Cody Schoenmann

Signed by the Minnesota Twins to a minor-league contract in late February 2023, Jeff Hoffman pitched five innings in spring training before exercising his opt-out after being reassigned to minor-league camp. The hard-throwing righty quickly signed a minor-league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, pitching nine innings for their Triple-A affiliate before having his contract selected in early May 2023. The 30-year-old Hoffman immediately excelled with Philadelphia, netting a 2.41 ERA, 2.57 FIP, and a 33.2% strikeout rate over 52 1/3 innings pitched in 2023. He pitched at a similarly elite rate with Philadelphia in 2024, earning his first All-Star nod, before signing a three-year, $33 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2025 regular season. The veteran reliever struggled with Toronto last season, manufacturing a 4.37 ERA and 4.90 FIP over 68 innings pitched. However, he netted 33 saves (23 more than his prior career-high) while maintaining an elite strikeout rate. Despite losing his closer role to now-elite reliever Louis Varland, Hoffman looked like the Philadelphia version of himself with Toronto this season, posting a 3.94 ERA, 2.49 FIP, and a 34.9% strikeout rate (the fifth-highest strikeout rate among relievers) over 48 innings pitched. Hoffman generating swing-and-miss at an elite rate is why Twins decision-makers sought him out. “When we went out to acquire for our bullpen, we wanted to acquire specific things: swing and miss or the ability to miss bats later in games and leverage was something that’s important to us,” stated manager Derek Shelton. “He’s at what, 80 punch outs in 49 innings? Like, we did not have that in our bullpen. That is the thing that has been the most impressive and the thing we needed.” Hoffman shared a similar assessment. “I’ve pretty much led the AL in K/9 (strikeouts per nine innings pitched) all year.” Hoffman correctly proclaimed before noting his early-season struggles with the Blue Jays. “I think we got a little fastball-heavy in Toronto, both last year and this year…It seemed like every ball that was put in play was a hit, like, no matter how hard or how soft. There just wasn’t any, like, let up on that. So, it was like, all right, how do we limit the ball being put in play? And that was to throw the slider as much as possible and let the other two pitches complement that one.” Hoffman’s intuition was correct. Since the beginning of May (roughly the time when he started throwing his slider more), the hard-tossing has netted a 2.89 ERA, 2.37 FIP, and an elite 32.5% strikeout rate over 37 1/3 innings pitched, accumulating one of his strongest stretches with Toronto. Hoffman is the best version of himself when relying heavily on his slider. It’s what turned his career around, becoming one of baseball’s best relievers with Philadelphia, and inking an eight-figure, multi-year contract with Toronto. Interestingly, Hoffman considers Minnesota to be the organization that sparked his mid-career renaissance in 2023. “I kind of had an empty space in my arsenal that I needed to put the final puzzle piece in, um, because I was going out there with, like, a bad breaking pitch that didn’t tunnel with my fastball or splitter.” Then, Twins coaches suggested he throw his slider more. Hoffman added over six miles per hour of average velocity (81.2 MPH to 87.8 MPH) to the pitch from 2022 to 2023 while spiking his usage rate from 24% to 48%. “I needed something to kind of cover that empty space over there, so being able to add velocity to the slider (was) everything I needed out of the pitch. So, you know, when my feel is good with that pitch, then everything seems to fall into place.” Everything fell into place for Hoffman soon after departing Minnesota in late March 2023, turning into one of the most efficient swing-and-miss relievers in baseball. The 34-year-old again appears to be finding light at the end of the tunnel—guided by his elite slider. This time, however, the Twins have the opportunity to reap the benefits of Hoffman’s adjusted arsenal, instead of watching him thrive elsewhere.

