The Twins haven’t gotten to see the full scope of Luke Keaschall’s abilities at the major league level — and they’re not likely to soon. Keaschall is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow that he underwent last August, but what they have seen has been more than enough.
“He has settled in very quickly,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s almost like there was no settling. He just came in ready to play. The game doesn’t appear too fast for him in any way. He seems ready for everything that’s come his way so far.”
The Twins called Keaschall up over the weekend, and he has provided an immediate jolt, collecting five hits — including two doubles — stealing three bags and scoring three runs in his first four games heading into Wednesday’s contest. His aggressive, heads up baserunning led to a run on Tuesday for the Twins in a game in which he reached base three times.
“It’s the same game, just at a higher level,” Keaschall said. “(I) try to stay level-headed and go out there and compete.”
So far, so good.
Keaschall started at second base on Wednesday for the second time in his first five games. As he builds his arm strength back up, the next steps will be increasing his time at second. In three of his first four games, he was the designated hitter.
He’s not sure when, but at some point, he’ll start getting reps in the outfield, too. As a minor leaguer, he has played mainly a mix of second base, first base and center field, with second being the position he has seen the most time at.
“If you look at the way Luke was throwing the ball at the very, very beginning of camp and then you look at the way he’s throwing the ball now, he has made really good progress and jumps,” Baldelli said. “It looks totally different. And he’ll continue to get better as he’s on this program.”
But even though he’s not fully ready to contribute in the field like he one day will be able to, Keaschall, the Twins’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has adapted quickly to the major league level and everything else put on his plate.
“That was pretty quick for any young player to come up and look that comfortable,” Baldelli said. “He’s taking the game to the opposition. He’s showing everyone what he’s capable of.”
Lewis nears rehab
Royce Lewis stood at home plate and made a swinging motion before setting off towards second base in the hours before Wednesday’s game, part of a set of baserunning activities that also included sliding.
Both were good indicators that the third baseman is nearing a rehab assignment, which could potentially come later this week. Lewis suffered a moderate strain of his left hamstring on March 16, running to first base during a spring training game.
“I’ve been through this, unfortunately, enough where I know you’ve got to check off some things like baserunning and sliding and doing all that before you get into games. But it’s a good sign because it means I’m close,” Lewis said.
Briefly
Chris Paddack will start Thursday’s series finale against the Chicago White Sox, a game that will start at 12:10 p.m. Paddack, who is coming off of a strong start in Atlanta, gave up nine runs when he faced the White Sox in his first start of the season.
Leave a Reply