The blows keep coming for the Twins’ infield.
The blows just won’t stop coming for the Twins who are completely out of healthy infielders. The latest hit is to Luke Keaschall, Minnesota’s standout rookie who was off to a blistering start. Keaschall reached base safely in every game he played since his call up a week ago, but left after being hit by a Kyle Hendricks pitch in the first inning.
According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Keaschall has a non-displaced fracture in his right forearm. With it being a non-displaced fracture, the talented rookie will likely be able to avoid surgery and return later this season, though it’s a matter of months, not weeks. The Twins will know more in the coming weeks as he begins to heal.
It’s the latest hit to Minnesota’s position players, who were already missing Royce Lewis, Willi Castro, Matt Wallner, Jose Miranda, and Austin Martin, while Brooks Lee recently returned from a Spring Training back injury. Their only healthy players on the 40-man roster are outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez (a top prospect with fewer than 50 AAA games under his belt and off to a very slow start) and catcher Jair Camargo. The Twins had to trade for third baseman Jonah Bride last week and added Keaschall to the roster despite his ongoing recovery from Tommy John surgery last summer.
To supplement the Twins’ hurt infield core, they traded for Phillies infielder Kody Clemens, who was designated for assignment earlier this week. Clemens primarily plays first base, third base, and left field and is the son of former MVP and seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. Like Bride, there isn’t anything that particularly stands out about Clemens, but he’s a warm body with MLB experience.
The Twins do have reinforcements coming soon. Royce Lewis completed his first rehab game tonight with the St. Paul Saints, playing six innings at third base like the team planned in advance. He went 1-3 with a double in the game. Lewis will sit out tomorrow before playing again Sunday. Given Lewis’ lengthy injury history, particularly in his lower body, he’ll have to show he can play back-to-back games before the Twins consider adding him to the active roster.