The Minnesota Twins entered Sunday afternoon’s matinee matchup against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers with intentions of handing them their first home series loss since late June against the Chicago Cubs. While they fell short of that goal, Sunday’s get-away game held sentimental value for two young Twins. “Yeah, it’s going to be fun. Connor (Prielipp) and I were talking about it. It’s great,” Alan Roden told reporters Sunday morning. Roden was born in Middleton, Wisconsin, graduating from high school there before committing to play baseball at Creighton University in 2018. “(I was a fan of) Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun growing up. I was talking about the ‘08 season earlier. It was a lot of fun, you know, watching baseball as a kid. Fast forward a couple years, Eric Thames comes to mind—Chris Carter and Jesús Aguilar, too.” Sunday’s starting pitcher for Minnesota, Connor Prielipp, grew up less than two hours from Roden in Tomah, Wisconsin. “I actually faced Connor in high school. I think it was called regionals, it’s like playoffs. Tomah beat us. I did get a hit off him though. Make sure you tell him that.” remarked a smirking Roden. One season after beating Roden’s Middleton club in regionals, Prielipp won 2019 Gatorade Wisconsin Baseball Player of the Year Award, before committing to the University of Alabama. “I would guess (Connor is excited). You know, coming back and pitching close to his to hometown… I would imagine, you know, there’s gonna be some excitement for Connor,” said manager Derek Shelton. Despite surrendering a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio, Prielipp kept pace with impending NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob Misiorowski, netting seven strikeouts and three earned runs over five innings pitched. Roden grounded out and struck out in two plate appearances against the best starting pitcher in baseball, an outcome one would be hard-pressed to critique much. We can’t all possess world-beating, left-handed swings like Brooks Lee and Kody Clemens. “It was awesome. Being a lifelong Brewers fan, it awesome to say I finally pitched here,” said Prielipp during his postgame interview. “But at the end of the day, I was ready to pitch.” Jake Bauers hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning, propelling Milwaukee to a one-run victory over Minnesota. Despite the bitter ending, however, this will be a day to remember for the two Wisconsinites.

Activated off the 7-day Triple-A IL on July 24 from a left hip strain that sidelined him for over two weeks, Minnesota Twins third-ranked prospect Kaelen Culpepper struggled upon rejoining St. Paul’s lineup, hitting .179/.207/.214 with a 2 wRC+ over 28 plate appearances. Minnesota's top pick in the 2024 draft quickly changed course, however, hitting .412/.474/.706 with a 199 wRC+ over his next 21 plate appearances, putting together one of the best three-game stretches of his 2026 campaign. In response, the Minnesota Twins purchased Culpepper’s contract from Triple-A on August 7, with him making his major league debut against Milwaukee that night. Culpepper was in the shower when he realized something was going down. “Our clubby told me to go into (Brian Dinkelman’s) office, and I walked in, and all staff was in there; coordinators were in there. I kind of knew what was going on. He broke the news to me. I got pretty emotional. I started crying and stuff.” His sentimental state continued as he entered Minnesota’s dugout. “(I) felt welcomed, for sure. Everyone’s focused, of course, but so many congratulations. I feel very comfortable. The last couple of hours were very hectic, you know what I mean? I’m just excited to get the first at-bat out of the way for sure.” The 23-year-old popped out to Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers in his first at-bat. However, manager Derek Shelton is confident about Culpepper’s ability to contribute at a high level at the plate. “He’s definitely made strides (at the plate). There’s still gonna be room for improvement at the major league level, but I think all the challenges we’ve thrown at (Kaelen) organizationally this year, he’s done a really nice job…there’s bat speed there. There’s an ability to impact the baseball.” Shelton was quickly proven right, as Culpepper homered off Milwaukee left-handed starting pitcher Shane Drohan in his second major league at-bat, with the ball traveling 390 feet at 100.2 MPH off the bat: Culpepper homering in his major league debut is indicative of the offensive potential the right-handed bat has demonstrated since Minnesota drafted him 21st overall in the 2024 MLB Amateur Draft. He hit 20 home runs between High- and Double-A in 2025, sporting a near-elite average exit velocity and barrel rate at both levels. He maintained an elite average exit velocity and barrel rate at Triple-A while refining his approach and swing decisions against advanced pitching. Culpepper has all the tools necessary to become one of Minnesota’s most productive hitters immediately. Shelton is also optimistic about Culpepper in the field. “I think right now (he’s) just going to be playing shortstop. I mean, I think with our club, we’ve got to know that you can play multiple positions. He’s played second and third in St. Paul. But I think right now in the short term, it would just be short. But, I mean, hell, we’ve watched guys go to positions that I don’t—I mean, if you would have told me Alex Jackson was going to start two games at first base a month ago, I would have told you that you were crazy.” Regardless of where the consensus Top 100 prospect plays, Shelton believes he will play a meaningful role in Minnesota’s ability to return to the postseason for the first time since 2023. “He’s very ready…he’s become a better defender. I mean, this is a kid that has some tools. It’s why he’s so highly touted. He’s back healthy, he’s playing well, so we felt it was the right time to bring him to the big leagues.”

