Story by
Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Twins send slumping Matt Wallner to St. Paul; Byron Buxton scratched
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Twins send slumping Matt Wallner to St. Paul; Byron Buxton scratched
After his second consecutive game with four strikeouts, the Twins made the decision to send Matt Wallner to Triple-A in hopes that the right fielder could use time there to reset.
Wallner’s season-long struggles — he’s hitting .167 and striking out nearly 40% of the time — combined with a desire to get Austin Martin more playing time, helped lead the Twins to the decision.
Advertisement
“It is someone who has had some success at the major league level,” manager Derek Shelton said. “You want to give him a little bit of rope. But on the other side of it, we have a guy that’s pushing and is in a situation where he deserves. So, I think in this situation, the best thing is for Matty to go to Triple-A, get some at-bats every day (and) get Austin more at-bats.”
Wallner, 28, has struck out 53 times in 135 plate appearances this year and had recently been losing some playing time to Martin, who is hitting .333 with an on-base percentage of .454, which would lead the majors if he had enough plate appearances. Martin got on base three more times on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Wallner’s .551 OPS was seventh-worst among all qualified major league hitters coming into Thursday, and he’s posted a -1.2 bWAR (Wins Above Replacement per Baseball Reference).
“We haven’t seen the consistency of being on balance throughout his swings over the last probably month or so,” Shelton said.
Advertisement
The Twins made a similar move with Wallner in April 2024, optioning him to allow time to get right in the minor leagues. He was much better upon his return, finishing the season with a career-best 149 OPS+.
“I always know statistically I start slow. It’s just a matter of fact, but I’m trying to get ahead of it, trying to beat that,” Wallner said earlier this month. “But it’s just part of it. just trying to be the first one to the park, and if I’m struggling, I can live with it if I’m working. But I just want to do everything I can in my power to get back on track. Just trying to work as hard as I can to do that and come out on the other side.”
And now, he’ll be doing that work in St. Paul. To fill his spot on the roster, the Twins recalled Ryan Kreidler , who can play both the infield and outfield, and gives the Twins another right-handed option.
Buxton scratched
A day after hitting a pair of home runs in the Twins’ 9-5 loss to the Marlins, Byron Buxton was scratched from Thursday’s lineup due to right hip flexor soreness. Shelton said the soreness stemmed from a play a couple nights earlier when Buxton tweaked his hip running the bases.
Advertisement
Buxton, who has played in 40 of the team’s 44 games, has heated up of late and now has 15 home runs on the season to go along with an .899 OPS. Shelton said he spoke with Buxton towards the end of Thursday’s game and the center fielder said he was feeling better.
“Just this morning being as early as it was, he was a little sore,” Shelton said. “Especially with where he’s at, right, there’s no chance that I’m going to put him in a situation where, if it’s sore, I’m going to put him out there.”
Briefly
Joe Ryan is set to start on Friday when the Milwaukee Brewers come to town. Connor Prielipp, who would have been lined up to start on Thursday, has been moved to Saturday as the Twins closely monitor his workload. Friday’s game has been moved from 7:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. with the Timberwolves set to tip off in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals across the street at 8:30 p.m. … Zebby Matthews , who started on Thursday, was recalled from Triple-A and Travis Adams was optioned.
Advertisement
