The Minnesota Twins grabbed Luke Keaschall with the 49th pick in the 2023 draft, and he wasted no time tearing through their farm system.
His big league debut came April 18 last season. But that first taste of the majors ended quickly.
A week later, Keaschall took a pitch off his right forearm that caused a non-displaced fracture. He wouldn’t see the field again until August.
When he finally returned from the IL, though, Keaschall was electric. He earned AL Player of the Week honors on August 11 after launching two homers with ten RBI while hitting .455 that week.
That’s where things get interesting for fantasy owners heading into 2025. Keaschall had thumb surgery during the offseason to address a lingering issue, which has some people pumping the brakes on his draft stock.
Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter thinks fantasy players are getting ahead of themselves with the second baseman.
“Keaschall had huge gaps between his real statistics and expected statistics last season, which is generally a good indicator of future regression. He has a strong hit tool and can be an above-average option at the position, but drafting him ahead of guys like Ozzie Albies and Brandon Lowe feels like a mistake.”
That’s the crux of it right there. Keaschall’s current ADP has him going ahead of both Ozzie Albies and Brandon Lowe – two proven veterans who could be in for big seasons.
The underlying numbers suggest Keaschall got lucky in his limited sample size. When you’re dealing with a guy who played just a handful of games before the injury, it’s tough to know what’s real.
Smart fantasy owners might want to let someone else take the risk early and target more established options later in drafts. If you’re sold on Keaschall’s potential, there’s probably better value waiting to see how he performs over a full healthy season first.
