Minnesota Twins DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Minnesota Twins reliever Griffin Jax blew a save opportunity in Sunday's 9-7 extra-innings loss to the Houston Astros. The 30-year-old punched out three batters but allowed three hits and two earned in the outing. Jax entered the contest with a 7-5 lead, letting up an Isaac Paredes single and Yordan Alvarez two-run shot to open the inning. Christian Walker then doubled to center, but Jax was able to retire the next three batters via the K. It's an outing to forget for the righty, who has afforded his opponents at least one hit in each appearance thus far. He's in no danger of losing his role as the primary setup man and has historically been a better reliever. Still, 2025 has started shaky, as he holds an inflated 10.13 ERA.

Minnesota Twins infielder Royce Lewis (hamstring) has been hitting and doing some light running, according to the team's president of baseball operations Derek Falvey. He noted that there is no change in his status, so Lewis appears to still be on the same timetable as before. Lewis was given a 6-to-8 week timetable and is currently in his third week of recovery from a left hamstring strain. The Twins are going to continue being cautious with their young slugger. Fantasy managers who continue to stash Lewis might end up having to wait the full length of the recovery timetable. Willi Castro figures to continue seeing increased playing time over at third base while Lewis is out.

Cleveland Guardians first baseman Carlos Santana opened up the scoring on Saturday with a 415-foot solo home run off of Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the first inning, but Cleveland would go on to lose 10-4 to the Halos. Santana would finish 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored. The former All-Star now has three multi-hit games in his last five games and now owns a .290/.343/.452 slash line with a .332 wOBA and 115 wRC+. The 38-year-old has shown he can still hit, making good contact (84.1 percent Contact%) and not striking out at a high rate (14.3 percent K%), and is coming off a season in which he played 150 games with 23 home runs in two consecutive seasons now, so fantasy managers who are deploying the veteran should have confidencein continuing to use his services until he shows signs of a slowdown. It may not be the prettiest of all waiver wire pickups, but managers looking for some bench help could consider the switch-hitter who is owned in just nine percent of Yahoo leagues.

Minnesota Twins infielder Brooks Lee (back) has made good progress in his recovery and will begin participating in scrimmage games. Lee has been on the injured list since the start of the regular season due to a lumbar strain. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his progress, but it appears the 24-year-old could be approaching a rehab assignment. Last season, the Cal Poly product made his MLB debut and held a .221/.265/.320 slash line across 50 contests. He went deep three times and added six doubles. The former eighth overall selection from the 2022 MLB Draft has posted a cumulative .266/.330/.500 line with 15 doubles and 13 home runs across 63 contests. While Lee remains sidelined, fantasy managers should expect Jose Miranda and Willi Castro to continue seeing most opportunities at the hot corner.

Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez will retreat to the bench for Thursday's contest against the visiting Houston Astros at Target Field. Ryan Jeffers will do the catching for right-hander Joe Ryan and will bat eighth against right-hander Hunter Brown. Vazquez and Jeffers continue to alternate playing time behind the dish for the Twins early on in 2025, which makes the 34-year-old veteran unattractive to fantasy managers outside of two-catcher or AL-only leagues. The Puerto Rican backstop has played in three games so far and is hitless in his 10 plate appearances with no walks and a strikeout. Meanwhile, Jeffers has gone 4-for-15 with an RBI, run scored, two walks and two strikeouts in four games. Jeffers offers slightly more offensive upside, but neither catcher should excite fantasy managers all that much. Jeffers has two hits in 10 career at-bats versus Brown.