Greggory Masterson

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images I’m going to be honest: a few weeks ago, I had a thought. Why are people down on Trevor Larnach? It felt like he was having a productive year. He had just hit his 10th home run, on pace to crack 20 homers for the first time in his career, and he was driving the ball well, sitting at 10 doubles just 69 games into the year, as well. But I looked up his OPS, and it was just a bit over league average, at .736 (105 OPS+). At that point, I shrugged and just assumed I was overrating him in my head. That’s fine, acceptable production from a mediocre glove in the corner outfield. It’s not good, by any means, but it keeps the line moving. In the weeks since, he’s continued producing (by the eye test), hitting for power and a decent average, and taking a few walks. But still, the numbers on the season weren’t there. He’s sitting at a 103 OPS+, in line with his career averages—but markedly lower than the 116 OPS+ he had last season, when he was one of the more quietly productive bats in the Twins lineup. So I went poking around, and figured it out. It’s his performance against lefties. Larnach is actually hitting better against righties this season than he did last year. Against righties, he was 20% above average last season and is 24% above average thus far this season. Against lefties, he was bad last year—37% below average—but this season he’s been unplayable at 63% below average. It’s not only that his performance has slipped; it’s that he’s also getting considerably more run against lefties. Last season, 5.7% of his total plate appearances were against lefties, but this season he’s at 19.4%, meaning nearly one in every five plate appearances has come against southpaws. Personally, I take performance against lefties as noise, for a left-handed batter. I just assume any left-on-left plate appearance is an out, and any hit is a fun bonus. That’s probably why I didn’t understand the slippage in his performance. I didn’t realize how many more of his plate appearances were against lefties. I’d say it’s not even slippage, but more like overexposure. To put it into perspective, if instead of only 81% of his plate appearance coming against righties this season he hit against them 94% of the time, like last season, his OPS would raise from .744 to about .791, which would put him around the same level as Willi Castro, about 20% above league average. He’s got one of the worst slash lines against lefties on the team, being trailed only by Christian Vázquez among semi-regulars. And yet, he has the seventh-most plate appearances against lefties this season, leading all other lefties, too. At the beginning of the season, manager Rocco Baldelli commented that Larnach had requested seeing more lefties, staying in against lefty relievers, and the chance to be a true everyday player. The organization also didn’t field many consistent lefty platoon bats. Much of the season has featured both Jonah Bride and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. as roster pieces, neither of whom the manager seems eager to play against lefties (even though Bride bats righty), leaving Larnach with the opportunity to hit them and stay in the game when a lefty comes up. This is a departure from previous seasons, as players like Manuel Margot, Donovan Solano, Kyle Farmer, Jordan Luplow, and Kyle Garlick have been rostered specifically to hit lefties—with varying degrees of success. This season, there has been no reason not to let Larnach—or other lefties like Matt Wallner and switch-hitters who struggle from the right side of the plate, like Brooks Lee—get opportunities to hit lefties. But it hasn’t worked for Larnach. Wallner, Lee, Castro, and Kody Clemens have all had more success. Admittedly, Larnach has gotten less run against southpaws in recent weeks. He’s started fewer games, ceding time to other lefty hitters (or Bride) in starting lineups against lefties, and he's been pulled in three straight games (for Lee, Lee, and Harrison Bader) over the weekend after a lefty reliever entered. It’s just not working out now, and the Twins don’t have a clean swap to keep him out of the lineup when they roster Larnach, Wallner, Clemens, and Keirsey, unless they start both catchers—which isn’t the end of the world, but man, would it be nice if they had someone to consistently fill that spot. As it is, Larnach has become the de facto Max Kepler: the lefty batter who gets to face some lefties, but probably shouldn't, in the interest of both his own numbers and the team's success. View full article

Sweet Lou returns to host the show, tries to make some trade deadline predictions, and gets everyone out at a reasonable time. Comrade Cody and Ol Gregg recount attending the 4th of July game together, including being on the jumbotron and Harrison Bader almost hitting Gregg's wife with a ball. Livestreamed on Monday night! Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View full article

I regret using the word "serviceable," because it's a bit value as to what I mean. You can be a valuable player while being an average or slightly below-average MLB shortstop (like 50th/40th percentile). Most teams don't have two "good" shortstops on their roster (and what I meant by "good" is being in the top third of MLB shortstops defensively. I also wish that I spent a little more time on the topic to say that he's made some really impressive plays, because of his good hands and arm, that help him overcome his limited range, and plenty of big leaguers have been good infielders even with limited range.

Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images Entering Sunday night’s game, Brooks Lee had a hit in 25 of his last 27 games, and one of those 27 was a game in which he didn’t have a plate appearance. He slashed .346/.370/.510 from May 28 to June 28. His .880 OPS was enough to bring his season OPS all the way to… .733, from .622. His OPS even dipped down to .613 early during this streak of games; going 1 for 6 with a single technically extends a hitting streak, but it doesn’t do much for an OPS. Before that May 28 game, Lee had played in 39 games, and his OPS+ was about 30% below average. We’ve seen plenty of Twins prospects take the Green Line back to St. Paul for performances like that, including fellow infielder Edouard Julien (.607 OPS) this very year. Jose Miranda performed worse, but was only given 36 plate appearances before he was demoted to Triple-A. So why was Lee’s case different? There are some obvious answers. He was once briefly the Twins’ top prospect by some lists; he was a top-10 pick in a recent draft. He’s more aesthetically pleasing at the plate, even when he struggles, than Julien or Miranda can be. He’s got a big role in this team’s future. Those undoubtedly play some role. But there’s one huge factor that has allowed him to work through his growing pains as a big-leaguer, when those two (or names like Mickey Gasper and Jonah Bride) got far less time to figure things out. It’s defense. Sometimes, it really is so simple. Teams need a reserve infielder. And even when Lee’s bat wasn’t productive early in the season, his glove was useful, especially given Willi Castro’s missed time due to injury and his declining performance in the field. There are few baseball players in the world who can play a passable big-league shortstop. It’s the reason why a player like Kyle Farmer has seven years of MLB service time, despite being a below-average hitter his entire career. Lee is one of those guys. That counts for something. Even when a player is hitting a hollow .230 after a quarter of a season, he can remain useful. The Twins have shallow shortstop depth. Castro and Lee both have MLB experience at short behind Carlos Correa, but after that, the next men up are 30-year-old Ryan Fitzgerald (who made his MLB debut this season) or Payton Eeles, who has yet to play a major-league game. It’s almost imperative that Lee sticks on the roster, whether he’s hitting or not. That plays into his benefit. His career is far more stable because he can defend. He’s not a great shortstop—probably not even a good one—but he’s serviceable. His lack of range limits his ceiling as a defender at second and third base, but he’s sure-handed and has a good arm. Like many sure-handed, good-armed infielders with limited range, the eye test likes him more than the advanced metrics: he grades out about average at second and third and slightly below average at shortstop. But he’s no liability out there. Contrast that to his closest counterparts, Miranda and Julien. Neither infielder plays shortstop, and they’re mostly constrained to third and second base, respectively. Both can play first base if necessary, but the Twins have avoided doing so. And at their natural positions, although both have made strides defensively, the best anyone can hope for is an average performance. Even Austin Martin, an athletic infielder drafted higher than Lee, is a fringe roster player because he’s now mostly limited to the outfield and isn’t a trustworthy center fielder. When you don’t contribute to winning defensively, you have to hit. It should be noted that most players aren’t expected to excel on both sides of the ball. The biggest reason that Lee was drafted in the top 10 of the 2022 Draft is that he had both an advanced hit tool and could defend adequately at multiple positions. There are better defenders and better hitters, but when a player can potentially excel at both (or merely be average-plus), it’s a huge benefit to the organization. Some players have to hit because of their poor defense. Others have to defend because their offense will never be enough. And some are given the time to figure it out because one side of their profile can do enough, at least for now. Many had hoped Lee would hit enough to be the everyday second baseman in 2025. He didn’t show enough for that to happen, and he was kind of Wally Pipped by Kody Clemens, but he did prove valuable enough as a defender to fill an (almost-)everyday role as a utility infielder. That bought him the time that other, poorer defenders can’t have. Lee didn’t need to hit to have a role on the team. Now that he is hitting, he’s played himself into a more prominent role. Hopefully, things continue to trend up for the former top prospect, but it’s always nice for the player and valuable for the organization to have a skill that doesn’t fluctuate nearly so much. Hitting comes and goes, but professional play in the field is far more reliable. View full article

