Twins top prospect Luke Keaschall made his major league debut on Friday and he impressed in more ways than one. Not only did the 22-year-old record his first major league hit, he also hit his first double, scored his first run, drove in his first run and stole a base.
Now, if only the Twins had won the game.
Keaschall and company staked the team to a 4-1 lead over the Atlanta Braves through seven innings and then it all unraveled in the eighth after reliever Griffin Jax had another terrible outing.
“Griffin Jax is not himself,” said radio play-by-play man Kris Atteberry.
No, he was not.
Jax could only secure one out in the inning. In the process, he served up four runs on two hits with two walks and the damage was done. Reliever Cole Sands then had to enter the game with the bases loaded and allowed two hits. Some of those runs were charged to Jax while Sands got tagged with an earned run in the 6-4 loss.
Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 7-13, the same record they had last season in mid-to-late April. The only difference is that around that time the Twins embarked on a 12-game winning streak — the team’s longest winning streak of the season — and emerged from it with a record of 19-13. Sure would be nice if the same thing happened again.
–The Twins have been outscored 12-2 in the eighth inning this season, according to Atteberry.
–Keaschall on the game, according to MLB.com: “You play to win every day, and I don’t like losing. At the same time, I’m happy to be here and happy to be with a great group of guys. We’re going to bounce back tomorrow and be even better.” I like the optimism.
–The Twins drafted Keaschall in the second round of the 2023 draft from Arizona State University.
More on Keaschall from MLB Trade Rumors:
“He has taken 662 plate appearances across 147 games for multiple minor league clubs since being drafted. In that time, his 13.6% walk rate is almost as high as his 17.5% strikeout rate. That has helped him produce a combined .297/.415/.470 batting line.
“That performance has made him a consensus top 100 prospect. Baseball America has him at #43, FanGraphs at #56, MLB Pipeline at #57, ESPN at #43 and Keith Law of The Athletic at #62. Scouting reports on him generally heap praise on his abilities at the plate, with bigger questions about his defense.”
–Although Jax got roughed up, starter Chris Paddack made a solid appearance, allowing just a run on three hits across five innings with a walk and six strikeouts.