Minneapolis – It was never a question whether Luke Keaschall would make his MLB debut in 2025.
It was all a matter of when.
Whether that would be before or after Memorial Day Weekend, a typical benchmark on the calendar for top prospects in the higher minor-league levels, was always a point of debate. But having Keaschall join the Minnesota Twins just 19 games into the season was hardly on any fan’s bingo card for the 2025 season.
“We didn’t know it was going to be this early,” said St. Paul Saints manager Toby Gardenhire, who informed Keaschall he was going to the Big Leagues on April 17. “I don’t think they knew it was going to be this early either, but he’s doing everything everyone is asking him to do at every level he’s gone to.”
The 22-year-old Watsonville, Calif., native joined the team before their three-game road trip in Atlanta last weekend and impressed everyone early. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in his MLB debut on April 18, and he hasn’t slowed down since then.
“He has a very good idea of what he’s doing,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli on Keaschall at the plate. “He’s got a good short stroke to go with it. He’s young and his career is early, but he doesn’t seem to get too big. He can put a good, direct swing on the ball and not try to do too much.”
Keaschall has stolen five bases in five games, tying a major-league record held by former Twins second baseman Luis Castillo and the best rookie base stealer in history, Vince Coleman (along with Ced Landrum and Donell Nixon). He has also started 6-for-17 at the plate and has a .353/.500/.529 triple slash and a couple of runs batted in.
The only thing missing for Keaschall is his first major-league home run. Still, he’s not in any place where he wants to overcomplicate his approach to check off more major-league firsts.
“[I] Just simplify it,” Keascahll said about his approach at the plate. “It’s the same thing, just go out there and build your approach and try to execute it against pitchers. I can’t say that I don’t want to try and press at the plate, just kind of stay relaxed and do what you know you’re comfortable doing and just compete.”
The ease Keaschall has had at the plate to start his major-league career has resonated with Baldelli. Not everyone has been able to get their call to the majors, check off as many boxes as Keaschall, and be calm and collected. It’s an encouraging sight for the Twins skipper.
“He still has a lot to learn, and he’s there trying to learn everything, but he didn’t seem overwhelmed,” said Baldelli. “Every guy responds slightly differently, and I’ve seen guys where it works well in different ways.
“I’ve seen it work well where a guy is just super relaxed and confident, and I’ve seen guys kind of get a little sped up at times at the beginning, and then they settle in real well. I’ve seen it work a lot of different ways, but he seemed ready to play, ready to perform, ready to work, every single day.”
Keaschall’s performance on the base paths hasn’t only shone with his stolen bases. During Tuesday night’s 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, Keaschall had some heads-up base running that gave the Twins their second run of the game and their first lead of the night.
Trevor Larnach hit a dribbler ground ball in front of the White Sox’s catcher Edgar Quero. Quero picked up the ball and threw it to first, only to hit Larnach in the back as he crossed over the base. Meanwhile, Keaschall hustled over from second to third base, noticed the error by Quero, and didn’t stop making his way home. He capitalized on the situation and gave the Twins a 2-1 lead.
“The second I saw it kick, I just kept my momentum going,” Keaschall said. “There was nobody at home, so I knew it was going to be safe.”
Keaschall’s aggressiveness on the base paths has been a spark plug for Minnesota’s offense and their energy in the dugout. He sat out on Thursday’s shortened 3-0 loss to the White Sox. Still, throughout the first two games in their series against the Southsiders, Baldelli noticed the young rookie’s effect on the clubhouse.
“It also gives the team in the dugout a lot of really good energy,” Baldelli said. “That’s what you’re looking for. When you see guys playing the game like that around you, it fires you up. And we’ve got a bunch of guys doing that.”
“We’ve been watching, it’s been great,” Gardenhire said. “It was awesome to tell him that he was going up, he was one from the start, we were prepping him to go up there and be in the big leagues. Because he’s that type of player, and we know he can be an impact player.”
Keaschall is still building up his throwing arm strength from his Tommy John surgery last August. While he was on an innings limit for the games he played at second base with Triple-A St. Paul to start the season, the Twins haven’t removed him from any game early to protect his arm.
Baldelli plans to keep Keaschall split between second base and designated hitter. There’s no clear timeline for when the Twins will begin moving him to different positions, but it’s not out of the question for him to move around the diamond this season.
“The next steps for Luke are going to be playing second base more often, and then start to get his work in in the outfield,” said Baldelli.
“There are big physical and mental hurdles that guys have to get by. If you looked at the way Luke was throwing the ball at the very, very beginning of camp, and then look at the way he’s throwing the ball now, he’s made really good progress and jumps that looks totally different. And he’ll continue to get better as he’s on this program.”
Keaschall will keep at it, even without full arm strength, setting new rookie records within the Twins franchise record books and across MLB.
