Minnesota Twins rookie Luke Keaschall did the right thing by making outs in his final four at-bats Saturday night. Better to temper expectations after such a mouthwatering debut the night before.
Keaschall made a memorable first impression in his first major league game, going 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base against the Atlanta Braves on Friday. He became the first Twins (or Washington Senators) player ever, going back to 1901, to do all of that in their debut.
Call it historic, unique, or just plain awesome, but Keaschall performed in his debut exactly how the Twins told us he could: intensely, shrewdly, skillfully, and swiftly. The vibes felt good beyond the box score, accentuated by intercut glimpses on the TV broadcast of Keaschall’s family and girlfriend in the stands at Truist Park, visibly nervous before he’d swing, and a mixture of jubilant and relieved after his at-bats ended. The affection they sent was a feel-good for a team that obviously could use more good feelings.
Keaschall’s presence radiated a good vibe even before the first pitch he saw. Atlanta’s mascot, Blooper, for some reason (possibly not by accident, he’s crafty), found Keaschall attractive and started messing with him during stretch time. If Keaschall did something, Blooper mimicked him, repeating whatever action it was.
An up-and-comer in the mascot cosmos, Blooper is notorious for being playfully obnoxious among whoever the Braves happen to be facing. Not as cleverly or as effectively as, say, the Phillie Phanatic does it, but in that unofficial second tier of “good” mascots near Orbit (Houston Astros), Dinger (Colorado Rockies), and others (Twins?).
Long story short: If Blooper hitches his star to Keaschall, that means the word is out, the universe is expecting big things, and circumstances favor something huge. Then again, it’s possible the actor inside the furry costume might have gotten confused and thought Keaschall was Harrison Bader instead. In the second game of the series, that’s who Blooper wouldn’t leave alone. Is it correlation, is it causation — is it just a six-foot fuzzball? Or is Blooper more scout than mascot?
Do Mascots read Baseball America?
Other rookie hitters have made better debuts for the Twins through the years, but not that many rookies, and not that much better. Only 10 other Twins finished with more win probability added than Keaschall in their first MLB game. Only seven others finished with more total bases, and only three others had more RE24. (Base-out runs added. It’s real.) Only two batters who had similar levels of activity in their first game were younger than Keaschall (age 22 years and 249 days) when they debuted. And those guys are legends: Joe Mauer in 2004 and Kent Hrbek in 1981.
Let’s look at Keaschall’s first game, moment by moment, as a mascot might.
First at-bat
The Twins had already pushed a run across in the second inning against right-hander Bryce Elder when Keaschall came to bat with a runner on third base and one out. He spoiled the first pitch with a vigorous swing on an offering in the middle of the zone, and followed it up by getting fooled on a breaking ball low and away. But one of Keaschall’s skills is making contact anyway when leveraged, and he got enough of the next pitch to flip it into short right for an RBI single.
Not only did Keaschall give the Twins a 2-0 lead, but he did it with a duck-snort blooper (so to speak) befitting a Cleveland Guardians rally that lasts all season. Where has that kind of luck been all season for the Twins? Other than with their opponents, seemingly.
One out later, Keaschall revved his engine and stole second base on the first pitch to Edouard Julien. Not sure if his helmet fits correctly, though.
Second at-bat
On a 1-1 pitch with a runner at first base, Keaschall didn’t miss a hanging breaking ball from Elder, lining it inside the third-base bag for a double to put runners at second and third with no outs in the fourth. State of the Keaschall party: Beside themselves with excitement. Same as Twins fans at large.
DaShawn Keirsey followed with a chopper that, with the contact play on, ended with Atlanta throwing Brooks Lee out at the plate. The Twins should only use the contact play when it works. Lee ended up with a bloody face and a side of figurative egg.
Julien followed with a fly ball to center that was just deep enough, with Keaschall being just fast enough, to beat a throw home by Michael Harris II with a hands-first slide. Electrifying. And a 4-0 lead for the Twins, who are on their way to a third straight victory. Emphasis on the “on their way.” Funny story about that.
Note: the Twins made an awful mess of the batter’s boxes with their sliding in this inning.
State of Keaschall’s uniform: filthy, gloriously filthy.
Third at-bat
There would be no perfect game for Keaschall after he lined softly to right field against left-hander Aaron Bummer, about 86 mph. It’s good, though, because he took a lefty the opposite way for the second out of the sixth. That kind of approach is going to pay off tomorrow.
Fourth at-bat
The Braves flipped the score in the eighth against Griffin Jax, who made a much different kind of mess than the one the Twins did sliding into home earlier in the game, and the Twins trail 6-4.
How could they not keep riding the Keaschall wave? Against the closer, Raisel Iglesias, Keaschall ripped an 0-2 changeup 100.5 mph on the ground to third, where Austin Riley made a sweet pick before throwing to first for the out. An out, but the method was strong. A little altitude and Keaschall would have another hit, and the Twins would bring the tying run to the plate. Alas.
Keaschall’s second game
Only 1-for-5, but he started with another 100 mph off the bat, lining a mistake slider by lefty Chris Sale, the reigning NL Cy Young. By this time, Keaschall was making Twins fans envision some kind of Chuck Knoblauch/Shane Mack chimera hybrid super being.
The Braves would adjust.
In his second at-bat after Byron Buxton tripled, Keaschall struck out and couldn’t get him in. In his third at-bat, after Buxton singled and stole second base like he was 21 again, Keaschall failed to get him in or move him over. The question begs: Is Keaschall spending too much time around the other Twins? It probably can’t be helped, they’re on the same team.
Buxton gave the Twins a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly in his fourth at-bat, but there was still a runner aboard for Keaschall. Now he really looked like the other Twins, because Keaschall hit a rocket, estimated at 101.5 mph, into the right-center field gap — where Harris ran it down like a mini Victor Scott II. These outfielders with the IIs are II much for the Twins.
In his fifth at-bat, Keaschall struck out on a nasty change by Iglesias. Twins lose another heartbreaker. Aren’t they all?
Keaschall’s third game: 1-for-3 with a walk. Joe Ryan got blitzed, and the Twins went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding nine. In his first three games, Keaschall is batting .333/.385/.500 with two doubles, a walk, and a stolen base.
He definitely has our attention. It’s not just Blooper.
The timing, conditions, and results of Keaschall’s first game weren’t ideal. He still is recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in August, an unusual injury for a position player, but one that prevents Keaschall from playing defense more frequently than every other game for now.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli filled out lineups with Keaschall at DH on Friday and Sunday, with second base sandwiched in the middle game. While his better talents lie on the offensive side, such a limitation still makes it seem like the Twins are being careful with a thoroughbred racehorse. It’s wise to do so in this case.
Keaschall’s best is coming.
“He’s been a very good hitter at the minor league levels,” Baldelli said in a dugout interview on Apple TV during the opener. “[Keaschall is] a real good athlete. He can really run, and he has no fear. He really enjoys playing the game, and we’re getting a chance to see him just go out there and just kind of just go right at ‘em. That’s the way he’s played the game since I met him, and since we’ve acquired him. So, pretty nice to watch.”
It’s hard to watch Keaschall’s progress and not be stressed by Minnesota’s poor results. Only two teams have been worse. It’s funny, though. When there was more reason for optimism and Keaschall hadn’t played his first game, it was not hard to imagine a competitive Twins team using him as bait for improvements that would help them win in 2025.
That’s all fanciful nonsense now. Luke Keaschall, already locked into the Twins’ past via the record book, is also the present and the future. Wait until T.C. Bear gets a whiff of him.
