Luke

Keaschall

Keaschall has been quite disappointing in managing just one homer through 253 plate appearances, but his .324 OBP isn’t half bad. He still needs a real hot streak at some point in order to ensure that he’s up for good; as is, he’s definitely a candidate to be demoted if the Twins wants to try top prospect Kaelen Culpepper.

At some point, the Twins are going to have to give intriguing infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper, who is tearing the cover off the ball at Triple-A St. Paul recently, a look at the highest level. The obvious move would be to jettison Royce Lewis from third base, especially since he’s hitting .165 overall this season. However, it’s worth noting that Keaschall is hitting just .224/.306/.292 with one homer and 10 steals through 44 games. The 23-year-old former top prospect hit at every rung of the minor-league ladder and looked impressive during last year’s injury-shortened rookie campaign.

Keaschall is batting .313 with four doubles, six walks and three steals in his last 10 games. It’s been just enough to push his OPS up to .600 for the first time all season. The bat should continue to come around, which would make him pretty valuable if he keeps running; he’s 8-for-8 stealing bases so far.

Keashall smacked an RBI double in the fifth inning that increased the Twins’ advantage to 2-0. He then came around to score on a run-scoring double off the bat of Kody Clemens. He’s having a rough time overall at the dish this season, slashing an underwhelming .223/.280/.300 with one homer, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases in 143 plate appearances.

Keaschall knocked a base hit in the second inning and swiped second for his sixth steal of the season. He was later hit by a pitch in the ninth and came around to score the Twins’ only run of the game on a base hit. The 23-year-old second baseman is off to a slow start, hitting .206/.255/.265 with one homer, 12 runs scored, and 12 RBI, though a low .233 BABIP is the difference from the .340 mark he had over 207 plate appearances in 2025.

Keaschall was Johnny-on-the-spot here with a game-tying single in the seventh inning followed by a go-ahead poke in the ninth. That final blow was a true chopped that only scored a run because the Mets’ infield was in, but for a guy like Keaschall who’s trying to get off the schneid and still has a paltry .557 OPS, every little bit helps.

The nice game comes after the Twins dropped him from third to fifth in the lineup. He hasn’t shown much pop yet this season, but his bad speed is up from last year and it hasn’t led to any more strikeouts. He’s still probably going to spend most of the year batting in the top three for the Twins.

Keaschall is hitting just .222/.278/.292, but his glove is probably a bigger concern than his bat at this point. Today, he turned a double play ball into no outs as part of a five-run third inning for Boston. If he’s not going to cut it at second base, he might not be a long-term solution for a Twins team loaded with outfield prospects. Offensively, things still seem pretty sound here. He’s striking out only 14 percent of the time this year, and while he’s not hitting the ball hard at the moment, his bat speed numbers are better than last year. He should still be highly regarded as a fantasy second baseman.

The righty will get the day game off instead of facing RHP Jack Flaherty. Kody Clemens will slide into Keaschall’s spot at second base, while Josh Bell moves up the order to hit third. Keaschall has hits in his last three games, but is off to a rough .208/.264/.292 start with just one homer and two stolen bases.

Keaschall broke a 3-3 tie by hitting a 101.8 mph home run off Casey Mize. It was Keaschall’s first home run of the season, and the 23-year-old now has five RBI as well. He’s gotten off to a slow start to the season, but his price was always a bit too high in fantasy leagues. His .302 average last season came with a .263 xBA, and he has never had over 15 home runs in a minor league season. Keaschall will run if he gets on base, but he’s also likely to hit something closer to .250-.260 this year