MINNEAPOLIS – In the span of 12 hours Monday night and Tuesday morning, the shape of the Twins’ lineup changed drastically as two core pieces were removed.
Ryan Jeffers is headed to the injured list with a fractured left hamate bone, and Royce Lewis is bound for the Minor Leagues. Those two moves headlined a lengthy series of transactions announced by the club Tuesday morning ahead of its 2-1 loss to the Astros.
The move with Lewis was jarring for a popular player who has enjoyed some huge moments with the organization, but it can’t be called shocking given that Lewis was mired in a deep slump. The loss of Jeffers, however, is a major blow. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Wednesday and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks after injuring himself on a foul ball in his last at-bat on Monday night.
“It hurt really bad,” Jeffers said. “It takes a lot. I don’t take myself out of games. Catchers in general don’t take [ourselves] out of games. It’s the position. It’s who we are. But yeah. There was no way I was swinging the bat [for the rest of] that AB.”
It’s the latest shakeup to a team that has three members of its starting rotation on the injured list and recently optioned Matt Wallner, another ostensible member of its young core, to Triple-A.
“I mean, this group, we go back to first full squad, and Pablo López goes down, and it’s 'next man up' mentality,” said general manager Jeremy Zoll. “And the group just keeps on doing it and doing it and showing up and trying to keep pushing forward. So I'm really proud of how the group has gone through that.”
Minnesota purchased the contracts of veteran infielder Orlando Arcia and catcher Alex Jackson to fill the spots of Lewis and Jeffers on the 26-man active roster. Additionally, reliever Travis Adams was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul, while right-hander Justin Topa was designated for assignment. The move with Topa clears one spot on the 40-man roster. Reliever Garrett Acton was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear another.
It’s a distinct possibility that the moves aren’t done. Reliever Matt Bowman, who has been effective at St. Paul, has exercised an out clause in his contract and the club could look to add him to the active roster. They’d need to create additional space on the 40-man roster to do that. Utility infielder Tristan Gray also may soon be headed to the paternity list.
For the time being, Victor Caratini will likely get the bulk of starts at catcher, though Jackson is expected to play. Jackson is coming off a career year in the Major Leagues last year, and after a slow start to the Triple-A season, he’s been hot at the plate lately.
At third base, Arcia, Gray, and Ryan Kreidler would all figure to get opportunities. All are versatile, and all will likely see starts at other positions as well. Minnesota elected not to call up infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper for a variety of reasons, including the simple fact that Arcia is playing well.
“I think the reality is the current roster that we’ll have for tonight and this next stretch provides a lot of versatility for [manager Derek Shelton], and he’s working through a variety of considerations on his end not only for tonight. but games to come.” Zoll said. “Byron [Buxton is] getting back in the lineup, but at DH, so trying to provide as much versatility as possible in the immediate.”
Jeffers, 28, was off to the best start of his Major League career and was making a case to be an All-Star for the first time. He sports a .295/.408/.541 line with seven home runs and has also shown himself to be one of the best users of the ABS challenge system. He suffered the injury when he fouled a ball off and broke his bat late in Monday’s game.
“I don’t think we can replace the production,” Shelton said. “He’s been one of our most productive hitters. Probably our second-most productive hitter behind [Buxton]. … I think right now, we just have to fill the gap. 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. 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.”
Lewis got off to a decent start to the season and carried an .822 OPS when he suffered a right knee sprain on April 9. Since returning from the injured list on April 21, however, he has struggled mightily. He has a .132/.189/.191 line in that span with 25 strikeouts in 74 plate appearances.
“Obviously not something that we were hoping to have to do,” Zoll said. “Those are always really tough decisions, a lot of conversations, a lot of viewpoints went into that, but I think the reality is as we work through it and try to think through what’s best for Royce and for the organization, giving him that reset in Triple-A to hopefully get him going and get that confidence back is what’s best.”
Arcia has hit .318 with eight homers in 39 games at St. Paul this year, while Jackson has a .239/.295/.511 line for the Saints. Topa surrendered three runs in two-thirds of an inning in Monday's win and has an 8.05 ERA in 23 appearances this season.