30 July 2023
KANSAS CITY — It was obvious a roster crunch was coming earlier this week with both Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco needing to be activated, and rookie outfielder Matt Wallner was well aware of it.
“I feel like I’ve kind of done my part, but it’s ultimately not my decision,” he said Wednesday. “I’m just trying to do what I can do, and I feel like I’ve done a good job of that, honestly.”
He’s right — he had.
Wallner, who hit a pair of home runs on Wednesday, had done his part to make the Twins’ decision as hard as possible, and when the dust cleared, he was in Kansas City, still on the roster.
To make room for Buxton, the Twins optioned Trevor Larnach, whom Wallner appears to have jumped on the Twins’ depth chart. To welcome Polanco back on the roster, the Twins made a surprise move, optioning a pitcher — Cole Sands — and deciding to keep 14 position players for the time being.
The Twins prefer to keep 13 pitchers — the maximum allowed by rule — on the roster, but are carrying an extra position player at least for now in the middle of a stretch with another off day upcoming.
There’s no telling how long Wallner will stay on the roster — the Twins could add a bat at the deadline or trade from their surplus of lefty outfielders, which would change the equation. But he has certainly made a good case for inclusion.
“There’s no denying the impactfulness of what he does at the plate right now,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Wallner, who has crushed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .291/.403/.524 slashline, has produced quite well in his minimal time in the majors this season, as well. In 22 games entering Saturday, he was hitting .268 with a .906 OPS.
“That’s kind of the first time it’s happened to me where I’ve been in the position where it probably could have been me easily and it wasn’t. That’s a cool thing for me, for sure,” Wallner said. “I guess we’ll see what happens going forward, but I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”
No worry about Duran
Jhoan Duran is mired in the worst month of his career — he has given up 10 runs (seven earned) in 9 2/3 innings in July entering Saturday — but the Twins projected little concern about their most reliable reliever.
“I’m not worried about him getting hit,” pitching coach Pete Maki said shortly after Duran surrendered a walk-off grand slam on Friday. “That’s not going to be a sustainable thing where he’s giving up hard contact. The thing to address is free passes. It’s not like him. He’s traditionally been a great strike-thrower. Just a little blip on the radar.”
Duran walked a pair of batters on Saturday to load the bases — the automatic runner was already on to begin the 10th — and Maki said that’s partly because the reliever has been working on the shape of his breaking ball a little bit and “with that comes maybe some feel for command that’s not quite there.”
“I wouldn’t say it was anything we put a finger on where you start to worry at all,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Every pitcher goes through these little stretches where today, it’s one thing. Another day, it’s another. It’ll all come back and click together.”
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