Twins' Luke Keaschall has All-Star upside — if he can fix his defense

· Yahoo Sports

Ever since a brutal April, Luke Keaschall has been the offensive machine the Twins were hoping he could be after his promising 2025 debut and a huge spring training. The only issue is that he’s been one of the worst defenders in baseball, no matter what position he has played. That presents a bit of a dilemma — or at least a question mark regarding his future outlook.

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Keaschall got off to a very slow start to this season at the plate. On May 2, he was hitting .211 with a .535 OPS through 32 games. He doubled that night, his two more doubles the next day, and has hardly looked back since.

His season turnaround started in May, when Keaschall hit .291 with a .790 OPS. He was a bit quieter in June (.648 OPS), but July and August are where he really went to another level. Keaschall hit .323 in July, with a .447 OBP and .909 OPS. He followed that up by hitting .337 in August, with a .987 OPS and five of his nine home runs this season.

Since May 2, Keachall has hit .303 with an .848 OPS in 99 games, raising his season OPS to .764. Since July 1, he’s hit .331 with a .954 OPS. He’s played 50 games in that span and has multiple hits in 18 of them. The Twins moved Keaschall to the leadoff spot on August 17, and he’s thrived in that role as an on-base machine with some extra-base pop.

Even though Keaschall’s bat speed and average exit velocities are underwhelming, there’s a lot to like about a guy who is constantly making good swing decisions and squaring the ball up. There’s some Luis Arraez to his metrics, with a bit more pop. At just 24 years old, Keaschall has legitimate All-Star upside with his bat.

But his defensive struggles can’t be ignored. In order for Keaschall to become the all-around star player the Twins believe he can be, he has to become competent with the glove somewhere on the diamond. That hasn’t happened yet.

Keaschall began this season as the Twins’ everyday second baseman, which is where he played as a rookie as well. He wasn’t nearly good enough there. Among 72 players with at least 100 innings at second base in 2026, Keaschall ranks 71st in Fangraphs’ Defensive Runs Above Average (DEF) metric and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (OAA). He was also near the bottom of the group in Fielding Run Value (FRV) and only slightly better (56th) in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS).

On June 20, Keaschall saw his first MLB action at a different position: right field. He’s been almost exclusively an outfielder since the end of June. In addition to playing right, Keaschall has spent a lot of time in center field while Byron Buxton has been on the shelf. Neither has gone well. Quite frankly, he’s looked like an infielder trying to play the outfield for the first time.

In RF, 91 players meet the 100-inning limit this season. Keaschall ranks 85th in DRS, although OAA, FRV, and DEF all put him in the 58-64 range, which is more mediocre than outright bad. He’s been better than Matt Wallner was in RF early this season, but he’s notably worse than Kody Clemens in that position and a far cry from when the Twins had Max Kepler playing quality defense in right for almost a decade.

Center field was even worse for Keaschall. Among 72 players with 100 innings there, he ranks 70th with -9 DRS and is also in the bottom five in OAA, FRV, and DEF. The metrics all agree that he’s been something of a disaster when playing center field. The eye test backs that up too. The hope is that, between Buxton and Walker Jenkins, the Twins won’t ever need to put Keaschall in CF again, barring an emergency.

When combining his defensive positions, Keaschall ranks in the 1st percentile overall with -11 OAA. He’s been a net negative on defense for the Twins, no matter where they’ve put him. He’s still clearly a positive player overall because of his offense, but his glove is the reason he’s been worth 1.8 WAR this season and not quite a bit more.

So, what’s the solution? The Twins don’t want to move a 24-year-old with all kinds of athleticism to designated hitter, although that could be the eventual fallback plan. Heading into next year, the hope has to be that he can spend a bunch of time in the winter working on his defense, whether that’s in right field, at second base, or both.

Keaschall’s bat could make him the Twins’ leadoff hitter for a long time. If his glove catches up, he has a chance to be an extremely valuable ballplayer.


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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Sep 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Twins section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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