It’s been a good few days of baseball to start the week for the Twins. After a tough 9-8 loss on Monday against the Braves, they followed it up with a 6-5 win over the Rays on Tuesday and a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Tigers on Wednesday.
Wins and losses don’t carry a ton of weight this time of year, but the individual performances behind them can still be telling. With the calendar moving deeper into March, outings are getting longer, and players are starting to build real rhythm as roster battles continue to take shape.
With that in mind, here’s a quick temperature check from the past few days of Twins action.
Who’s Hot? 🔥
The Twins’ second baseman has had a great start to the week, going 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, along with a stolen base. Keaschall has made consistent hard contact throughout the spring, and that trend has continued over the past few days. If he can keep it up, he has the potential to be one of the most impactful bats in the Twins’ lineup this season.
Wallner had a very slow start to the spring, but he might just be starting to find things at the plate. He has two hits over his last four at-bats, including a home run on Tuesday and a hard-hit single on Wednesday. Both came off the bat at 108 mph, showing the kind of impact contact he’s capable of when he squares one up. There’s still some swing-and-miss present, but it’s encouraging to see him starting to drive the ball again.
The battle for a starting rotation spot has been fierce this spring, and Bradley showed Wednesday exactly why he deserves one. He needed just 69 pitches to get through five innings, allowing only one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven. His fastball topped out at 98.8 mph and showed some sharp horizontal movement throughout the outing. Most notably, he limited hard contact as well as he has all spring against a lineup that featured several Tigers regulars. It was a strong performance for Bradley and another reminder that he has the kind of stuff to make a real impact in the Twins’ rotation.
It’s been a good start to the week at the plate for Josh Bell. In six plate appearances, he’s gone 2-for-4 with a home run and a pair of walks. Three of the four balls he’s put in play have come off the bat at 95 mph or harder, classifying them as hard contact. There’s no need to read too much into Bell’s spring performance either way, given his long MLB track record. But it’s always nice to see a key piece of the lineup hitting the ball hard.
Who’s Not? 🧊
It hasn’t been a great stretch for Eric Wagaman this week, and the timing isn’t ideal. He’s 0-for-6 with a pair of strikeouts, and none of the balls he’s put in play have left the infield. Wagaman’s defensive versatility is something that could really help the Twins, but a disappointing spring at the plate might make it harder for him to stick around.
I considered leaving Zebby Matthews out, but his outing in Monday’s loss ended up being a costly one. He was pulled midway through the first inning after allowing three earned runs, leaving with the bases loaded and two outs. The reliever who came in allowed all three inherited runners to score, inflating Matthews’ final line.
Because of spring training rules, Matthews was able to re-enter the game in the bottom of the second inning and eventually finished the fourth before being taken out for the second and final time. Over 3 ⅔ total innings, he allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five. While he looked better after re-entering the game, it wasn’t the outing Matthews needed at this point in camp, especially with the Twins likely facing some tough decisions about the final rotation spots in the coming weeks.
Spring training is ultimately about progress, and the Twins are starting to see clearer signals from both sides of the roster. Some players are building momentum at the right time, while others are still trying to find their footing before decisions start getting finalized. With Opening Day getting closer, the next couple of weeks will likely go a long way in shaping how the roster comes together.