Ol Gregg explains to Sweet Lou what's happened in the month since he's last appeared on the show, then he digs into gripes, dooming, and hot takes from Twins fans. Recorded live in front of a podcasting audience. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View full article

Ol Gregg and Comrade Cody are joined by Peter Labuza for a cathartic episode. In what many are calling the most pessimistic episode ever (no doubt to Gregg hosting instead of Sweet Lou), the gang reads gripes from listeners, has some fun, and looks for silver linings. Gregg discusses his accidental appearance in Sports Illustrated. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View full article

Don’t look at my (albeit neutral) look at whether the Twins should deal pitching depth for hitters from 2 weeks ago

I’m willing to call it wishful thinking, but there’s a small voice in me that wants to see if he could preform like the hitter he was last season if given more run, that’s really all.

I’m willing to bet any righty is better against lefties, given that it’s less than 1% who actually have reverse splits. And even with reverse splits, it’s not like he’s meaningfully worse against lefties than one of the lefties, anyway. Keep everyone involved, keep em fresh, etc.

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images This isn’t about Jonah Bride. Well, it’s sort of about Jonah Bride, but it’s more about the spot that Jonah Bride is in right now and how it’s being used. Jonah Bride is a casualty. He's a coincidence. He's really more Jonah Bridesmaid, most of the time, and that's kind of the point here. There are four bench spots in 99% of MLB games. Technically, there could be more—and once in a while there are—but MLB teams try their darnedest to maximize their bullpen. They’d carry more than the allotted 13 if baseball allowed them to. You know all that, though. Traditionally, an MLB bench of four will surely have a backup catcher (unless the backup catcher plays somewhere else regularly, which isn’t common). Most of the time, there’s a fourth outfielder—who can ideally play center field—and a fifth infielder—who can ideally play shortstop. But then there’s the wildcard; the fourth guy. That fourth guy (or, more accurately, the 13th man) is very context-dependent. Maybe it’s a Donovan Solano-type, primarily a pinch hitter. Maybe it’s a Terrance Gore, only used to pinch-run. Perhaps it's reserved for a defensive replacement—especially common when the other bench infielder really shouldn’t play shortstop, for example. A platoon hitter, perhaps, even one who will never face a single same-sided thrower. Or maybe it’s a combination of all of them, like 2023 Willi Castro—someone who can technically play anywhere, run, and hit, depending on the in-game context. The 13th man is dependent on the construction of the rest of the roster, but man, can he complement it well. And then there’s the, let’s call it a Cobweb 13th Man. Jonah Bride falls into this spot. Bride started a getaway day game on Thursday, but that was his first start since May 27, 16 days ago. He’s played a full game once since May 24, 19 days ago. The team doesn’t have even a part-time role player in the last bench spot. That’s not a huge issue, though. The 13th man doesn’t need to start to be useful. Except he’s not coming off the bench within games, either. He’s not an upgrade defensively, offensively, or on the basepaths over more than a couple of players in each category, and there are generally better options on the bench for any of those roles. Bride pinch ran for the slowest player on the team—Ty France—on June 1. He pinch-hit for Byron Buxton in June 3 and June 5 blowouts, to get Buxton off his feet. He then pitched the final two innings in the June 5 game, and reprised his role as a blowout pitcher on June 10. Those are all four of his appearances in the 16 days between May 27 and Thursday afternoon, another blowout in which he was very present but profoundly unimportant. Bride’s player type doesn’t fit the current roster. Castro is starting many days in left field, but if the team needs him on the dirt, Trevor Larnach can slide out of the DH spot or Harrison Bader can come off the bench to play left. The Twins don’t appear keen on inserting Bride as the DH in these instances, as he hasn’t started as the designated hitter once since being acquired in April. Beyond Castro, Brooks Lee is also a near-everyday infielder, rotating between shortstop, second base, and third base. Bride’s primary position, third base, has Royce Lewis, Lee, and Castro stacked between him and regular playing time. Bride can also play a reliable first base, but France rarely misses a game, and the Twins have been more inclined to play Kody Clemens there. (Clemens has started three games there in a Twins uniform, compared to Bride’s one.) He can technically play second base, but the aforementioned names bury him, too, and he is little more than an emergency option there. Maybe that’s truly what the Twins want: a somewhat competent player who can be used in emergencies (including as a pitcher, I guess). If Castro, Lee, and Bader are going to play a lot, that spot doesn’t have to be terribly prominent. Bride riding the pine even comes with the benefit that fans aren’t banging the table and screaming that he should get more playing time, unlike many of the other 13th-man options in the organization at Triple-A St. Paul. But it’s hard not to look at the spot and wish there was something more the team could do with it. There have been instances since DaShawn Keirsey Jr.’s May 31 demotion when the Twins could have used a good pinch-runner. They could use another right-handed bat to platoon with Larnach, Wallner, or Clemens, like Carson McCusker (a man can dream, can't he?). Heck, at a bare minimum, Mickey Gasper or Diego Cartaya can be a third catcher. Oh, speaking of right-handed bats, Bride himself is a righty. He is a righty with reverse splits (he’s hit righties better than lefties in his career), but when has that ever stopped the Twins from giving a righty some platoon time? Well, now is when, I guess. Bride hasn’t been a consistent part of the platoon lineups. Some of this is practical. He’s a first and third baseman, and France and Lewis are righties. Any advantage he may have over switch-hitting Lee is outweighed by Lee’s superior ability at second base. That leaves designated hitter, but the Twins have stuck Ryan Jeffers there quite frequently, letting fellow righty and more respected defensive catcher Christian Vázquez handle the pitching staff that day. Again, this isn’t about Bride personally. I’d love to see him get a little more time and provide a bit more utility. Let him start against lefties, give him some time at DH and slide Larnach to the outfield, or give France the day off at first base once in a while. That’s more of the typical use for a guy like Bride, and he’s had some big-league success, namely his 120 OPS+ in 2024. I’m sure he wishes he was playing more, too. But over the last three weeks, his most prominent role has been blowout knuckleball hurler. And that’s no way to live a life in 2025. Maybe it’s fine. Maybe there’s no clear upgrade. Maybe the alternate names would be better served playing every day at Triple-A. Maybe the Twins truly want a guy who they’re fine not playing with any regularity as that last man, collecting cobwebs. Keirsey, Gasper and (for the blink of an eye he spent on the roster) McCusker were mothballed much of the time, themselves. But it’s hard not to feel like the spot could be used more beneficially. View full article

