MINNEAPOLIS -- A bit of a shakeup came Sunday for the 4-11 Twins, a day after manager Rocco Baldelli suggested that the club might need a ¡°shock¡± in response to the early struggles.
Prior to Sunday¡¯s series finale against the Tigers, the Twins reinstated infielder Brooks Lee from the 10-day injured list and optioned Jose Miranda to Triple-A St. Paul. In addition, Baldelli shuffled his lineup for the first time against a right-hander this year, moving Edouard Julien into the leadoff spot, Matt Wallner from first to fourth and giving Carlos Correa his first day off of the young season.
Lee missed the Twins¡¯ first 15 games of the season with a lumbar strain. He¡¯s a versatile defender who can play multiple positions, but will probably see the most time at third base for the time being while Royce Lewis continues to recover from a left hamstring strain.
¡°We¡¯re going to put [Lee] on out there, let him play, let him hopefully get us rolling, maybe he can spark us some,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°But Brooks is a guy that we¡¯re not afraid to challenge. Brooks has good baseball awareness, and a good head on his shoulders, can handle challenges, can handle things put in front of him, and that¡¯s what we have here right now.¡±
Lee, who was selected eighth overall in the 2022 MLB Draft and was MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 18 prospect entering the 2024 season, made his debut last July and proceeded to post a .221/.265/.320 slash with three homers and 27 RBIs in 50 games for the Twins. He got off to a strong start before fading, and believes he has learned from the experience.
¡°I think I¡¯ve got to stay within myself,¡± he said. ¡°Make sure my mechanics are dialed in, that I¡¯m getting the right pitch to hit. I think last year I kind of got away from that, bad mechanics, just from my left-handed swing.¡±
With Lewis and Lee both out, Miranda started nine of the Twins¡¯ first 15 games at the hot corner but struggled at the plate, hitting .167 with one homer and 13 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances. He also made a fielding error on Thursday and committed a baserunning gaffe during Saturday¡¯s game, walking away from second base despite initially being ruled safe on a force play with the Twins down, 4-0, in the bottom of the eighth inning.
While Lee figures primarily to play third for now, he allows Baldelli significantly increased flexibility in lineup choices and in-game moves. He can play short or second, which frees up Willi Castro to be available all over the field. Castro has primarily played second base in the early going, in part because with Lewis out, the club¡¯s other infield options besides Correa were limited defensively.
Festa gets another start
In something of a surprise, the Twins announced Sunday that David Festa will get a second start next week against the Mets, with the club staying on turn through the remainder of the homestand. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober will start Monday and Tuesday, with Festa going on Wednesday before an off-day Thursday.
There had been strong indications that instead, the Twins would call up righty Zebby Matthews from Triple-A to start Monday¡¯s game, pushing the other starters back a day.
¡°Just where everybody else is at in our rotation, it made sense to get him in there in that spot,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°It all wrapped up and worked.¡±