TODAY: The Twins officially announced that Keaschall has been placed on the 10-day injured list. His roster spot will be taken by Clemens, as the trade between the Twins and Phillies has now been officially announced.
APRIL 25: Twins rookie infielder Luke Keaschall suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right forearm during tonight’s win over the Angels. The team announced the injury to reporters (including Phil Miller of The Minnesota Star-Tribune and Dan Hayes of The Athletic).
Keaschall was hit by a Kyle Hendricks pitch on the inside of the arm. He stayed in the game to run the bases but was lifted for Mickey Gasper the next time through. Keaschall started tonight at designated hitter, so it wasn’t clear that he suffered an injury until the pinch-hit appearance. It halts a scorching start to the 22-year-old’s big league career. Keaschall has hit .368 with a .538 on-base percentage through his first 26 plate appearances. He has walked five times with just a pair of strikeouts.
Manager Rocco Baldelli quickly bumped Keaschall to the third spot in the Minnesota batting order. This was his fourth consecutive start there. The righty-hitting infielder has raked since entering pro ball as a second-round pick in 2023. He’s a .297/.415/.470 hitter over 662 minor league plate appearances. The bat has quickly put him among the sport’s top 50-100 prospects.
The Twins have been without Royce Lewis all season after a Spring Training hamstring strain. They lost Willi Castro to an oblique strain yesterday. Brooks Lee returned from an IL stint not too long ago. That pushed the scuffling Jose Miranda back to Triple-A. Minnesota has needed to look outside the organization to patch some of the holes. They acquired Jonah Bride from the Marlins last week and are reportedly in agreement to bring in Kody Clemens from the Phillies.
Keaschall is probably headed for an extended stay on the IL. The Twins will presumably shuffle most of their depth infielders through the DH spot, with Clemens an option to play second base on days when Edouard Julien works as the designated hitter.