Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll provided some updates on injured players to reporters, including Aaron Gleeman as well as Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Catcher Ryan Jeffers will undergo hamate surgery and has an expected return timeline of six to eight weeks. Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez will also undergo surgery, in his case to address the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb.
Neither procedure is surprising but both are disappointing. It was reported earlier today that Jeffers had suffered a fracture of his hamate. That situation usually leads to surgery and that will indeed be the case in this instance.
Jeffers has been Minnesota’s primary catcher for a while now and has been one of the better offensive backstops in the league. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has a .258/.346/.445 line and 122 wRC+. Only four qualified catchers have a better wRC+ mark for that span and one of them, Willson Contreras, isn’t even a catcher anymore. That leaves Cal Raleigh, William Contreras and Will Smith as the active backstops ahead of Jeffers.
The production from Jeffers includes a huge .295/.408/.541 showing this season. That has helped the Twins hang in the playoff race, as they are currently only half a game out of a Wild Card spot in the American League. For now, Minnesota will have Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson handling the catching duties, which will surely be a downgrade. Caratini has a strong track record but is hitting only .192/.299/.231 this year. Jackson has a career batting line of .153/.239/.288.
The injury also interrupts a platform year for Jeffers, as he is an impending free agent. He was on pace to be the top available catcher and one of the top available bats regardless of position. That could still end up being the case but he’ll now have to deal with this lengthy absence and then try to get back on track after. The timeline with a hamate surgery isn’t massive in the grand scheme of things but players often struggle with a lack of power when they return.
As for Rodriguez, it’s also not a shocking development, as this thumb issue put him on the IL a couple of weeks ago. Though his timeline is still to be determined, the timing stings, as he is on the 40-man roster and could have been up in the big leagues right now if he were healthy.
The Twins have sent outfielder Matt Wallner and third baseman Royce Lewis to the minors this month, opening up some big league at-bats. Rodriguez wasn’t going to play third base but the demotion of Lewis could lead to other guys getting moved around. The Jeffers injury could also indirectly open up some designated hitter at-bats, as Caratini and Josh Bell have been splitting first base and DH. If Caratini is going to be behind the plate more regularly, there are extra DH at-bats available.
Though Rodriguez is very talented, injuries are becoming an annoying recurrence, perhaps giving Twins fans some déjà vu after years of watching Lewis and Byron Buxton. In the minors, Rodriguez has dealt with knee, abdominal, right thumb, left thumb and hip injuries. Due to all those ailments, he hasn’t topped 99 games in a season, which was back in 2023. He was capped at 45 games in 2024 and 65 last year. Now he is once again hurt and facing a notable absence.
When on the field, the talent is there and is also unique. Rodriguez has one of the most extreme approaches of any player. In his minor league career, he has a huge 30.2% strikeout rate but also a massive 21.6% walk rate. He has big power, speed and is considered a good defender. The strikeouts may become a problem but he also offsets those with the free passes.
Rodriguez has been on the Minnesota 40-man roster since November of 2023, getting added to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. That means he has already burned two option seasons and is currently burning the third. That could put him out of options going into 2027, unless he can qualify for a fourth option, though that may not be possible.
A player is eligible for a fourth option if he hasn’t played five “full” professional seasons, where a full season is defined as one in which the player is active for 90 days, or is active for at least 30 with a 90-day total of active/IL time. This is basically to discount short-season rookie ball campaigns or seasons totally lost to injury. Despite all his issues, Rodriguez has been in full-season ball since getting promoted to Low-A at the start of 2022. He played 40-plus games from 2022 to 2025, so that would seemingly hit the 30-day/90-day threshold in each and count as four full seasons. Here in 2026, he has only played 26 games thus far but was active from late March to early May, getting to at least 30 days again.
Photo courtesy of Matt Blewett, Imagn Images
