“You don’t have to worry about playing him nine days in a row,” even in September, Baldelli said. “Most guys, just about all of them [in MLB], begin to struggle physically at some point. But he holds up really well. It’s really impressive.”
Call him the low-maintenance slugger. Wallner has appeared in all 32 Twins games since Aug. 9, and has started 28 of them during a span that gave the team only two off days. Last season, he played in 65 of the Twins’ 68 games after the All-Star break and hit 13 of his 14 home runs during that time.
“I feel good, honestly. I like playing every day. It’s something I hope to do throughout my career,” Wallner said. “I don’t feel as good as I did Feb. 10, but I would say 99 percent is good. Like, really good.”
It’s especially remarkable when you consider he’s also been hit by 13 pitches this season, and 28 during his three partial seasons, most by a Twin this early in his career.
“[Polanco] was like that when he was younger and healthier,” Baldelli said of the infielder, traded to Seattle last winter. “You could just put him in the lineup every single day. And you don’t think, like, ‘Oh, he went 0-for-8 his last two games, or he’s 1-for-12 and he doesn’t look good, do we have to get him out of there?’ It’s like, ‘No, you don’t.’ You just keep playing him. And Wally’s kind of like that.”
Well, perhaps he is now. Actually, Wallner had a miserable spring, batting just .132 in Grapefruit League games, then went 2-for-25 with 17 strikeouts over the season’s first 15 games. His lone home run came against a position player, Detroit infielder Zach McKinstry. The slump finally forced the Twins to send him back to Class AAA St. Paul.