St. Paul – Abbey Nelson and her bachelorette crew were already set up for an exciting weekend at her fiancé, John Klein‘s, family cabin, just a half hour north of Mille Lacs. But when they found out Klein would be back on the mound at CHS Field for Friday night’s game against the Round Rock Express, they figured they’d start the bachelorette party off at the ballpark to cheer him on.
Klein welcomed around 50 friends and family to the ballpark on Friday for his second outing at CHS Field. The first appearance was his Triple-A debut on the afternoon of August 6. He came into that game in the seventh inning and allowed six runs on five hits, two walks, and a hit batter.
The results were unusual. Klein hadn’t allowed more than three earned runs in an outing all season before that. The Brooklyn Park native later shared that there were more nerves than he usually felt pitching on the mound that he hadn’t touched since high school baseball. It was an entirely different experience than anywhere in the Texas League.
In his next appearance, against Omaha on Aug. 12, Klein returned to what he’d been showing in Double-A all season. He pitched 3 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, two walks, and striking out six. While he went on the development list immediately after the outing, it was a solid bounce back leading into his next outing at CHS Field last Friday in front of 50-plus family and friends.
“I was able to slow myself down a little,” Klein said after Friday’s game. “Easier than it was the first time. A lot of jitters and nerves going, but I was able to settle in, find the strike zone, and get some guys out.”
“He pitched great tonight,” added Saints pitching coach Jonas Lovin. “First time he was a little nerved up, I think, and then he looked really good in Omaha last week. Obviously, pretty maxed out on roster spots, I think it’s been nine or 10 days since he pitched last, so it was nice to see him back out there again.”
Klein arguably had his best outing in Triple-A on Friday, and it wasn’t just to impress Nelson and her bachelorette party. He went 4 ⅔ innings, allowing just one run on three hits, two walks, and striking out seven batters. The fastball averaged 95 MPH and topped out at 96.3. It was the pitch he focused on all off-season as he tried to add velocity. It has been paying off for him in his last two outings, getting hitters to chase outside the zone.
“Velo was really good, changeup looked great,” said Lovin. “I thought he got a little tired there towards the end, you could see the velo dip, but I thought he competed well. When you punch out seven in four innings, that’ll work any day.”
“Yeah, I felt good,” Klein said. “Nice to always stack quality outings together, and I got some good work in over on the development list time and was able to debut it out there.”
Lovin has worked with Klein longer than any pitching coach in the Twins organization. Lovin mentored Klein at Iowa Central Community College before joining the Twins organization.
However, Lovin hadn’t seen Klein pitching since spring training before his Triple-A call-up in August, and it was a bit of a surprise that Klein reached St. Paul this soon. It was surely a welcome surprise for Lovin. It highlighted how Klein has become another development success story, transitioning from independent to professional baseball.
“I’m really glad he’s had a great year,” said Lovin. “I think the guys in Double-A did a fantastic job with him. We’ve had so many coaches pour into him across the organization. Richard Salzar in Low-A has had a great impact on him. Yeah, he’s done a nice job, those coaches have done a nice job with him, and he’s looked great, just hoping to keep the momentum going to finish the year strong here.”
Klein could have had anywhere between four to seven outings over the last four weeks of the Triple-A season. He’s glad to have two back-to-back solid outings to put his bad Triple-A debut behind him and is now taking what he’s worked on all season to finish the year strong and position himself to become part of the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen plans next year.
“Yeah, just highlight the positives,” said Klein. “Highlight the things I’m doing well, and find what I need to work on and work on those and see what happens by the end of the year.”