Long ago, pacing in front of a green, rectangular chalkboard, author Kurt Vonnegut traveled around the country, lecturing audiences on the shape of a story. In his lectures, Vonnegut would profess that stories have “very simple shapes; ones that computers can understand.” He would draw out a “GI axis” (”G” meaning good fortune; I meaning “Ill fortune”). He would then draw out the “BE axis.” Naturally, “B” stood for beginning and “E” for end. The first type of story is titled “Man in a Hole.” It needn’t be about a man nor a hole, but somebody gets into trouble and then gets out of it. Another popular story shape was “Boy Meets Girl.” Mind you, it needn’t be about a boy or a girl. Somebody, on a day like any other day, comes across something wonderful. It is their lucky day! Then **** hits the fan. But somehow, someway, they get their life together again. Finally, the most popular story begins closer to the “I” on the GI axis: Vonnegut talks about a young girl whose mother dies. Her father then immediately remarries to a terrible battleaxe with two mean daughters. There’s a party at the palace one night. She doesn’t get to go. Instead, she is forced to help her sisters get ready for it. But she does not let that bother her. She is a stout-hearted little girl with maximum grief due to the death of her mother. Suddenly, a fairy godmother gets her dressed; she goes to the party; and a prince falls in love with her. The clock strikes 12; she loses everything; the shoe fits, and she becomes off-scale happy for eternity. Rags to riches—a soaring (though undulating) climb from "I" to "G" as we progress from "B" to "E". Vonnegut notes the infinite despair of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” before noting that the rise and fall of these stories is artificial—pretending we know more about life than we do. Delving into “Hamlet.” Vonnegut describes the William Shakespeare classic, continually remarking that the events that occur in the story are neither good nor bad—they happen. We are so seldom told the truth in stories, but in “Hamlet,” Shakespeare tells us: we don’t know enough about life to know what the good news is and what the bad news is, and we respond to that. We pretend to know what the good news is and what the bad news is all the time. All we really do is echo the feelings of those around us. This sentiment is especially true when it comes to MLB’s trade deadline. Remember when the Twins front office traded for Tyler Mahle, Jorge López, and Michael Fulmer before the 2022 deadline? Immediately, those who followed the club deemed them deadline winners, acquiring a frontline starting pitcher and two high-leverage relievers. Less than two months later, they were deadline losers, with Mahle on the IL with a shoulder injury, Lòpez imploding in nearly every appearance, and Fulmer’s addition quickly becoming irrelevant as the club fell out of playoff contention. Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand were set to become stars with the Cincinnati Reds, making that deadline even more excruciating a misstep. Then, they didn’t. Yennier Cano was going to be one of the best late-innings relievers, with Cade Povich looking like a soon-to-be number two starter in Baltimore’s formidable starting rotation. Then, they didn’t. The Twins also should have just kept Sawyer Gipson-Long, who was bound to become a young, cost-controlled fixture in Detroit’s rotation for seasons to come—until he didn’t. We were but echoing the feelings of those around us. In 2023, the Twins' inactivity at the deadline was the nail in the coffin of their playoff aspirations—until it wasn’t. Despite not adding a single player at the deadline, Minnesota won the AL Central, ending its 18-game postseason losing streak and winning its first series in 19 years. We pretend to know what the good and bad news is, and we respond to that. The organization buying during this season’s deadline appears to be a good thing. It is a clear, welcome shift from the bleak passivity Minnesota’s ownership and front office has demonstrated since the end of the 2023 postseason. Still, we don’t know enough about the Twins to know what the good news is and what the bad news is, but we respond to that. The