\n\tDuring last week\u2019s Winter Meetings, MLB.com\u2019s Matthew Leach posted an interesting response to a question posed to him on BlueSky on whether the Minnesota Twins will pursue a strong defensive middle infielder this offseason, stating the following:\n<\/p>\n
\tAdmittedly, this level of aggregation on my end is a little alarming, and I should maybe reflect on how much time I spend on social media sifting through updates on the Twins’ offseason plans. Personal ruminations aside, though, Leach\u2019s response provides some insight into the club\u2019s plan behind projected starting shortstop Brooks Lee<\/a> early next season. Right now, Ryan Fitzgerald<\/a> and Ryan Kreidler<\/a> are the favorites to compete for the backup shortstop role. Based on Leach\u2019s response, however, Kreidler appears to have the inside track on Fitzgerald heading into spring training.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tHitting .138\/.208\/.176 with an 11 wRC+ over a combined 211 plate appearances the past four seasons, Kreidler has been one of the worst hitters in baseball over the course of his career. The 29-year-old struggles to make contact, evidenced by an alarming 31.8% strikeout rate and 33.1% whiff rate on swings over his career. When the right-handed veteran does make contact, it is often weak, yielding a lackluster 28.3% Hard-hit rate and 5.5% Barrel rate during that stretch.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThose who follow Minnesota shouldn\u2019t expect Kreidler\u2019s hitting profile to dramatically improve in 2026. New hitting coach Keith Beauregard did work with Kreidler for a time while he was in Detroit, and Kreidler did dramatically increase his swing speed and tilt in 2025, so progress isn’t out of the question, but it can’t be presumed. The track record is not on Kreidler’s side.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tLuckily, an offensive renaissance won\u2019t be required for the former top prospect to provide value. Throughout his four-season major league career, Kreidler\u2019s calling card has been his defensive versatility. He’s played 253 1\/3 innings at shortstop, 139 1\/3 innings at third base, 120 1\/3 innings in center field, 38 at second base, and one in left field. The speedy defender played exclusively in center for Detroit last season. However, he has performed the best at shortstop over his career, generating 3 Outs Above Average (OAA) over 125 attempts at the position.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tKreidler has succeeded at the two non-catcher positions highest on the defensive spectrum (shortstop and center field) by utilizing his plus range and adequate arm. Those traits have also translated to success at second and third base, resulting in him developing into a utility player. Lee improved as a defensive shortstop late last season. His improvements could translate into more sustained success at the position in 2026. However, Kreidler is a superior defender at the position, providing Minnesota with an adequate backup.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \tDespite James Outman<\/a> and Alan Roden<\/a> being likely to start the season on the 26-man roster, Kreidler could also serve as one of Byron Buxton<\/a>\u2019s primary backups in center field; as Royce Lewis<\/a>\u2019s backup at third base; and as a complementary rotational piece at second base, alongside Luke Keaschall<\/a>, Kody Clemens<\/a>, and Austin Martin<\/a>, adding to his defensive flexibility. He’s a plus on the bases, for a team hoping to get faster and more athletic in both run creation and run prevention. <\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tAgain, Kreidler has hit 89% worse than league average over his 211 plate appearances in the majors. If he could modestly improve his wRC+ to the 60-to-70 range next season, however, the fringe major leaguer could provide significant value to the Twins on the bases and in the field, being a plus defender at the two positions highest on the defensive spectrum. Since the team is choosing bat-first options at several key defensive positions, even a glove-only utility man off the bench is important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During last week\u2019s Winter Meetings, MLB.com\u2019s Matthew Leach posted an interesting response to a question posed to him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,822,60,3190,4,13629,148],"class_list":{"0":"post-480032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-twins","11":"tag-minnesotatwins","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-ryan-kreidler","14":"tag-twins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115730291404932865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}