The Minnesota Twins postseason hopes are fading fast. At this point, suggesting they are on life support would be putting it kindly. They lost to the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, and the injury bug got them once again. This time Matt Wallner found himself on the shelf.

Matt Wallner forced from game for Minnesota Twins

In the bottom of the sixth inning Matt Wallner pinch hit for Kyle Farmer. He was called out on strikes, but swung multiple times throughout the at bat. When the inning turned over it was Trevor Larnach in left field, not Wallner. He may be cement bones, but his muscles aren’t made of rubber.

Matt Wallner exited the game with left oblique tightness. He will reevaluated Wednesday.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 25, 2024

Wallner grabbed at his left side on the way back to the dugout and an oblique injury immediately became a concern. Core muscle injuries can take a significant amount of time to heal depending on the severity. With just five games left in the regular season, Wallner’s season is over.

Austin Martin and Jorge Alcala have lockers here at Target Field. Details on moves to come shortly.

— Audra Martin (@Audra_Martin) September 25, 2024

Matt Wallner is headed to the IL with an oblique injury. He said he still feels the same pain today. Austin Martin is here at the ballpark.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) September 25, 2024

This is the end of the road for Wallner in 2024, he’ll finish having played 75 games (one less than 2023). He put up a nearly exact match of the numbers he produced in 2023 as a rookie. That is a strong foundation for the Minnesota native to build off of going into 2025.

Even with the slow start and demotion, #MNTwins Matt Wallner was a model of consistency this year. pic.twitter.com/6eb86JDrbI

— Ted (@tlschwerz) September 25, 2024

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The Twins have determinations to make on the corner outfield for next year. With Max Kepler set to hit free agency, right field would seem to be Wallner’s for the taking.

How do the Twins replace Matt Wallner?

With Wallner headed to the injured list, the Minnesota Twins will recall a hitter from Triple-A St. Paul. There are just five games left, but they’ll need someone to provide an option. Rocco Baldelli will be looking for an outfielder, but he probably can’t be too picky on handedness or skillset at this point. That means Austin Martin is back.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. writes himself into @StPaulSaints canon 🙏

With a game-tying single, the outfielder records his 133rd hit of the year, setting the single-season franchise record. pic.twitter.com/Fnsu017ZXC

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 22, 2024

The Saints have a handful of players still in St. Paul for what they are calling “stay hot camp.” The most likely trio of options included Austin Martin, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., and Michael Helman. Martin has gotten the most run of that group this year, but Keirsey Jr. is the best outfielder. Helman is a utility player like Martin, and he went 3-for-8 with a pair of doubles during a seven game cameo.

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No one that is promoted should be expected to factor significantly into the lineup. Minnesota can mix and match other pieces and keep a younger rookie as an insurance option. It’s clear the Twins are walking wounded though, and the youth has struggled to keep up.

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It’s disappointing that this is how it appears the season will end. Things have been trending this way for weeks, however.

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The Minnesota Twins finished a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, and wrapping up a road trip is always a welcomed reality. Coming home though, no one was more ready to leave than utility man Willi Castro. Having been plunked by Pirates pitchers four times, he had every right to be irritated.

Rocco Baldelli’s group had shown frustrating levels of ineptitude at the dish during the first two games of their series in Pittsburgh, failing to score runs in either contest. Adding injury to insult in game two, Willi Castro was hit by pitch twice.

Willi Castro wears it vs Pittsburgh Pirates… over and over

Finally, after five straight losses, the Twins got back in the win column on Sunday… and Castro took TWO more bean balls. Pirates pitcher Kyle Nicolas uncorked the first bean ball. Then, in the 10th, reliever Ben Heller forgot how to pitch.

Not only did he hit Castro for the fourth time in two games, but also hitting Farmer and Buxton too. On the inning, Heller gave up seven runs (six earned) on five hits, to go with those three HBP. For Castro, the frustration had boiled over at that point.

Willi Castro was not happy after another HBP#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/ol4jNDNt96

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 9, 2024

The Twins had watched Heller show an inability to simply put the ball over the plate, and while it was an offspeed pitch that got Castro, Twins radio announcer Kris Atteberry put it succinctly in saying that, “there is a reasonable expectation you can throw a pitch over the plate.”

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Minnesota Twins Racking Up Plunkings

Following Castro’s two hit by pitches on Sunday, he is now second on the team with nine. Only Ryan Jeffers has been hit more (10). The team has been hit 44 times, which trails only the Cleveland Guardians 47 times. No other team in baseball has surpassed the 40 hit by pitch mark.

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It would be wise for Minnesota to figure out alternative ways to generate on-base percentage. They have struggled to find consistency throughout the lineup this year, and while being hit by a pitch offers a free 90-feet, a less damaging plan to generate production would be a more dialed in approach at the plate. I’m sure they have considered that, however.

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This season has been anything but a consistent path for the Minnesota Twins, and while the record has gone all sorts of different directions, their ace Pablo Lopez has been all over the place as well. He got back on track Friday against the Houston Astros, but did he figure anything out?

Although the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros met up during the American League Division Series last season, the two teams are hardly in the same place thus far during 2024. In Houston, Dusty Baker retired and Joe Espada took over. Rather than a seamless transition, they’ve struggled.

Pablo Lopez spins a gem vs Houston Astros

Last year, Pablo Lopez was the Twins’ ace. But they need him to be much better than he has been of late, if he was going to beat them on Friday night. Following a dominant 10-strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners on May 9th, Rocco Baldelli has watched his ace take lots of lumps.

