Injured Jeffers leaves big hole on Twins roster

This story was excerpted from Matthew Leach’s Twins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MINNEAPOLIS -- How do you replace Ryan Jeffers? In one sense, you don’t. No team has a player on the bench or down on the farm who can just step in and post a .295/.408/.541 line while catching two-thirds of games.

There’s really no overstating how good and valuable Jeffers has been in the first third of the season. He’s among the league leaders in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and games caught, as well as one of the top catchers in baseball when it comes to ABS challenges.

So, first, as Jeffers hits the injured list for six to eight weeks due to a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, let’s take a moment to give him his flowers. He was well on his way to his first All-Star berth, and it’s not ridiculous to think he was putting himself in a position to get some down-ballot MVP consideration.

“It's definitely a hole to fill,” said general manager Jeremy Zoll.

“Other guys are going to need to step up, and we have plenty of guys who are exceeding expectations right now, and some guys that we’re confident are going to get it going more. … Josh [Bell] had a couple great swings last night. Really confident Victor [Caratini] is going to get it going with the bat, based on his history. And I think guys are going to step up, and next-man-up mentality.”

The issue with losing Jeffers is that he’ll be missed twofold: at the plate and behind it. The Twins are probably better equipped to weather his loss defensively. Caratini is an experienced and respected backstop, and the Twins had Alex Jackson stashed at Triple-A waiting for the call. Jackson is a well-regarded defensive catcher who sported a well-above-average pop time last year and has also been a quality pitch framer.

Jeffers’ rapport with some of the pitching staff will certainly be missed, but Jackson was around all of Spring Training, and has seen many of the team’s young pitchers at Triple-A this year. It’s a blow when you lose your primary catcher, but the Twins are better equipped to handle it than they were last year when Jeffers got hurt late in the season.

“One of the things that we were very thoughtful about this offseason was going out and getting another Major League catcher in terms of Victor and being able to fill that,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Then with Jackson coming, it’s a guy that has caught in the big leagues and has the ability to catch. That does help us.”

At the plate is another matter. Jeffers has been the Twins’ best hitter in the early going, getting on base and hitting for power. It will be hard to cover for his absence.

As Zoll suggested, part of it will have to come from players already on the roster. Bell had been slumping before hitting a pair of homers on Monday, and Caratini is hitting well below his career marks. Getting both of them, as well as Luke Keaschall, just back to the levels where they hit last year would offset some of Jeffers’ lost production.

And while their presences will be missed in the clubhouse, both Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner were bogged down in deep, deep slumps before they were optioned. Replacing their at-bats with more looks for Austin Martin, Tristan Gray, and Orlando Arcia should actually increase the amount of production the Twins have gotten from right field and third base.

No one player will fill the void left by Jeffers, but it’s conceivable the Twins can weather the storm as a team over the coming weeks.