Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers hopes to seize new opportunity

Mar. 15—FORT MYERS, Fla. — For part of a day, Ryan Jeffers was the Twins' unquestioned starting catcher.

Veteran Mitch Garver had been traded to the Rangers, paving way for Jeffers to take on a lion's share of the playing time, with 24-year-old Ben Rortvedt to fight for a back-up role. A day later, Rortvedt, was gone, too.

In just over 24 hours, two of the three catchers on the Twins' 40-man roster had been shipped away, Jeffers being the lone holdover. The Twins' additional catching needs were filled by acquiring Gary Sánchez from the Yankees, part of the blockbuster trade that sent Josh Donaldson to New York.

So almost as quickly as Jeffers' big opportunity materialized, it shape-shifted.

"I think it shows some trust in me that they made the Garver move, that they do trust me and they see that I can be that guy. But nothing's a given," Jeffers said. "You bring in a guy like Gary and he's a really good player. For me, I'm going to go out there and work. I'm going to earn all the playing time I can get."

With Garver on and off the injured list last season, Jeffers actually wound up with a bulk of the playing time behind the plate for the Twins. In his sophomore season, Jeffers hit .199 with a .670 OPS and 14 home runs, while striking out in 37 percent of his plate appearances.

After an offseason of work at home in Wilmington, N.C., tinkering with his swing, Jeffers, 24, arrived in camp confident about where he's at the plate. In the early days of spring, he said he already has had some good conversations with new hitting coach David Popkins and "couldn't be more excited for the offensive side this year."

"(I'm) in a much better spot where I can make adjustments, and if something is a little bit off here and there, last year I was kind of in a space where I was lost," Jeffers said. "I couldn't quite figure out, put my finger on what it was. This year, I'm in a much better, more efficient spot."

In trading Garver, the Twins showed their confidence in Jeffers figuring out what plagued him offensively last year. As a rookie in 2020, Jeffers posted a 119 OPS+ (a 100 OPS+ is the league average).

They made sure to pass that message along to him, too.

"(President of baseball operations) Derek (Falvey) just said ... 'We wouldn't have done this if we didn't trust you,' " Jeffers said. "That makes me feel good as a young catcher. It makes me feel good knowing I did enough over the last couple of years to show, hey, despite the struggles I've had, they know I'm going to come out and can be one of the best catchers in baseball. I still believe that. There's no reason why I shouldn't."

The subsequent trade for Sánchez, Falvey said, doesn't change how much the Twins "believe in (Jeffers') long-term future." Sánchez is set to become a free agent after this season while the 24-year-old Jeffers, a second-round draft pick in 2018, won't hit free agency until after the 2026 season.

The trade will, however, change how much playing time Jeffers gets. At the moment, the Twins currently plan on leaning on both catchers. How the playing time gets split exactly remains up in the air.

"Whether that's 50-50, 60-40, 65-35, it's rare that it's 90 (percent) these days over the course of 162 games," Falvey said. "Gary's going to catch a lot. Ryan's going to catch a lot as well."

Both Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli have suggested that there could be times when Sánchez fills the designated hitter role, leaving Jeffers, the better defensive catcher of the two, behind the plate.

"I'm going to do what I've done every year," Jeffers said. "Whenever my name is called, whenever Rocco says it's my time, I'm going to go out there and do the best I can and put myself out there as the best version of me."

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Almost every single Twins Grapefruit League game will be broadcast this spring, either on television, on the radio or both. Radio announcers Cory Provus and Dan Gladden are already on hand in Fort Myers, and will be calling all but one game. Bally Sports North announcers Dick Bremer and Justin Morneau will have the call for three games, beginning on March 24.

Bally Sports North will telecast 12 of the Twins' 16 games this spring. Game action begins on Thursday as the Twins take on the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. Grapefruit League games conclude on April 4.

BRIEFLY

Baldelli said the Twins have talked to both Griffin Jax and Lewis Thorpe about preparing for "probable bullpen roles" moving forward. Jax slid into the starting rotation in the later months of last season, finishing his rookie year with a 6.37 earned-run average in 18 games (14 starts). Thorpe spent much of the 2021 season injured, throwing just 15 1/3 innings at the major-league level, but is healthy to begin camp.