Kansas City, MO – The Minnesota Twins had a unique challenge for their lineup for the second half of their road trip to open the season. The Kansas City Royals sent out three straight left-handed starters against them in their first matchup of the season, headlined by 2025 AL All-Star Kris Bubic, Noah Cameron, who finished fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year, and Cole Ragans, their ace pitcher.
For the first two games of the series, the Twins rolled out the same starting lineup against Bubic and Cameron, with Matt Wallner as the only left-handed hitter getting the start against them. Twins manager Derek Shelton has designated Wallner as the de facto left-handed hitter out of the five on their roster who will be in the lineup against lefties more often than not.
Wallner got to face all three lefties in this series and went 3-for-13, while also hitting his first two home runs of the season.
Despite only producing one hit a game, seeing three straight lefties this early in the season works better than the alternative.
“I think I'd rather it be that way than a week without seeing one, so it gets you in a rhythm of seeing lefties,” Wallner said. “And for the lineup as a whole, it's hard not to see a lefty for a while and then go face one, then see three in a row, and that will kind of give us an advantage."
As for the rest, it’s unlikely they’ll get in all too often. However, the Twins are now in the midst of 15 games in 15 days, and Thursday’s matchup against Ragans presented a prime opportunity to get more left-handed hitters in the lineup.
“Ragans is reverse [splits],” said Shelton. “We want to make sure Kody [Clemens] continues to stay sharp, Tristan [Gray] continues to stay sharp. We’re in the start of a stretch of 15 games in a row, guys are going to have to play. We just thought with the matchups today, that kind of benefited us.”
Ragans has been more trouble for right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters in his career, with a .209/.285/.347 slash line against 1,240 righties, compared to a .262/.338/.380 slash line against 366 lefties in his career. Despite varying sample sizes, the splits were the right opportunity for the Twins to throw in a couple of other left-handed hitters against a lefty to see how it could work to their benefit.
Gray was 0-for-4 on the day, but Clemens went 2-for-3 with a home run and some heads-up base running to give the Twins their first run in the second inning.
Despite going 0-for-0 in Thursday’s getaway game, Gray is still feeling great with his swing as he adjusts to his new team.
“I feel good,” Gray said. “I think the stuff me and the hitting coaches are working on are really paying off, and now it’s trusting that and not having to do any more than what we’ve got going on before the game.”
The same can be said for Wallner, who typically hits anywhere from the four or six spot in the Twins lineup.
"I feel good,” said Wallner. “Felt good against lefties for the most part, actually better against lefties last year. Then going in, I feel as good, if not better, against lefties, so I feel like I'm in a good spot.”
Being a stronger hitter against lefties is something Wallner could build on this season. He had a .224/.320/.471 slash line in 97 plate appearances last year against them, compared to a .195/.308/.462 slash line in 295 plate appearances against righties.
The Twins are set to face another lefty in their series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Steven Matz is penciled in for Saturday’s game, and another two when the Detroit Tigers come to town with Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez likely to start back-to-back nights.
Left fielder Austin Martin has been the leadoff man each time the Twins have faced a lefty, and will keep finding himself there in the coming days. When it’s not him, the Twins have opted to use Clemens in the leadoff spot against righties. Martin fits the typical leadoff hitter role better than Clemens, but both are finding themselves a top of the lineup because of what they can do against the splits.
Martin provides plenty of speed and plate discipline, while Clemens can put the Twins up 1-0 in any game with the power in his bat. But no matter where Shelton plugs them into this lineup, they’ll take the same approach to help the team win.
“I don’t think it necessarily affects my play towards the pitcher or vice versa,” said Martin. “They’re playing against me, but it’s good being able to get out there consistently to get my eyes dialed in to begin the season. Grateful for the reps and like the spot I’m in right now.”
The Twins will continue to mix and match their lineup to their strengths all season. However, as it progresses, Wallner may not be the lone left-handed hitter to face off against the lefties they match up against in long stretches like they currently find themselves in.
“I think there’s a possibility of that,” said Shelton.
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