue to use this strategy. On Opening Day, the Twins did not appear to roster one of these guys, though players like Cody Laweryson, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk, Zak Kent, and Eric Orze would be counted on to throw more than an inning. Technically, though, they did start this using a form of this strategy in just the third game of the season, as Mick Abel piggybacked with Bailey Ober, throwing 3 1/3 innings in relief (to poor results, giving up five runs and not completing four full innings). Garrett Acton threw multiple innings in his Twins debut, then, on three days’ rest, threw another couple of innings on April 13th. He wasn’t asked to do so again, falling into a more traditional end-of-the-pen mop-up pitcher before his late April injury. Andrew Morris, though, stepped into this type of role fairly quickly upon his debut. Morris, a starter to this point in his career, debuted April 12th, throwing three innings of relief from the 6th to 8th inning. He next pitched on six days later, this time tasked with attempting a two-inning save, blowing it after recording just four of the required six outs. After this appearance, Morris sat three days and threw 2 2/3 innings, then sat three days and threw three innings. This usage pattern was more or less in line with the role the Twins have used in the minors. However, Morris was trending toward a more high-leverage role. He recorded a four-out hold on two days’ rest, then on two days’ rest recorded 3 2/3 innings in relief of an injured Joe Ryan. Following this appearance, he transitioned to more of a short relief role, and he hasn’t recorded more than four outs since May 3rd. Around that time, Kendry Rojas entered the picture as an additional arm with some length. Rojas, a starter like Morris, had been recovering from injury and started his season late, not fully stretching out as a starter by the time he got his number called for his MLB debut, which was two innings of relief in a piggyback start with fellow rookie Connor Prielipp. He was sent down shortly after his April debut but returned to MLB action on May 10th. Since then, he has followed the usage pattern one would expect of a player in this role. He recorded 10 outs as the bulk arm in a bullpen game against Cleveland on May 10th, then threw two innings on three days’ rest against Miami, closing out a blowout. After three more days of rest, he started his first game, throwing four innings against Houston. On four days’ rest after that, he threw three innings of relief against Boston. Rojas was then in line to start another game on four days’ rest on Thursday, May 28th, but he was scratched due to elbow soreness. Sadly, fans of this role may be without it for a while, but Rojas showed how useful a player in this role can be. He was off to a start to his career in which he was probably having more success than his performance suggested (his 1.47 WHIP is higher than his ERA), but he was almost an old-school swingman, cutting into the bullpen’s workload while also being available to start when the rotation needed to push someone back or fill in for a day. This oddball scheduled bulk reliever was actually working, at least for a while. Adams, one of the pioneers of the role in 2025, has also potentially been working into this role, starting his season throwing 2 1/3 innings on two days’ rest, two innings on five days’ rest, then two innings on two days' rest. However, it seems that the Twins might be gearing him toward working on shorter outings with shorter rest, even if he could be asked to throw more than an inning at a time, similar to the usage seen with players like Orze or Funderburk. Simeon Woods Richardson could have potentially replaced Rojas in this role, but he was DFAd on Saturday morning. It's hard to imagine SWR not being claimed by another organization. Woods Richardson was in line to throw in bulk in his May 18th bullpen debut, but the game entered a rain delay after his first inning of work, shutting him down for the night. He rested six days before pitching again in relief, this time two innings in a losing effort in Chicago. He started Thursday afternoon’s game on just two days’ rest when Rojas was scratched from the start. He didn't even make it through three innings before allowing five runs. Whatever the plan is with Woods Richardson, it doesn’t seem like this role is in the cards. However, using this formula has been something of a success. If you combine this type of multi-inning relief appearances from Morris, Rojas, and Adams, they’ve combined to throw 29 innings, allowing eight earned runs, which is a 2.48 ERA. If you include the four shutout innings Rojas threw as a spot starter on three days’ rest, it drops down to 2.18 in 33 innings. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re of the opinion this role is new-age made-up nonsense), the Twins haven’t been able to keep a player in this role long. Morris has been thrust into late-innings work, Rojas is on the injured list now with inflammation in his triceps, and Adams (who is the least stretched out) has been sent down to Triple-A due to high usage over the last week. And right now, it’s unclear that the Twins have another horse to slide into this role. The current Twins’ pen, outside of the aforementioned arms, doesn’t have anyone who can slide into this role. John Klein was called up to take SWR's roster spot. He didn’t impress in his debut but has been throwing multiple innings at Triple-A to middling effectiveness. Laweryson and Funderburk have also both struggled at Triple-A, and they have been promoted to fill Rojas and Adams's spots, which probably spells the end of the experiment, for now. Marco Raya, a high-octane recently converted starter, has been throwing multiple innings very frequently at Triple-A thus far this season, racking up 10 appearances with at least two full innings pitched. After a very shaky and discouraging start to the season, he’s settled into a more respectable 3.68 ERA in eight May appearances across 14 2/3 innings. He’s typically throwing on two or three days’ rest, though he’s topped out at 35 pitches. Still, he might be the best choice the Twins have if they want a hard-throwing bullpen arm who throws multiple innings with any regularity. C.J. Culpepper was just last month converted to a reliever upon his promotion to St. Paul, but he's throwing shorter outings than Raya and isn't on the 40-man. The position may be more trouble than it’s worth in the long run, and it may be suited only for players like Rojas and Morris who are close to being MLB-ready starters, but early returns on a stretched-out reliever who throws multiple innings on a somewhat predictable schedule have been encouraging. It’ll be interesting to see how much faith the Twins have in continuing its usage as the calendar turns to June. View full article

