Twins fans baffled by Rocco Baldelli's decision to bench Royce Lewis for Max Kepler

What do you think of Baldelli's reasoning for going with Kepler over the red-hot rookie?
Twins fans baffled by Rocco Baldelli's decision to bench Royce Lewis for Max Kepler
Twins fans baffled by Rocco Baldelli's decision to bench Royce Lewis for Max Kepler /

Had the Twins not gotten a walk-off homer from Carlos Correa and instead lost to the Brewers Tuesday night, you can bet your bottom dollar that there would be a lot more talk about Max Kepler pinch hitting for Royce Lewis in the eighth inning. 

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli decided to bench Lewis, who was 1-for-3, and give Kepler, who has struggled mightily for the bulk of the past four seasons and is hitting .191 this season, an opportunity to give the Twins life while trailing 5-3 with a runner on and one out in the eighth inning. 

Kepler wound up drawing a walk, but it left a sour taste in the mouths of fans who were shocked Baldelli would pull his red-hot – and clutch – rookie for a player who has hit a miserable .151 since May 1. 

"I don't know if he's ever been pinch hit for. Maybe never in his life," Baldelli said of Lewis when asked about the decision. "You know, I didn't think too hard about that because I thought that the best at-bat was to get our left-handers up there."

To Baldelli's credit, Kepler was 2-for-4 with a triple in his career against Milwaukee right-hander Joel Payamps, while Lewis had never faced him. On the other hand, Kepler is batting .203 against right-handers this season while Lewis had eight hits in his previous 11 at-bats and has come up with game-tying hits in late-game situations twice in the past week. 

"I'm not saying this guy just in particular that we were facing tonight, but I like the matchup significantly better with the left-hander," Baldelli explained. "That's why we make the moves. A lot of the times, if there's not much to be gained by making a move, we're going to stay with the guys that are in the game and in the flow of the game and let them play. 

"I think about all the guys, but we're just here to win. And if it comes down to being pinch hit for in a given game, you don't have to like it but you gotta keep cheering for your teammates and be ready to go. Royce will be fine. He's a competitor and a great team guy. It's part of what we do here. We pinch hit a lot and we're going to continue to do it."

Regardless of the outcome, Twins fans aren't happy with Baldelli. 

Content is unavailable

Published
Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.