Ryan

Jeffers

Congratulations to Vázquez and his growing family. He will be out for the next three games, which will likely mean two starts for Ryan Jeffers. Jair Camargo was called up in a corresponding move.

Chris Sale tormented the Twins’ lineup in this game. Jeffers had their only extra-base hit off the Cy Young favorite as rallies were few and far between. Interestingly, this was the first time Jeffers hit second in the order since July 22nd. He was a fixture up there in April after his hot start and staying in that spot will give him more run scoring opportunities for the rest of the season.

Jeffers is back after missing Saturday’s game due to an injury to his right hand. The Twins considered his absence precautionary, and he’s ready to roll for the series finale against St. Louis on Sunday.

No real surprise here in the wake of Jeffers being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of Friday’s loss to the Cardinals after having his right hand examined by a trainer. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. It’ll be Christian Vázquez handling the catching duties in his absence.

Jeffers followed up a great first two months (.892 OPS) with a really poor middle two months (.561 OPS), leaving little idea what was in store for the stretch run here. However, he’s had an excellent August to date, hitting five homers in 41 plate appearances. He’s lost some playing time because of his slump and Christian Vázquez’s resurgence, but he might start to get that back now.

Jeffers took Garrett Crochet deep for a solo homer in the second inning to put the Twins on the board and later drew a walk in the sixth. He knocked a base hit in the eighth and stole second for his third steal of the season before scoring on a base hit by Willi Castro. The 27-year-old catcher is hitting .233/.317/.459 with 16 homers and 51 RBI across 335 plate appearances.

He was also hit by a pitch in the seventh on what proved to be the last play in a rain-shortened game. Jeffers had a great first month and a half, followed by a bad second month and a half; he came into this one batting .157/.252/.269 since May 15. Hopefully, this was the start of him getting untracked and going back to being a viable option in one-catcher mixed leagues.

No surprises here as Minnesota continues rotating their quartet of left-handed bats in and out of the lineup depending on matchups. It’ll be Carlos Santana, Manuel Margot, Kyle Farmer and Ryan Jeffers getting the nod to face Astros southpaw Framber Valdez.

Jeffers continues to carry the Twins offense. The two-homer game puts him at 12 on the season now. Jeffers is hitting .254 with an .886 OPS on the year. As far as second catchers go, it doesn’t get much better than what he’s provided so far this season.

Jeffers got the day off Thursday with the Twins playing a day game after a night game. Jeffers is enjoying his best season with a .283 average and .979 OPS this year.