Did Twins' advice to save Alex Kirilloff's wrist mess up his swing?

Kirilloff has undergone season-ending wrist surgery twice in his young career.

May 17, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Alex Kirilloff (19) hits a solo home run in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins demoted Alex Kirilloff to Triple-A St. Paul earlier this week as he was amidst a disastrous June, hitting .095 in 21 at-bats to exacerbate a slump that began in May. Was Kirilloff simply struggling at the plate or is there more to the story?

Minnesota sports reporter Darren Wolfson hopped on the SKOR North podcast network and hypothesized the slump could be due to a swing change experiment dating back to July of last season.

“My understanding is [his demotion] is not health-related. The numbers were decent in April, maybe even better than decent. Since then, nothing," Wolfson explained. "He underwent a swing change. Now, this was recommended by Twins coaches mid-July last year. It was more about using his hips, less about his wrists. You think about Alex’s wrist history, right, so the Twins were trying to tweak his swing. Well, outside of a mini run in April, and maybe a little bit of a run at different points last year. Really, his numbers since mid-July of last year, until now, are very pedestrian.”

On the season, Kirilloff is hitting .201 with five home runs and 20 RBIs and a dismal .270 on-base percentage. Dating back to last July, when the apparent swing change occurred, Kirilloff is slashing .233/.293/.434 with 12 homers and 40 RBI in 96 games.

How does that compare with his pre-July 2023 numbers? Between his MLB debut in April 2021 through the end of June 2023, Kirilloff slashed .256/.319/.399 with 15 homers and 53 RBI in 153 games.

The numbers say the drop off hasn't been as extreme overall as it has been the past six weeks, but according to Wolfson there may be some frustration brewing over the alleged swing change.

“There are some people close to Alex just wondering, ‘Okay, we understand from the Twins' standpoint, but it’s time for Alex to go back to his old swing’… I do sense there’s some frustration from some people close to Alex going back to last July," Wolfson said.

Kirilloff underwent season-ending wrist surgeries in 2021 and 2022, with the second shortening the ulna bone in his arm in an effort to create more space and prevent him from experiencing pain when he swings.

The 26-year-old isn't typically placed in the same category as Byron Buxton – a top prospect whose career has been derailed by injuries – but that's the reality for Kirilloff as the 2016 first-round pick has not been healthy enough to reach his potential.