Injury Ends Season for Twins Outfielder

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Matt Wallner, Minnesota Twins
Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins have just ten games left in the regular season before putting a bow on what has been a forgettable year. At 66-86, they are 20 games below .500 for the first time since 2021.

It’s all but assumed that Minnesota will lose the necessary four games in order to reach 90 losses. What comes of that this offseason remains to be seen, but changes should be expected.

Those changes will happen on both the player and personnel front. Some holdovers will force looming decisions regarding the state of the roster. For Matt Wallner, his contributions thus far will have to be enough as his season comes to an end.

Matt Wallner done for season with oblique injury

On Wednesday against the New York Yankees, Matt Wallner was lifted by the Minnesota Twins with what they called right back spasms. On Friday he was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain.

Even if the MN Twins had more than 10 games to go, the reality is that Wallner likely would be in line to miss time. Oblique injuries aren’t often quick to heal, and they can be especially tricky when trying to swing.

Wallner played in a career-high 104 games for the Twins this season. He finishes with a .202/.311/.464 slash line, and a career-best 22 home runs. Unfortunately his 110 OPS+ is 39 points below where he was last year, and 29 points below what he entered with as a career average.

At multiple points this season Wallner looked like a capable slugger in the middle of the lineup. Despite the poor average, he drew walks and posted a career-low strikeout rate. Unfortunately he also struggled with velocity and more-often-than-not, left plenty to be desired from an overall contribution perspective.

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Wallner’s thump was also largely mitigated by a lineup that failed to produce in front of him. Despite the career-high 22 home runs, he generated just 40 RBI. A metric that largely reflects opportunity, Minnesota failed to provide him much when stepping in to the box.

MN Twins recall DaShawn Keirsey Jr.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. is back up to take Wallner’s place. He leaves Triple-A St. Paul as the Saints have just three games left to play. Keirsey Jr. has played in 70 games for Minnesota this season. He owns a .110/.141/.183 slash line with a 32/2 K/BB. Short of his speed and defense, it’s been a failure to capitalize on opportunity.

Keirsey Jr. has had a significant amount of runway this season. Unfortunately his .300/.368/.476 slash line across 111 Triple-A games last season hasn’t resulted in big league production.

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Like Wallner, and to a greater extent, the Twins will need to make a decision on what impact Keirsey Jr. makes going forward. It’s hard for him to be a backup outfielder with no other translatable utility.

Minnesota starts their final homestand on Friday night with four games in three days against Cleveland.

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