Minnesota Twins News: Danny Santana to DL, Kepler Up
The Minnesota Twins have recalled top prospect, Max Kepler to fill in for the injured Danny Santana
Danny Santana sustained a hamstring strain in last night’s embarrassing loss to the Royals. The Minnesota Twins elected to call up their #3 prospect, Max Kepler, to fill in for Santana.
There were plenty of other options for the Twins to choose from but they decided Kepler was the option that could give them the biggest jolt. The Twins certainly need a shot in the arm of some sort.
Minnesota could have chosen Darin Mastroianni but he is not on the 40 man roster and the Twins would have needed to remove someone from it to make room.
With Oswaldo Arcia and Eduardo Nunez already on the 25 man roster, the Twins didn’t need to call up an outfielder. They could have gone with a backup infielder, a bench bat or go with an 8 man bullpen for the time being.
Kepler has been a long term project for the Twins. He was signed back in 2009 as a very young man out of Germany. He hit .322/.416/.531 in AA last season and was hailed as the Southern League player of the year.
Paul Overbee wrote the following regarding Kepler’s 2016 season, “Kepler is a perfect piece for the Twins’ future. Although Kepler will not likely begin 2016 with the big league club, expect Kepler to make an appearance in Minnesota by years’ end.”
This is certainly sooner than anyone expected Max to make his first appearance this season.
One wonders, though, exactly where Kepler will slot in. He should be getting regular everyday at-bats but so should Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Has Eddie Rosario earned a temporary demotion to the bench? Kepler can play first base as well but there’s a log jam there too. Kepler should not be on the Twins if he’s not going to start nearly everyday.
It must be considered too whether a temporary call up is best for Kepler’s development. The ideal scenario would be for Minnesota to deem him ready and to call him up permanently. Danny Santana will be back in a few weeks and barring another injury or exceptional play, Kepler will likely be returning to the minors.
The Twins biggest weakness thus far has been their anemic offense. Without a clear and appropriate role for Kepler, it may have been wiser to call up Vargas for this temporary stint (also on the 40 man). Vargas has 3 hits and a walk in 2 games for Rochester so far. (This also could have been a good role for the departed Carlos Quentin)
Next: 2016 Puckett's Staff Predictions
But the Twins are desperate some kind of spark and opted for their top position player prospect in an attempt to provide it. We will see if it’s enough.