Over his last three starts prior to Friday, Lopez had given up 16 runs on 25 hits in just 16 innings. Despite a strong 14/2 K/BB, he allowed five longballs and wasn’t able to dominate the opposition like we’ve become used to seeing him do.

But at Minute Maid Park against the Astros on last night, all of that changed. He turned in seven innings of one-run baseball, striking out six, and walking just one. The home run wasn’t ideal, but limiting the damage to a solo shot made it hurt less. Peeking under the hood, it appears that while the velocity remained largely consistent with yearly averages, significant spin rate jumps were seen across the board.

Did #MNTwins Pablo Lopez figure out something new with grips tonight?

Spin to win against the #Astros pic.twitter.com/nouWKXFOiz

— Ted (@tlschwerz) June 1, 2024

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Working on a daily basis to get himself out of the slump, Lopez could have made slight tweaks to his grip or positioning for the arsenal he already owns to play up. Although the Astros aren’t exactly a juggernaut lineup this season, he shoved in a way we haven’t seen for weeks.

Ronel Blanco regresses vs Minnesota Twins after sticky substance issue

Coming into the matchup, Houston’s starter Ronel Blanco was primed for a bit of regression. While his ERA was solid, he has a few underlying metrics that suggested a bit of smoke and mirrors. Add to the a recent suspension for using sticky substances, and the quality of his no-hitter earlier this year could be called into question.

#Astros Ronel Blanco comes into tonight’s tilt with the #MNTwins owning a 1.99 (sticky stuff influenced) ERA.

However he has a 3.16 xERA, 3.95 FIP, and 4.06 xFIP.

Prime spot for some regression.

— Ted (@tlschwerz) May 31, 2024

With Blanco experiencing negative regression, it was Pablo on the other side. The 5.25 ERA was certainly gaudy, but a 3.26 xERA, 3.80 FIP, and 3.03 xFIP suggested that the results didn’t tell the whole story. Again, a tweak to the stuff Friday made a big difference, but better results coming from a sound process was bound to happen at some point.

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It has been great to see Joe Ryan take a step forward this season, and Bailey Ober has been solid when not facing the Kansas City Royals. Still, the Twins legitimacy into the postseason largely relies upon Pablo Lopez being an ace, and the Astros found themselves staring down the barrel of that at home in a 6-1 loss.

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Fresh off a perfect road trip, the Twins return home this weekend for a difficult test against the Boston Red Sox.

The Twins have won 10 games in a row, the best streak in the majors, and they are coming off a 6-0 road tour against the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox.

Minnesota Twins vs Boston Red Sox

To be fair, victories against subpar teams count the same in the standings as victories against quality teams. But Minnesota has a chance to see how it measures up against one of the AL’s early-season surprises when the Red Sox come to town.

Boston, which has won each of its past two series, has asserted itself as a worthy contender in the AL East through the first month of the season. The Red Sox (like the Twins) were quiet during the offseason, with their owner mostly opting to keep his wallet in his pocket.

Injuries also have hit Boston hard. But the Red Sox keep winning anyway.  

The Twins enter the series with three-straight sweeps (White Sox, Angels, White Sox).

Hello, this is Ryan. I’d like to speak with you about your insurance plan. 📞 pic.twitter.com/xHvji2bDru

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 1, 2024

Boston has the lowest ERA in the majors at 2.59 entering Thursday. The Twins have hit well recently but are middle of the pack (No. 13 entering Thursday) with a .714 OPS.

Boston has scored more runs, belted more homers and swiped more bases than Minnesota. The Twins have a big advantage on defense, as they have committed 11 errors (tied for fourth-lowest in the majors) while the Red Sox entered Thursday with a league-worst 25 errors.

The Red Sox are good on the road with an 11-5 record. The Twins are 6-6 at home. 

Friday: Twins RHP Chris Paddack (2-1, 5.88) vs. Red Sox RHP Tanner Houck (3-2, 1.60)

At 27 years old, Houck is off to the best start of his career. He has shown pinpoint control this season as he has walked only five batters and struck out 41 in 39 1/3 innings.

Can the Twins be disciplined at the plate against Houck? Several hitters have done well in a limited sample size against him. Willi Castro is 2-for-3 with a double and a homer, Manuel Margot is hitting .429 (3-for-7) and Trevor Larnach is hitting .400 (2-for-5). But Ryan Jeffers, Edouard Julien, Kyle Farmer and Christian Vazquez are a combined 0-for-10 against Houck.

Saturday: Twins RHP Pablo Lopez (2-2, 4.83) vs. TBD

The Red Sox have not announced their Saturday starter, but one option would be for veteran right-hander Chase Anderson to make a second spot start. Anderson filled in for injured starter Brayan Bello on April 25 and was hammered for five runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. Before that outing, he had posted a 2.77 ERA and collected two saves in six bullpen appearances.

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The 36-year-old Anderson is 0-1 with a 4.43 ERA in three career starts against the Twins. If he gets the ball, look for Vazquez to start at catcher for the Twins. Vazquez is 6-for-8 with two doubles against Anderson in his career. Manuel Margot is 3-for-9 with a homer.

Sunday: Twins RHP Joe Ryan (1-1, 3.38) vs. Red Sox RHP Cooper Criswell (2-1, 1.65)

With two victories, the 27-year-old Criswell already has set a career high. He is coming off back-to-back victories against the Cleveland Guardians and San Francisco Giants, and in each start he turned in five scoreless innings while scattering three hits and two hits, respectively.

Jeffers singled in his lone at-bat against Criswell. No other Twins player has recorded a hit against him in a tiny sample size, as five players have combined to go 0-for-7.

–Tom Musick covers all things Minnesota for Field Level Media.

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