Kepler exits early but 'savior' comes through

MINNEAPOLIS -- Max Kepler had done his best to play through left hamstring issues for the last two weeks, with Minnesota’s outfield depth decimated by health issues. Before Saturday’s game, he was said to be close to returning to center field, helped by the Twins’ careful usage of him in that time.

One play might have undone all of that.

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Kepler aggravated the issue while hustling down the line on a second-inning grounder on Saturday and exited with a mild left hamstring strain. And though the Twins’ outfield was stretched to its limit, it still proved the difference in a 6-5 win over the Royals at Target Field, with Trevor Larnach’s solo homer and Rob Refsnyder’s pair of RBI singles adding to Josh Donaldson scoring the 2 millionth run in MLB history in the first inning.

“Refsnyder has kind of been a little bit of a savior right here in some ways in this situation,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There’s no real expectation specifically. We wanted him to come in, play hard and do his job, but he’s been much, much more than that for us.”

Much, much more indeed. Refsnyder’s fifth multi-hit game as a Twin featured an RBI single off reliever Carlos Hernández in the fourth and an RBI knock off Greg Holland in the eighth that seemed to be excess insurance at the time to put Minnesota up, 6-3, but actually proved critical when Taylor Rogers allowed a two-run blast to Adalberto Mondesi in the ninth.

When Refsnyder was first added to the roster on May 15, there was no real expectation that he’d actually see regular time in center field. That was supposed to be Kepler’s job the vast majority of the time. Refsnyder hadn’t ever played the position as a big leaguer, and the Twins just needed someone who could fill in sporadically behind Kepler.

“I don't take for granted any day I'm in the lineup,” Refsnyder said. “I wouldn't say I'm expecting to be in the lineup for sure.”

He should certainly be expecting that now -- as the starting center fielder for the foreseeable future. Good thing he’s hitting .381/.426/.595.

Kepler turned on the jets after his grounder in the second deflected off Royals right-hander Ervin Santana and trickled to the shortstop, but he’d been unable to sprint without pain for the last two weeks. That was evident as he clearly favored his leg down the line and was immediately pulled from the game. The Twins will give him an MRI to continue his evaluation.

“I would expect Kep to probably miss some time with him already dealing with this, really, for the last few weeks, and then it kind of going south today,” Baldelli said. “I don’t think he’s going to be out there in the next few days. I could see it as a potential IL-type situation for him.”

Refsnyder has started 10 straight games in center field, and that won’t change anytime soon -- especially if Kepler needs a stint on the IL. The Twins are out of depth at that position on the 40-man roster, with Gilberto Celestino still in Double-A and unable to make a direct jump to the MLB environment due to COVID-19 considerations.

The fortunate thing for the Twins in this situation, if there is one, is that they still have four healthy and productive outfielders in the Majors between Refsnyder, Kyle Garlick (.758 OPS), Alex Kirilloff (.716 OPS) and Larnach, who crushed a 423-foot home run to the batter’s eye in the second inning and has reached base via hit or walk in seven of his last nine plate appearances.

“Mentally, I've felt really comfortable,” Larnach said. “It was just a matter of staying loose and doing what I want to do physically with the bat. This game keeps being nice to me, and it can be pretty unforgiving.”

But the question of center field remains. Baldelli noted that Garlick could back up Refsnyder in a pinch, but Garlick has never appeared at the position as a professional.

Somehow, the Twins will need to continue piecing together this puzzle -- as the pieces become ever more sporadic.

“I don’t think there’s a drastic or, really, a deep need in any particular area,” Baldelli said. “But knowing that you have an extra quality body that you can use and kind of get on in there and find ways to take advantage of, we’ll do that. I don’t know exactly where we’re going to go with it yet.”