Sadly this one only got one page. It’s a reference to a popular meme, taken to mean a long, perhaps nonsensical, fruitless debate that nonetheless has very opinionated people viciously arguing sorry for the confusion. https://amp.knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-greatest-thread-in-the-history-of-forums-locked-by-a-moderator-after-12239-pages-of-heated-debate

I too hate RBIs

Image courtesy of © Dennis Lee-Imagn Images In a vacuum, the Ty France signing has been a success. Any time a team can get value from a $1-million signing via free agency, that’s a victory. If your measuring stick is salary versus FanGraphs WAR dollar value, then I guess that’s enough. If you believe that having a non-embarrassment on the team is worth more than $1 million, there we go. But baseball is more complicated than that. We have to compare that against other markers of success. If a team spent $26 million on 26 Ty France-level performers, they still wouldn’t be very good overall. Compounding this, Ty France has been, let’s just say, highly irregular this season—at least in some ways, because in others, he’s been very regular. Let’s break down the many ways to view Ty France. Let’s start with the obvious one: his performance in clutch situations. Baseball Reference classifies leverage differently than FanGraphs, but under both sites’ definitions, France has performed significantly better in high-leverage situations than in low-leverage situations. According to Baseball Reference, France is slashing .457/.519/.565 in high leverage, and FanGraphs has him at .500/.583/.650. Those are otherworldly numbers, especially compared to his .570 and .549 OPSes in low leverage, according to the two sites. With runners on, France is hitting .330 with an .809 OPS, about 30% above average. When men are in scoring position, that goes up to a .381 average and an .856 OPS, about 40% above average. Few hitters have performed better when it counts than France has this season. However, with the bases empty, he has just a .227 average and a .629 OPS, about 20% below average. When France has done damage this year, it’s in spots that count. He’s outperformed his overall averages, which has helped him place second on the team in RBIs (35) and first in win probability added (1.20). But when the moment isn’t big, and when he doesn’t have a chance to drive someone in, he’s been worse than pedestrian. There are a number of potential explanations for this. Perhaps France has clutch magic. Maybe he changes his approach. I’m not really sure what the reason is, but it’s a discrepancy worth noting. If you take his stellar performance when it counts and add in his poor performance when the moments are smaller, he’s a roughly league-average hitter. By OPS, he’s exactly average, and by wRC+, he’s 5% above average. It’s close enough to just call him an average hitter. He’s an average hitter who does his damage when the team needs it. And roughly average hitters are valuable. By definition, “average hitter” describes a large swath of the league's batters, and there's no shame in being part of that fraternity. But France is a first baseman. First basemen are supposed to hit, and hit for power. France’s hitting profile is more contact-oriented than power-oriented. In addition to leading the Twins in RBIs, he also leads in hits (63) and batting average (.273). However, he only has a .372 slugging average, which is below the league average of .395—not what you’d typically expect from a first baseman. His isolated power—slugging minus batting average—is .100, which is 149th of 166 among qualified hitters. He’s mostly a singles hitter, which (again) isn’t what you typically expect from a first baseman. He's only got four home runs on the season and is on track for about 10. However, first basemen are not the hitters that they used to be, compared to hitters in general. Fifteen years ago, the average first baseman was 20% better than average. This season, the position as a whole is only 7% above average, which is just 2% better than France by wRC+. Overall, even without the power, he’s been roughly average, even among