Minneapolis – The Minnesota Twins have already seen one of their trade deadline acquisitions go down with an injury for the season. Alan Roden sprained the UCL in his left thumb sliding into home plate in Thursday’s extra-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.
With Roden out for the year, the Twins called up James Outman, another one of their trade deadline additions, to the active roster. Outman came over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Brock Stewart.
“It’s one of those things, like, no one’s untouchable,” said Outman on his reaction to the trade. “So, you know, there’s always an option of getting traded. It’s just my first trade, so it was a little bit of a shock, but it was one of those things that can always happen, so it is what it is.”
He got 12 games in with Triple-A St. Paul, hitting .235/.316/.490 slash line with three home runs and 10 RBI. The Twins had him there more so to get consistent at-bats rather than to develop any specific skills.
“Just kind of getting some more at-bats underneath my belt, I would say, and getting back into the swing of things, no pun intended,” said Outman. “I didn’t really have too many at-bats throughout July, so I think that was a big part of it, and just kind of, like, shaking off some of the rust.”
After hitting .248/.353/.437 as a rookie in 2023, Outman has produced a .137/.240/.273 slash line in 207 plate appearances. Still, he’s only two years removed from having 23 home runs, 70 RBI, and 16 stolen bases in 151 games.
The Twins have hope that they can tap into Outman’s rookie production with a change of scenery, and balance his effective defense with the hitting numbers that earned him third place in Rookie of the Year voting back two years ago.
“He’s going to get opportunities to play, and to hopefully get into a good rhythm and show us some things he can do,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “I’d like to get to know the player a little bit. So that will be part of it, but whether it’s James or Austin [Martin] or Trevor [Larnach], I’m not going to define just how much time these guys are each going to get, because there’s really no way to know the answer to that.”
“I think a big part of it is just knowing that you’re a good player, and there’s multiple ways to affect the game and help your team win,” Outman said. “You know, everybody wants to hit, and it’s frustrating when you don’t, but it was just learning more about myself and learning that opportunities come and they go, and the important thing is to be ready to play every day.”
Outman has gone 1-for-8 in his first two games with the Twins. His one hit was impressive, with a triple off the right field wall, his first since his rookie year. Outman’s role with the Twins will be similar to that of Harrison Bader’s before his departure, platooning between the corner outfield spots and backing Byron Buxton up in center field.
“With the outfielders we have, they’re all going to play,” said Baldelli. “We’re not going to look up, and one of those guys is just now in kind of a reserve role, not playing. I’ll bet it’s not going to be that difficult to just rotate them through. Most days, one of those guys will probably be out of the lineup, one might be DHing.”
Joining the Twins is a change from the core Outman was a part of in LA. Minnesota’s roster has evolved into a youth movement going into next season, and he looks forward to the role he can carve out for the remaining six weeks of the season.
“It was very interesting what was going on at the deadline,” said Outman. “I’ve played with a couple of these guys against more of them, so I’m excited to meet everyone.”
Among his new teammates is Outman’s baseball twin, Ryan Fitzgerald. It’s funny and fitting that the Twins have a rare case of two players who look so alike on their team, and though the two have only just met, they’re capitalizing on the fun they can have with it.
“I don’t think anyone’s mistaken us seriously yet,” said Outman. “Maybe out of the corner of their eye, but they didn’t overtly tell me if they did or didn’t. But yeah, definitely have gotten a lot of jokes about it so far.”