acquisitions of A.J. Minter and Dean Kremer were nice, floor-raising moves. The club could still add what is perceived to be a dramatic, tide-shifting starting pitcher like Reid Detmers or Casey Mize, or a reliever like Luke Weaver or Adrián Morejón. No matter what Minnesota does, it won’t be in the shape of a “Man in the Hole”, a “Boy Meets Girl” story, “Cinderella,” or “The Metamorphosis.” Instead, it will be a flat line like “Hamlet”: a series of transactions in which we don’t know if they will be good or bad. So, this deadline, I beg you not to echo the feelings of those around you, pretending to know what the good news is and what the bad news is. Instead, I ask you to acknowledge that we don’t know enough about trades to know what the good news is and what the bad news is, and respond to that appropriately. Imagine yourself moving along Vonnegut's chalkboard, and remember that while you're going from "B" to "E" inexorably, whether you're moving toward "G" or "I" at any given time is essentially impossible to know. Later, you can step back and see the whole chalkboard, and then we can all see the shape of the story. For now, we're just flecks of chalk.

The Twins got their read on reliever Jack Anderson the hard way. On April 14 he worked three innings against them, struck out four, and gave up a run over 11 batters. On July 11, five days after Boston cut him loose, they claimed him. Twelve days after that, he had his first career save. They're hoping that upward trend continues. The Twins bullpen has been better than average in July, with solid performances from Kody Funderburk (0.2 fWAR), Taylor Rogers (0.2), Yoendrys Gómez (0.2), Travis Adams (0.2), Andrew Morris (0.2), and Tommy Nance (0.1). These six relievers have done solid work suppressing runs, tying New York (AL) and Baltimore for the seventh-best relief unit this month. However, these six relievers aren’t the sole contributors to the unit’s successful month. Newcomer Jack Anderson has also contributed toward the club’s favorable ranking this month, netting 0.2 fWAR over 4 1/3 innings pitched. Bouncing between Detroit’s, Boston’s, and Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliates since 2024, Anderson received his first major league opportunity with the Red Sox in mid-April, posting a 3.38 ERA and 3.99 FIP over eight innings pitched, including the aforementioned three-inning relief appearance against the Twins. Designated for assignment by Boston on July 6, the right-handed reliever joined the organization he excelled against. The 26-year-old joined Minnesota’s bullpen two weeks later, earning his first career save in only his second appearance with the club. Five days later, Twins decision-makers optioned him to Triple-A St. Paul before promoting him two days later when Cole Sands was placed on the 15-day IL with a right elbow strain. Despite jumping between Triple-A and the parent club, Anderson has excelled with the Twins, netting a 0.00 ERA, 1.04 FIP, and 37.5% strikeout rate over 16 batters faced. The right-hander has heavily relied on his offspeed and breaking pitches since joining Minnesota, throwing his splitter and slider a combined 50% of the time, while throwing his sweeper 23.2%. The reason for this is that his splitter, slider, and sweeper are all firmly plus pitches, generating high whiff and chase rates. He hasn’t abandoned his four-seamer by any means, throwing it at a 26.8% rate. Still, with it sitting at 92.1 MPH while sporting a below-average movement profile, he has been wise to use his fastball far less than most right-handed relievers. Functionally, Anderson has been what Twins decision-makers hoped Eric Orze would be: a soft-tossing righty who dominates hitters of either handedness with his splitter, while attacking righties with his slider and sweeper. Again, Anderson could be back in Triple-A by the end of the week or if/when Minnesota acquires a reliever. (Or relievers? Plz, Jeremy Zoll?). Yet, given his dominant performance since joining Minnesota and the still unstable nature of Minnesota’s bullpen after Gómez, Morris, and Nance, Anderson could continue to earn high-leverage appearances, joining Gómez as a diamond-in-the-rough reliever acquired on the margins.

