Minnesota

Twins

Bell homered in back-to-back innings in the seventh and eighth, though the latter, which was hit 96.4 mph to right-center at Yankee Stadium, likely would have been an out most days. It’s his 13th career mulithomer game, including his second of this year. It’s his fourth game ever with three extra-base hits. The other three all came with the Pirates in a three-month span in 2019, with the last being his only three-homer game. He’s batting .247/.304/.434 through 345 plate appearances this year.

Statcast says the homer, a 360-foot liner to right off Tim Hill, would have left four ballparks, which doesn’t even account for it getting a little help from the wind blowing out to right at Yankee Stadium today. It was just the 14th regular (non-inside the park) homer with a launch angle 18 degrees of lower this season. Still, it was an impressive 106-mph drive from Larnach in a matchup with a quality left-handed reliever. It was his sixth career homer against a southpaw. He’s 5-for-28 with two homers against lefties while serving as a platoon player this year.

Matthews was lifted during a rocky fifth inning where he allowed a two-run homer to Max Schuemann before issuing back-to-back walks with two outs in the frame. He was charged with four runs over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and also issued four walks. The 26-year-old is questionable heading into his next start against the Angels on Friday. There should be some clarity on his status at some point later this weekend.

Buxton returns to Minnesota’s lineup in center field and hitting second following an extended four-game absence due to a right hip impingement. It’s his first game action since June 28. The 32-year-old has been one of the most impactful all-around fantasy contributors this season, delivering a stellar .268/.323/.573 slash line with 56 runs scored, 25 homers, 43 RBI and seven steals across 329 plate appearances over 73 games. It’s an extremely encouraging development for fantasy managers that he’s managed to avoid a trip to the injured list.

Ober kicked off a rehab assignment by allowing three runs over 3 1/3 innings for High-A Cedar Rapids last Sunday. The 30-year-old starter is working his way back from a mild flexor strain that put him on the shelf back in late May. He figures to be ready to rejoin Minnesota’s pitching mix at some point in early-to-mid July. His fantasy appeal is limited to deeper mixed leagues as a matchup-dependent back-end rotation arm.

Clemens put the Twins on the board early on Friday when he sent a curveball from Gerrit Cole 423 feet into left-center to give his team a 1-0 lead. Clemens would later double in the fourth inning and came around to score on an RBI single by Victor Caratini. Clemens has now hit safely in three-straight games and in six of his last seven while smacking four homers over that span.

Paredes took the mound with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but gave up a solo homer to Trent Grisham with two outs in the frame to draw things back to even. He would retire Austin Wells on the next at-bat to end the inning, and returned to pitch a scoreless second inning. After a brief rain delay, Paredes returned to toe the rubber in the third inning and was again taken deep. This time, it was Ben Rice who got the best of Paredes, as Rice’s two-run homer put the Yankees up 3-1. Paredes would make it through the fourth inning without giving up a run, but was pulled after throwing 81 pitches. He’ll be hard to trust in fantasy for his next start which is scheduled for Thursday against the Guardians.

He’s going to DH tonight for the Saints. Jeffers probably figures to be activated in the near future. Hamate surgery is known to sap some power, but it’s plausible that Jeffers finds his way into the one-catcher league radar and he makes an interesting short-term stash in two-catcher leagues.

It’s his fourth missed game in a row. The holding pattern remains. We’re waiting for real news on the situation. It sounded like Buxton was close to returning after an MRI revealed a hip impingement on Tuesday, but there’s been no real movement. Consider Buxton questionable for the other games against the Yankees this weekend.

Jeffers is reportedly getting close to a rehab assignment. His return will be one to monitor even in shallow leagues, as Jeffers was hitting .295/.408/.541 before going down with the injury in late May.