There are many hours in a day. You can work on multiple aspects of your game. The alternatives to having guys bounce around positionally are 1) Guaranteeing an abysmal defense, because you have to keep a guy where he's "always played," tools and development be damned, and 2) risking leaving a good player in the minors because you can't carry two guys who only play second base.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images On Friday, May 22nd, in Boston, Brooks Lee played a position other than shortstop for the first time since July 28th, 2025. Carlos Correa, the Twins’ starting shortstop between 2022 and mid-2025, left the following day’s game with a migraine and never played a game for Minnesota again. Since July 29th, Lee has started at shortstop in 95 games. But those days may be close to being over. There are a number of factors at play here. First, Lee himself. When Lee was drafted eighth overall in 2022, scouts believed he could be a serviceable MLB shortstop, with a pro arm and sure hands, but a lack of range. Since then, his defensive outlook has diminished, and it has felt like Lee has been asked to play shortstop out of necessity. He has turned in some good plays, but he seems overmatched, with -8 outs above average (OAA) in 1,193 innings at the position, and -5 OAA just this season alone (390 innings). He’s graded out at second and third base as an approximately average-to-slightly-below-average fielder, and one of those two positions is likely where he needs to settle if he wants a multi-year career as a starting player. However, to this point, Minnesota has relied on him at shortstop due to a dearth of other options. Tristan Gray, the team’s utility infielder through the first two months of the 2026 season, is a 30-year-old out of his athletic prime who can play some shortstop but shouldn’t be counted on as the team’s everyday shortstop, nor has he been playing every day at any position. However, the team recently called up another utility infielder, Ryan Kreidler, who has a much different profile than Gray. Kreidler, despite his hot start at the plate (.313/.405/.656 with 3 home runs in 37 plate appearances), is not a good hitter. He’s been among the worst hitters in baseball during his five-year MLB career. However, he’s a bona fide shortstop. Prior to Friday’s game, he had played five games in center field and five games at third base, only starting at shortstop in a game Lee did not play. Friday, though, he played shortstop, the position where he’s most valuable, for the first time getting precedence over Lee. And Saturday, he started at the hot corner again. In fact, on the broadcast, Cory Provus noted that the club has made it clear that Lee will spend a lot of time at third in the near future. This alignment makes the most of both players’ skill sets when both are on the dirt. Kreidler is the best shortstop on the team, so it makes sense to play him at the toughest position. Lee has a profile best served at third base, given his lack of range. Honestly, the Twins’ third utility infielder, Orlando Arcia, should also get precedence over Lee at short. Neither Kreidler nor Arcia nor Gray is likely to be the long-term answer at shortstop, though. Instead, this move also appears to be clearing a path for Twins Daily’s #2 prospect, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, to make his debut in the not-so-distant future. Culpepper, the 21st overall pick in 2024, has been heating up at Triple-A St. Paul over the last few weeks, with an OPS over .900 over the past month. Culpepper started the season slowly, getting his first taste of Triple-A pitching this season. He’s also bounced around the diamond this spring, but two-thirds of his appearances have been at shortstop. Culpepper is more athletic and rangy than Lee with a plus arm, though there are questions about whether he has enough range to cut it as an MLB shortstop long-term. If he’s merely average, though, he’s a better option than Lee. Jamie Cameron wrote a great profile on Culpepper earlier this month that I encourage you to read. Long-term, the Twins probably hope a player like Twins Daily's #7 prospect Marek Houston will take over shortstop duties and move Culpepper to second or third base, but by all indications, the Twins seem to prefer Culpepper over Lee at short, necessitating a move to third (or second) base at some point for the three-year veteran. And the Twins recently reduced their 40-man roster to 39, designating Luis Garcia for assignment Saturday morning, which opens the door to add Culpepper to both the active and 40-man roster without much resistance. There’s another name at play, though—the reason third base is open for Lee to play, at least sporadically for now. Royce Lewis, the Twins’ starting third baseman (when healthy) since 2023, was demoted to Triple-A earlier this week after mustering just a .539 OPS in his first 119 plate appearances of 2026. For the foreseeable future, he will be in St. Paul (which also cuts into Culpepper’s time playing positions beyond shortstop), leaving major league playing time available at third base. It’d be a bit surprising if Lee exclusively played third for the time being, though the Twins don't currently have a player who plays third but doesn't play shortstop on their roster. It’s unclear whether—or if—Lewis will return to major-league action, or at what position. As bad as Lee has looked early this season at shortstop, Lewis looked as bad or worse at third base. It’s possible that Lewis, along with getting his hitting back on track, may need to learn to play another position to get back up to the majors, but that conversation is months away. As a caveat, the Twins have another struggling infielder—Luke Keaschall—to worry about. Perhaps Lee or Culpepper (or Arcia or Gray) might also be asked to man the keystone at some point, which complicates this analysis. But for right now, it looks like we’re in the early stages of Brooks Lee’s short tenure as Minnesota’s shortstop coming to an unceremonious end, and the newly-vacated hot corner is as good a place as any to let him settle in, so long as he shows something at the plate*. *it’s unclear that he’s shown enough at the plate yet View full article

Bowman is 35 himself. I try not to get too upset when my complaint is effectively "How come the Twins chose the probably bad player I don't like instead of the probably bad player I do like!?"

I think guys knowing when they should expect to pitch is valuable. But I struggle to justify the idea that taking them “You will be facing the 5-6-7 hitters” is markedly different than “You will be pitching the 8th”