{"id":927715,"date":"2026-07-11T11:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/927715\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T11:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:32:17","slug":"al-central-notes-jeffers-keaschall-vest-pasquantino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/927715\/","title":{"rendered":"AL Central Notes: Jeffers, Keaschall, Vest, Pasquantino"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most intriguing players heading into the trade deadline made his long-awaited return to the lineup on Friday. Catcher <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jeffery01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ryan Jeffers<\/a><\/strong> was back behind the plate for the Twins after missing nearly two months with a fractured hamate bone. The backstop needed just five rehab games to get up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>Jeffers will look to pick up where he left off in the first six weeks of the season. He entered Friday\u2019s action with a 165 wRC+ across 37 games. Jeffers was hitting .295 with seven home runs and 26 RBI through 147 plate appearances before the injury. He\u2019s expected to be one of the most sought-after catchers on the trade market ahead of the August 3 deadline.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees are known to be <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2026\/06\/yankees-trade-rumors-catcher-ryan-jeffers-twins.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">interested<\/a> in Jeffers. The Rays are also looking for <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2026\/07\/rays-trade-rumors-catcher-deadline-ryan-jeffers-twins.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">catching help<\/a>. New York had a scout at Friday\u2019s game, per <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LaVelleNeal\/status\/2075725948326920607\" rel=\"nofollow\">La Velle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star-Tribune<\/a>. Tampa Bay also had folks in attendance keeping an eye on Jeffers, notes <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DWolfsonKSTP\/status\/2075742621511614691?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Darren Wolfson of KSTP<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s more from around the AL Central\u2026<\/p>\n<ul class=\"longlis\">\n<li>While teams are pursuing Jeffers, the <strong>Twins<\/strong> might not be so willing to sell. Owner Tom Pohlad suggested a more aggressive approach than in previous seasons during an interview with reporters today. \u201cThe barometer for success going forward is, \u2018Let\u2019s win a championship,&#8217;\u201d Pohlad said, relayed by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7436928\/2026\/07\/10\/minnesota-twins-tom-pohlad\/?unlocked_article_code=1.wlA.u2-v.qqOIdJokMgzt\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dan Hayes of The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s going to require us to make decisions, whether it\u2019s at a trade deadline or in the offseason, that look probably pretty different than decisions we would have made in the past.\u201d The Twins are only a game out of the final Wild Card spot.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Twins\u00a0<\/strong>are giving <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/keasclu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Luke Keaschall<\/a><\/strong> reps in center field. The former infielder has started in center the past three games, including tonight against the Angels. Keaschall opened the year as Minnesota\u2019s everyday second baseman, but after he posted -6 Defensive Runs Saved, the club moved him to the outfield. Keaschall has recorded -3 DRS in 99 innings on the grass, with most of his opportunities coming in right field. The Twins have a vacancy in center with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buxtoby01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Byron Buxton<\/a><\/strong> sidelined by a hip injury.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tigers\u00a0<\/strong>reliever <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vestwi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Will Vest<\/a><\/strong> has a stress fracture in his elbow, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters, including <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cmccosky\/status\/2075677359546532033?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Chris McCosky of the Detroit News<\/a>. The injury will not require surgery, and the club expects Vest to pitch again this year. The 31-year-old righty has been an important member of Detroit\u2019s bullpen for several seasons. He picked up a career-high 23 saves last year. Vest has scuffled to a 6.08 ERA in 27 appearances in 2026.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Royals\u00a0<\/strong>first baseman <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pasquvi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-11_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vinnie Pasquantino<\/a><\/strong> rejoined the club on Friday against the Orioles. He wasn\u2019t in the lineup tonight, but is expected to play this weekend. Pasquantino missed less than a month with a fractured hamate bone. \u201cHe worked exceptionally hard to get through this,\u201d manager Matt Quatraro told reporters, including <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/royals\/news\/vinnie-pasquantino-activated-after-hamate-bone-injury\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Anne Rogers of MLB.com<\/a>. \u201cHe set his goal really early to get back before the All-Star break, and he had to do a lot of hard work to get here.\u201d Pasquantino is in the middle of his worst offensive season as a big leaguer, with an 81 wRC+ in 68 games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Photo courtesy of Matt Krohn, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the most intriguing players heading into the trade deadline made his long-awaited return to the lineup&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":927716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[307490,171020,62,67,132,68,21699,93196],"class_list":["post-927715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-luke-keaschall","tag-ryan-jeffers","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-vinnie-pasquantino","tag-will-vest"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116901128827439126","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/927716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}