By James Heider 

Writer/Reporter 

The 2026 season for the Minnesota Twins has gone as expected. We’re a little over halfway through May with about 50 games under most teams’ belts; the Twins are sitting at a 22-26 record. Third place in the AL Central, 4.5 games behind Cleveland who seem poised to run away with the division title barring no setbacks or injuries. Surprisingly, the Twins are only a half game back from the last Wild Card slot for the American League, but two key players in the franchise have been severely disappointing. 

Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis have both been sent down to the Twins’ Triple A club, the St. Paul Saints, located just across the river in St, Paul. With 120 At Bats, hometown kid out of Forest Lake, Matt Wallner, was only batting .167 and leading the team with 53 strikeouts, a whopping 44% of his plate appearances. Matt Wallner has always had trouble with striking out at the plate, collecting 114 over 392 appearances last year in 2025, but had power upside with 22 homers last season, ending with a batting average of .202 over 104 games.  

After starting off his big-league career batting .307 with 17 homers in his first 70 MLB games, Royce Lewis has been incredibly disappointing and constantly plagued with leg injuries. Lewis was a key component in the Twins’ 2023 playoff run, hitting 4 home runs over 26 plate appearances. He was projected to play a major role in the Twins future, only to fall off a cliff in the last couple of years. Hamstring issues have kept him playing a limited role. Missing half of the 2024 season with a quadriceps injury and missing a third of the 2025 season due to a lingering hamstring strain. In 2026, Lewis continues to struggle mightily, batting .163 with 104 plate appearances, and only recording 17 hits and 37 strikeouts.  

In an attempt to reset Lewis and Wallner, the Twins called up Orlando Arcia and Ryan Krielder from St. Paul hoping for a spark to the Major League club. Arcia has been fluctuating between major and minor leagues since 2016, a career .239 hitter; he last played a full season for the Atlanta Braves in 2024. Kriedler has been a lifelong minor leaguer; a utility man who can play Center Field and Shortstop. Over 8 games so far in 2026, he’s batting .292 with 7 hits and 4 RBIs and a pair of home runs to boot.  

In another roster move, the Twins bring back reliever Travis Adams and designate Justin Topa for assignment. Designate for assignment means the team removed the player from their 40-Man roster, the player can either be traded, waived, or released. Topa has been struggling in 2026, boasting an 8.05 ERA. He’s allowed 27 hits and 17 runs, walking 11 batters over 19 innings in 23 games this season. The Twins are hoping this influx of new talent can revitalize a struggling bullpen and add some key role players to a successful core of Byron Buxton, Brooks Lee, Ryan Jeffers, and Luke Keaschall.