Weeks before spring training concluded and the Minnesota Twins flew from sunny Fort Myers to Baltimore to begin their 162-game regular season campaign, I published an article on utility player Ryan Kreidler, stating the 28-year-old had been MLB’s worst hitter over the past six seasons. Though harsh, the claim was valid—Kreidler’s career wRC+ of 11 made him the worst-performing hitter (766 out of 766) with at least 200 plate appearances from 2020 through 2025. Still, optimism remained that the former Detroit Tiger could contribute for Minnesota this season, particularly given his defensive flexibility. Luckily, that has been the outcome so far. Kreidler has hit .244/.301/.419 with five home runs and a 99 wRC+ over 173 plate appearances, meaning that he's been essentially average. Nobody in Twins Territory is complaining about an 88-point improvement from his career average, especially given his plus glove and arm at one of the position’s highest on the defensive spectrum: shortstop. What is concerning about Kreidler's performance, however, is how stark a decline he has undergone in recent weeks, lending credence to the idea that he might be reverting to one of the league’s most ineffective hitters. From April 11 to June 30, the right-handed bat hit .287/.357/.505 with a 140 wRC+ over 112 plate appearances. Hitting the ball hard and rarely striking out, Kreidler had underlying metrics that supported his offensive breakout, sporting a .334 xwOBA during that stretch. Since July 1, however, the first-time Twin has plummeted down to earth. Before a major breakthrough (or was it a burp?) on Sunday in which he collected three extra-base hits, he was hitting an atrocious .127/.158/.164 with a -17 wRC+ over 57 plate appearances this month. His ability to drive the ball evaporated in the heat of the summer; yesterday's outburst more than doubled his total of extra-base hits this month. His underlying metrics match his struggles, too. He did nothing but hit the ball hard and in the air on Sunday, but in the 50 plate appearances before that game, his xwOBA was a paltry .208. No one who follows the Twins expected Kreidler to continue hitting like a star. Still, how quickly he descended into being the Tigers' version of himself is alarming, illustrating how unsustainable success is for fringe major-leaguers. Kreidler is still a serviceable rotational piece, considering he’s Minnesota’s best defensive option at shortstop while also possessing the ability to play all three outfield positions, third base, and second. But the Twins would be wise to move quickly to minimize his plate appearances. Luckily, one of their top prospects is the closest he’s ever been to making his major-league debut. On Friday, St. Paul activated Kaelen Culpepper from the reserve list, with the organization’s third-ranked prospect returning to the Triple-A lineup. The 23-year-old shortstop had knocked on the parent club’s door earlier this season, sporting a 117 wRC+ over 303 plate appearances with the Saints. Unfortunately, however, injuries have delayed the top prospect’s major league debut. Yet, with Kreidler’s struggles, Tristan Gray’s recent demotion to Triple-A, and Brooks Lee’s full-time transition to third base, nothing stands in the way of Culpepper taking over as the Twins' primary starting shortstop as the club seeks its first postseason appearance since 2023. Kreidler can still stake his claim anew, while Culpepper gets up to speed. His bat speed had sagged and his swing had flattened out this month, but he's still a fundamentally different hitter than he was before. Maybe he's survived a round of adjustments and a bout of understandable fatigue, as he navigates the first thing anywhere close to a full big-league season he's ever experienced. He has a bit of time to show that Sunday was more than a blip. Failing that, though, the countdown to Culpepper's arrival is on. The team even has one more week to entertain and pursue possible upgrades at shortstop in the trade market. In that way, the timing of this regression is fortuitous, even beyond Culpepper's convalescence. If Kreidler is back after that great game, the Twins are in business. If his warts are showing and his time is up, they've gotten the red flags early enough to scour the market for a low-cost boost at his position. Either way, a top prospect looms as an internal solution. Things could be much worse.