Over the weekend the Minnesota Twins were swept at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies . After being embarrassed in the cornfields of Iowa, they returned home to lose two more at Target Field. Sunday's 7-5 debacle was among the worst losses of the season.
Adding insult to injury, Derek Shelton's squad saw outfielder Austin Martin exit Sunday's contest late. He was diagnosed with a hamstring injury, and a trip to the injured list seemed likely . There were plenty of logical options to consider as his replacement.
I guess Jeremy Zoll and Shelton opted for something a bit more out of the ordinary.
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Expected as a result of his hamstring injury, Austin Martin was officially placed on the injured list Monday. Rather than call up an outfielder, the Minnesota Twins opted for recently DFA'd catcher Alex Jackson .
Twins place Austin Martin on the 10-day injured list and bring back up Alex Jackson to take his roster spot. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/DBcQTWsysH
— Declan Goff (@DexsTweets) August 17, 2026
It's unfortunate that Martin suffered the leg injury. However, he was worthy of bumping off the roster for some time now. Since peaking with a .955 OPS 24 games into the season, he has spent his last 86 games batting .217 with a .608 OPS. There has been no power, lackluster defense, and unreliable baserunning.
Despite a hot start, the former first round pick now owns just a .241 average and .686 OPS . His 95 OPS+ puts him below league-average, and there really aren't any redeeming qualities to keep giving him a roster spot. Rather than using an option though, Minnesota was gifted an opportunity to place him on the injured list.
Rather than calling up an outfielder (of which top prospect Walker Jenkins is one ), or going with a right-handed bat ( Gabriel Gonzalez is already on the 40-man roster), the franchise chose the lowest possible option. Alex Jackson was just recently DFA'd and went through waivers unclaimed.
Also a former first round pick, Jackson is on his sixth team in seven years. Yes he is batting .303 with a .742 OPS , but Shelton has shielded him from consistent playing time in order to protect those numbers. Minnesota already has two catchers on the roster ( Ryan Jeffers and Victor Caratini ). There just was no reason to replace a utility player with an unremarkable backstop.
Jackson will also need to be added back onto the 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move will be coming. When he is ultimately sent packing again, that will require another trip through waivers.
At the trade deadline, the Minnesota Twins opted to be buyers. They sought to fix a bullpen that went unaddressed this offseason, and Tom Pohlad paraded about after adding roughly $8 million in payroll . Instead of continuing to supplement a team that has gone just 4-8 since the deadline , they get Alex Jackson.
The Twins are now 4-10 to start August.
They were 3.0 GB in the division to enter the month, and now 16 days later, have slipped to 6.0 GB.
Bad baseball at a bad time.— Ted (@tlschwerz) August 16, 2026
Minnesota promoted Kaelen Culpepper to take over as the shortstop for a bad Tristan Gray , and a stretched Ryan Kreidler . The top prospect had earned the nod at Triple-A, but also brings future juice as well.
The same could be said for top prospect Walker Jenkins. He's batting .289 with an .865 OPS across 62 Triple-A games this season. In 37 games since his return from the injured list, he's batting .310 with a .914 OPS . He controls the zone, can play all three outfield positions (spelling the ailing Byron Buxton ), and would be another draw to the ballpark.
Rather than pump some juice into a hapless lineup, the Twins turned elsewhere. Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gonzalez, or even Matt Wallner could have been acceptable in Jenkins' place. Jackson is a waving of the proverbial white flag by a team that theoretically is still in the hunt .
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