APRIL 26, 2021 • RUMBUNTER.COM
Pittsburgh Pirates: Bullpen Will Get Better with Return of Jose Soriano The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen has been one of the many early season success stories. However, the bullpen could get even better. Concern....
Mitch Garver - Losing playing time to Jeffers Garver is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Cleveland, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Impact With Ryan Jeffers behind home plate for the fourth time in six games, Garver may be Option 1B at catcher for the Twins at this point. Though Jeffers is only a modest upgrade from Garver defensively, that may be enough to give him the edge in playing time while Garver's struggles at the dish from 2020 have carried over to the new season. Garver has struck out in 24 of his 53 plate appearances (45.3 percent), and his 5.7 percent walk rate would be the lowest mark of his career.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
Byron Buxton - Managing patellar tendinitis Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton is being held out of the lineup for Monday's game in Cleveland due to a sore knee stemming from lingering patellar tendinitis, Phil Miller...
Impact According to Baldelli, Buxton has been experiencing tendinitis throughout the season, but it hasn't hindered him from a performance standpoint in what's been a tremendous start to the season. Per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, Buxton woke up Monday with more soreness than usual in the knee, but Baldelli indicated the outfielder will still be available off the bench for the series opener. The Twins plan to re-evaluate Buxton on Tuesday with the hope that he'll be ready to rejoin the lineup for the second game of the series.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
Ryan Jeffers - Could be new No. 1 catcher Jeffers will start at catcher and bat ninth Monday against Cleveland, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Impact Set to make his fourth start in six games, Jeffers appears to have at least temporarily supplanted Mitch Garver as Minnesota's top catcher. Jeffers isn't a dramatic upgrade over Garver from a defensive standpoint, so he'll likely need to show some improvement at the plate to ensure he remains atop the depth chart on a long-term basis. Jeffers enters Monday's contest with a .442 OPS and 48.5 percent strikeout rate in 33 plate appearances on the season.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
Willians Astudillo - Heads to bench Astudillo is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Cleveland, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Impact Astudillo will head to the bench after going 6-for-22 with a home run while starting each of the past six games. Minnesota still has two everyday players on the injured list in Miguel Sano (hamstring) and Max Kepler (COVID-19 health and safety protocols), but Andrelton Simmons' return Monday from the COVID-19 IL leaves one fewer lineup spot available for the versatile Astudillo. Minnesota will likely have two of Alex Kirilloff, Jake Cave, Astudillo and Brent Rooker fill Sano's and Kepler's lineup spots for any further contests the pair misses.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
Andrelton Simmons - Hitting eighth in return Simmons (illness) will start at shortstop and bat eighth Monday against Cleveland, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Impact As anticipated, the Twins won't waste any time moving Simmons back into the starting nine after activating him from the COVID-19 injured list earlier this week. Simmons, who had gotten on base at a .474 clip in his first 10 games with the Twins before landing on the IL, should step back into an everyday role in the middle infield.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
Byron Buxton - Sits out series opener Buxton is out of the lineup for Monday's game in Cleveland, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Impact Though Buxton started each of the last six games, he's recently removed from a minor hamstring strain, so the Twins may have been eager to give him a day off. Jake Cave will start in center field Monday in place of Buxton, who is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday.
APRIL 26, 2021 • ROTOWIRE
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