{"id":541243,"date":"2026-01-27T21:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/541243\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T21:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T21:58:14","slug":"luke-keaschall-is-looking-to-capitalize-on-his-first-normal-offseason-in-recent-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/541243\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Keaschall Is Looking To Capitalize On His First Normal Offseason In Recent Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minneapolis \u2013 Luke Keaschall<\/a> had to wait a while to have a normal offseason. A year ago, he was still recovering from the Tommy John<\/a> surgery he had<\/a> in August 2024, which limited his offseason workouts.<\/p>\n

Keaschall finished the 2025 season on the injured list with a sprained left thumb, missing the final five games of the season. The recovery process didn\u2019t set back Keaschall\u2019s off-season plans by much, which was a refreshing change.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s been] smooth,\u201d Keaschall said at the Twins media luncheon Friday. \u201cIt was a lot easier than elbow rehab. Normal stuff, just get range of motion back, strengthen it up. It\u2019s a pretty simple recovery process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite a season full of injuries<\/a> that included a left thumb sprain, recovering from Tommy John surgery, and a broken forearm, Keaschall earned the Twins\u2019 Outstanding Rookie at the Twins Diamond Awards. In just 49 games, he hit .302\/.382\/.445, with four home runs, 28 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 9.2% walk rate, and 14% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n

Keaschall has some of the best hit tools in the Twins organization, as he demonstrated in his small major-league sample size. An off-season with a fully healed body and preparation will help catapult him closer to his full potential, which excites Keaschall and his new manager, Derek Shelton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be able to just go into healthy and be able to get ready for a season like a normal player and compete, get to know new people,\u201d said Keaschall. \u201cIt\u2019s not my first time in this clubhouse, so I have friends and connections to build upon. So no, tons of excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is healthy, he is very excited,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cI mean, this is a kid that has natural hitting ability, knows how to handle the bat. I\u2019m very excited again, meeting him today for the first time, other than Zoom calls. I\u2019m excited to watch him play because I think he\u2019s going to have a big impact on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Minneota\u2019s roster currently stands, Keaschall looks to be the Opening Day second baseman. As he was coming up, people wondered if the Twins could use him in the outfield. However, they couldn\u2019t use Keaschall in the outfield because of his broken forearm.<\/p>\n

Coming into 2026, there are still discussions on trying Keaschall in the outfield. They\u2019ll have an opportunity to try him there in spring training while Byron Buxton<\/a> is playing for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying baseball a year and a half out of TJ is going to be a little bit easier than playing six months out of TJ,\u201d said Keaschall. \u201cSo my arm\u2019s going to be a little bit more comfortable, a little bit smoother, and more confident in my throwing 100 percent than I was last year. I mean, I\u2019m a ballplayer. I\u2019ll play wherever you want me to play. If you want to move me somewhere, cool. I\u2019ll be able to play winning baseball there.\u201d<\/p>\n

How Keaschall\u2019s throwing arm responds a year and a half removed from Tommy John will be a big test on whether he will see regular playing time between second base and right field. Either way, fans can expect Keaschall to take on a bigger role with the team next season and build himself closer to the all-star trajectory he\u2019s been on since the Twins drafted him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minneapolis \u2013 Luke Keaschall had to wait a while to have a normal offseason. A year ago, he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,413,822,60,3190,4,148],"class_list":{"0":"post-541243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-luke-keaschall","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-twins","12":"tag-minnesotatwins","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-twins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115969307873475391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541243","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=541243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}