first basemen. And it’s been right around the same level of productivity that Twins first basemen have performed at since 2009. But that’s nothing to get too excited about. The Twins have struggled to produce runs from first base over the last 15 years. There are 17 first basemen with more than 70 plate appearances at the position who have been better hitters than France. It’s part of the reason France’s name gets brought up often as a displacement candidate at the trade deadline. First base can be improved. And, again, it’s hard to believe he can continue to cram all of his production into the biggest moments. That’s not really a predictive trait. Speaking of predictive, though, it’s possible that France is getting unlucky. I know some of you just groaned, but there’s evidence that France has been playing worse than his underlying metrics would lead one to believe. France is underperforming his expected weighted on-base average—a stat that tries to give proper weight to each individual outcome (singles, walks, home runs, etc.) in a single three-digit decimal. By his Statcast metrics, France is one of the biggest underperformers in baseball. How do the nerds reason? Well, even though he never walks (though he does lead the league in getting hit by pitches), he also doesn’t swing and miss or strike out very often. He puts the ball in play a lot, squaring it up quite often, but having mostly average quality of contact. Putting that together, he puts the ball in play a lot while maintaining average damage, so he should be solidly above average as a hitter. His slugging should be a bit higher than it is now, as well. The odd part about these underlying metrics is that they’re more favorable than even France’s best years in Seattle, including an All-Star campaign. He’s putting together good plate appearances, and he’s probably hitting the ball on the ground too much, but it’s possible his performance could improve from here. And while we’re on the topic of the first base position and Statcast, did you know France has been the third-most valuable defender on the Twins by Statcast’s OAA (outs above average)? His 4 OAA fits right between Harrison Bader’s 5 and Byron Buxton’s 3. Defensive statistics are messy, and first base is a difficult spot to judge due to scooping ability and whatnot. Still, by the eye test, I wouldn’t say there have been a ton of balls France has outright made a bad play on, or that I’ve thought that he should have gotten to but didn't. It’s especially strange after France’s 2024, in which he was the seventh-worst defender in MLB by OAA across all positions (-12). And let’s circle back to the price tag. Again, basically any level of useful production makes the money worth it, but signing France precludes another signing. Granted, the Twins were reportedly working with little funds this offseason. And France isn’t displacing anyone at the position. Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda, and Mickey Gasper, the other options at first base, have each performed poorly enough in Minnesota to be sent to the minor leagues. So, even as a league-average bat, it’s nice to have France around. Beneath all the hullaballoo, France has been a league-average batter, but he’s at one of the premier offensive positions, so he’s closer to below average than above average, and his style of production doesn't fit that of a normal first baseman. Nearly all of that league-average production has come in high leverage and with men on base, though, so he’s helped the Twins win games. That outsized effect on winning probably won’t keep up—at least to this degree—but he’s performed under his expected production all season long. And he’s been a good defender. All for a million bucks, but also at the opportunity cost of another player. What do you think? Is there an angle that I’ve missed? Is France having a good season? Maybe WAR has it right. Both Baseball Reference and FanGraphs have France at 0.7 wins above replacement. Over a full season, that would track to be 1.5 or 2.0 WAR, which would be a borderline starter or good bench player. Maybe that's it? View full article

