Bad news and bad news in this case.
After departing the game Tuesday with hamstring tightness, the Twins placed outfielder Matt Wallner on the injured list. Wallner’s injury sounded relatively minor, and in a different situation it’s possible he could have avoided the injured list entirely, but the Twins are running out of bodies after a slew of injuries this past week.
Royce Lewis has been on the injured list the entire season with his own hamstring injury, while minor injuries have piled up for the rest of the Twins’ infield. Carlos Correa left the game Tuesday with wrist discomfort that has been bothering him since last season. Willi Castro was removed with oblique soreness yesterday. Christian Vazquez left bloodied after taking a foul tip off his throwing hand. Jose Miranda injured his hand while shopping at Target after getting demoted earlier this week. Austin Martin has yet another hamstring strain. The Twins had a single player (Brooks Lee) who could play third base or shortstop, and he’s not 100% himself as he’s still returning from a Spring Training back injury.
To complicate matters further, the depth shortstops in AAA have also been hurt to start the season. Peyton Eeles is recovering from offseason surgery and Will Holland has, shocker, a hamstring injury. The Twins are simply out of players who can man the left side of the infield, so a roster move had to be made before heading to Atlanta. Enter Jonah Bride.
Bride was designated for assignment by the Miami Marlins earlier this week; the Twins traded cash considerations to jump the waiver wire and guarantee they got him in their system. Bride was off to a terrible start to the season, slashing just .100/.200/.100 on the season without a single extra base hit. He had better numbers last year with a .276/.357/.461 in 71 games for Miami, though a look under the hood shows those numbers were a lot of smoke and mirrors.
Bride’s average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, bat speed, xBA, xSLG, and xwOBA were all in the bottom third of the league in 2024 despite his strong batting line. Those have continued to be poor this season and his strikeout rate skyrocketed on top of it, albeit in a 45 plate appearance sample. He does have a strong AAA record with a .940 career OPS in 166 games.
I wouldn’t expect Bride to be in the organization that long, though it would be a boon to the Twins if he put it all together. For now, he’s a warm body who can play third base while Brooks Lee can handle short until one of Correa or Castro can make it back.
In the meantime, the Twins will need to find a way to replace Wallner’s production for the next week and a half, a tall task for a team that was already struggling offensively. Harrison Bader will likely be in the lineup every day, while the Twins will have to decide between DaShawn Keirsey’s defense or Mickey Gasper’s (theoretical) offense for the other lineup spot.
Also, whoever has the Twins voodoo doll, maybe just set it down for a bit.