Alan

Roden

Since August 13, Roden had only appeared in four of Minnesota’s 12 games. The 26-year-old hit .254/.333/.313 in 79 plate appearances this year. He’ll try to get back on track at Triple-A.

It’s a rare off day for Larnach with an opposing right-hander on the mound. Alen Roden will start in his place in left field and will bat seventh for the Twins against Padres’ veteran Walker Buehler.

Roden, called up five weeks ago, was just 10-for-52 with one extra-base hit in 23 games, putting his roster spot in jeopardy. This will help keep him there against right-handers for now, but the lack of homers or steals makes him pretty irrelevant for fantasy purposes. He’s collected a total of two home runs and one stolen base in 218 major league plate appearances since debuting with the Blue Jays last year.

Roden’s single in the sixth drove in the game’s only runs. He’s still looking for his extra-base hit while batting .226/.306/.226 in 36 plate appearance since being recalled, but he’s come up big a couple of times with his seven RBI.

Roden stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning of a tie game and delivered the winning knock. Otherwise, the Twins really had to grind to put him in position for that clutch hit with two infield hits and a walk to finish off this comeback win. Funny enough, they tied this game a few innings before with five walks out of six batters. Hey, a win is still a win. Roden also chipped in another run-scoring hit early on and could siphon off some playing time in this outfield.

Roden receives the call to replace injured franchise cornerstone Byron Buxton (hip) ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Guardians. The 26-year-old was picked up from the Blue Jays in the ill-fated Louis Varland deal at last year’s trade deadline. Roden played in just 12 games for Minnesota before undergoing thumb surgery last August while Varland has blossomed into a dominant closer for Toronto.

Roden has been on the injured list since April 24th after suffering a shoulder injury on April 17th. If he does get his batting practice sessions in this week, he will likely begin a rehab assignment next week and then would likely need at least two weeks of games before the Twins would even consider bringing him up to the big leagues. There’s also a chance he’s activated off the injured list and kept at Triple-A, where he began the season.

The good news is that surgery won’t be required, it’s something that rest and rehab should be able to take care of. It’s going to cost the 26-year-old outfielder at least a month’s worth of action though, if not longer.

Roden performed admirably in the Grapefruit League with a .310 average and .774 OPS, but he has an option year left, while James Outman does not, so Outman wins the final outfield spot to begin 2026.

Roden entered camp as a long shot to make the Twins, but he’s 7-for-14 with a homer in his five official games and there was no letup in the unofficial one today. That he bats left-handed makes him a poor fit with Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner already due to start in the outfield corners, but the Twins could have Larnach do more DHing if they want to make room for him.