For most of the past two seasons, the Twins have employed a fairly even split of playing time behind the plate. Ryan Jeffers would start one day, Christian Vázquez the next.
Last year, each started 81 games with Jeffers playing 720 1/3 innings and Vázquez 719. That’s how things stood when the Twins started this season, too. But over the past week, that’s finally changed.
Vázquez took a foul tip to his hand on April 14 and he’s healthy now, but the playing time has flipped dramatically towards Jeffers. Vázquez has started just twice since then with Jeffers drawing seven starts behind the plate in that time period, including Friday night’s game. At one point in that stretch, Jeffers started six of seven games.
“I think RJ is going to find a few more at-bats in the near term here,” manager Rocco Baldelli said earlier in the week. “We can see if we can get the offense going even more than we’ve seen. That’s a big part of it. … I think getting him a few more games and getting him a few more at-bats might be able to jump-start our group in some ways offensively.”
Jeffers said he spoke with Baldelli about the change and the manager indicated there wouldn’t be an exact schedule but just that the 27-year-old backstop would be in the lineup more often.
Vázquez is the stronger defender of the two, while Jeffers is a better hitter. Heading into Friday’s game, Jeffers was hitting .254 with a .682 OPS and 98 OPS+ while Vázquez was hitting just .152 with a 33 OPS+, which is figure that is well below the league average hitter (100).
“I’ve gotten a good handle on how to prepare myself going every other day,” Jeffers said. “I think that was hard at first, but I think, especially when you’re trying to feel something or figure something out, it’s nice when you can get a larger sample size of games quicker.”
And while the reason the two have shared the playing time is in large part because of the rigors of the position, Jeffers said he thinks his body will be able to bounce back even with an uptick in playing time.
“I’ve always said, my whole time here, I would love to play every day,” Jeffers said. “It’s the reality of catching, you don’t do that. But I’m excited. The opportunity is exciting. I’ve always prepared my body to be ready whenever that happens.”
Lewis plan
Royce Lewis headed out to St. Paul on a rehab assignment on Friday, a major step for him as he works his way back from a hamstring strain that has kept him sidelined since mid-March.
But don’t expect this rehab assignment to be a quick one.
After a partial game on Friday, Lewis is scheduled to have Saturday as a day off. He’s supposed to play on Sunday and then the Saints have a day off on Monday. The Twins will head out on the road next week and it’s possible they will wait until they return home on May 6 to activate him from the injured list.
“He’s going to have to build back up,” Baldelli said. “In a lot of ways, he’s starting from scratch with his game action. It’s been awhile since he’s played, so he’s going to need some at-bats, he’s going to have to be at third base a fair amount. He’s going to be DHing some.”
Briefly
Simeon Woods Richardson is scheduled to start on Saturday opposed by Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi. Woods Richardson gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched the last time out. … Minor league catcher Diego Cartaya cleared outright waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. The Twins’ 40-man roster is now at 39.
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