With Sweet Lou MIA, Cody and Gregg give you a supersized episode of Twins Off-Daily where they answer the hard questions like "How does the rotation depth look now?" "Is Ty France good?" "Will Carson McCusker replace him?" "Should baseball players be volunteer firemen?" and "Could 100 Twins fans defeat a bear?" Lou's wife Claire sends in gripes about Lou, which are read on-air. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View full article

Image courtesy of © Dennis Lee-Imagn Images I’ll be the first to say it: I was skeptical of Willi Castro. He slowed down in the second half of 2024 after his All-Star selection to the tune of a .627 OPS (about 25% below league average), then struggled early in 2025, battling injury and carrying a .600 OPS through the first quarter of the season. Since May 14, though, he’s slashed .327/.435/.673, bringing his season total to a .803 OPS, about 30% better than average. His season is back on track, and although he won’t keep up this Kody Clemens pace, it’s easier to see him as a consistent cog in the 2025 Twins machine. A few weeks ago, this discussion would be far darker. Since 2023, Castro has been a consistent piece of the lineup, playing in 124 games that year and 158 in 2024. He’s played everywhere except catcher and first base (though he did work out at first a bit this year, during spring training). He’s been valuable beyond his numbers, being the team’s primary backup at shortstop and center field last year and enabling any Rocco Baldelli in-game move with his flexibility. However, unlike last season, Castro isn’t relied on to be the primary backup at those most critical defensive positions right now. He’s stretched in those spots, but the 2024 team needed him there because the other options were suboptimal. Manuel Margot—once a near-Gold Glove defender in center field—saw his defensive ability plummet in his late 20s, and by the time he reached Minnesota, he was no longer a viable option. Kyle Farmer slowed in his early 30s, relegating the utility infielder to more of a second base/third base role in his second year in Minnesota. Thus, Castro saw 56 games at shortstop and 30 games in center field—ranking second and third, respectively, on the team in time at the spots. That’s in addition to his 40 games at second, 34 in left, 27 at third, and two pitching appearances. The flexibility is a blessing, but the team would probably prefer not to rely on Castro so much at those positions. Enter Brooks Lee and Harrison Bader. Thus far in 2025, Castro has been called on at shortstop just five times, and taken up a place in center once. As certain defensive upgrades over Farmer and Margot, Lee plays solid defense at shortstop, and Bader is an excellent center fielder. These upgrades protect the team from locking Castro in at these positions at which he’s stretched. Although he may find himself there through in-game moves, the presence of a designated backup infielder and outfielder allows the team to revert to playing Castro according to maximal positive impact, rather than being forced into each choice on the basis of desperate necessity. He can be a free space on the lineup card, sliding in wherever there is a need on a day-to-day basis, and they aren’t forced to keep him in a single spot all game because there are no other center fielders or shortstops on the active roster. Many of you just shuddered; Rocco Baldelli’s micromanaging is once again enabled. There’s a second factor at play here—health. Castro saw extended time at short, center, and third because of injuries to Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Royce Lewis in 2024, and—at least for right now—all spots on the field are covered by a primary player (thank you, Kody Clemens). For Castro, this means no long-term stays at any one spot. Truthfully, even with one injury to the current starting fielders, Lee and Bader might be the names called to fill in for weeks at a time. This depth just adds to the flexibility Castro can bring. He might even become a pinch-running option again, if he’s not forced to start every single day—a practice that may have worn him down in the second half of 2024. The Twins do not currently have a consistent designated hitter. In addition to Castro, Lee, and Bader, they also have backup catcher Christian Vázquez and (in case you forgot) Jonah Bride sitting most days. As such, there’s plenty of time for all three of the primary backups to play, giving regulars days off or half-days at DH. And that’s probably exactly how Baldelli and the Twins prefer to go. By increasing the alternatives to Castro, the team has (perhaps paradoxically) far more flexibility to do whatever the heck they want with him. It’s a good thing he started hitting, though, because those other options might have squeezed him out of a spot. And if his bat slows back down, the team isn’t forced to continue playing him. View full article

Hand up, I meant to say O'Hearn but my fingers said Mountcastle. There are too many Ryans in the world.