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 -- When the Twins recalled their former starting third baseman Royce Lewis from Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday, there was a through line from that transaction to the injury to starting center fielder Byron Buxton. That connection, naturally, ran through utility man Kody Clemens.
I’m sorry -- what was that, now?
You read that right. No, Lewis wasn’t called up Saturday specifically because Buxton was unavailable to play center field, but it wasn't unrelated either. That’s because, in bringing back Lewis, Minnesota designated outfielder James Outman for assignment. And one of the reasons the club was comfortable parting ways with Outman? Because Clemens has shown himself capable of handling center field in a pinch.
OK, so how does that relate to Lewis, whom you probably think of primarily as a third baseman? Because over his last few days in St. Paul, Lewis got starts at first and second base. He may not be exactly a utility player now that he’s back in the Majors, but he’s definitely no longer just a third baseman. So if Clemens is going to be playing some more center, and it seems likely he is, that opens up at-bats and innings at first for Lewis.
Witness Saturday’s game: Luke Keaschall pinch-hit for shortstop Tristan Gray and Orlando Arcia pinch-hit for left fielder Trevor Larnach, with Arcia hitting a home run. Arcia stayed in the game to play shortstop. Clemens, who had been playing first, moved to left field. Lewis moved from second, where he began the game, to first. And Keaschall stayed in to play second.
Thus is the status of the 2026 Twins, a group full of Swiss Army Knives where almost nobody plays only one position. And among the ones who do stick to one spot, it’s mostly because they used to play somewhere else.
Austin Martin is limited almost exclusively to right field these days, not because he can’t handle other positions -- he began the year splitting time in left, and he came up as an infielder -- but because he’s been made the primary right fielder. The Twins want him getting as many reps there as possible so as to increase his comfort level. Likewise, Brooks Lee -- who has played plenty of third base in the past -- was moved from short to third when Lewis was demoted and has stayed at the hot corner to re-establish his familiarity there.
“It’s important for us organizationally that guys play multiple positions,” manager Derek Shelton said. “There’s very few guys that we feel are going to be locked into one spot. I think if you look at our club right now, we have one player, right? One player [Buxton] that plays one spot and he plays center and it’s really good when he’s on the field in center. But other than that, yeah, we will continue to explore not only with players in the Minor Leagues in Royce’s case or players at the Major League level at other positions.”
Catcher Victor Caratini plays first base. Lee can play second, short and third. Arcia can play all four infield positions. Ryan Kreidler can play second, third, short and all three outfield positions. Gray can play second, third and short. It’s a roster made for tinkering. Keaschall has done some work at first and in the outfield, though he’s not considered an option at either place in games yet.
The versatility also can have offensive benefits. Early in the year, Larnach and Martin were torrid at the plate, in part because Shelton was able to choose matchups for them with Matt Wallner in the mix in the outfield. Now he can do that with the infield, deploying not just his bench players but his more regular options as well so as to seek the best matchups for them at the plate.
“We have the ability to be more matchup-based,” Shelton said. “Very similar to where we were earlier in the year. We had the ability to do that, and there's a chance that we could definitely see that. Now, some of that's also going to come with performance. You still have to perform to be able to get that. But we could definitely be more matchup-based with the way our roster's constructed right now.”