Alex Jackson didn’t arrive in Minnesota with much momentum. He opened the year as a .153/.239/.288 hitter, a former top-10 overall pick who had turned into a journeyman and, by the time the Twins got him, had already been traded for by seven different teams over a 12-year pro career.
Minnesota even added Victor Caratini to push him aside as Ryan Jeffers’ backup, sending Jackson to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the season.
Now he’s forcing a much different conversation.
Jackson is set to make his 15th start Thursday afternoon as the Twins try to complete a pivotal sweep of the Guardians at Target Field, and the fact that he’s behind the plate in a spot like this says plenty about how far his season has come. In his first 14 starts, the Twins are 9-5.
He’s hitting .314/.340/.431, with 15 strikeouts and no walks in 53 plate appearances. That line isn’t built to last forever, but it’s also not the profile of a player simply drifting back to old habits.
It’s the product of real improvement, and a lot of hard-earned effort.
The bat speed is back, and it showed up last year in Baltimore before carrying over here. Jackson is a plus athlete for a catcher, with average-plus raw sprint speed according to Statcast, and that athleticism has become part of the story every time he steps on the field.
What stands out most is how he uses it. He plays like every inning matters, every ground ball is live, every extra 90 feet is worth chasing.
He’s already picked up three bunt hits this season, and he runs ground balls out with a level of urgency that jumps off the field. On Saturday against the Yankees, in brutal heat and under a strange setup that left the Twins wearing only one jersey for the game instead of changing as catchers usually do in those conditions, Jackson sprinted out of the box on a routine double-play ball in the sixth inning and beat it out to keep a rally alive.
Minnesota didn’t score in that frame, but the play fit the larger pattern. Jackson has brought relentless hustle every time he’s gotten a chance.
That same edge shows up behind the plate too. The measurable defensive numbers aren’t pretty: he’s not a good pitch framer, he hasn’t handled the ABS system well, and he’s not elite at blocking pitches.
But he does have an elite throwing arm, and in terms of handling a young and not-very-talented pitching staff, he’s done the job well. Since coming up to fill in after Jeffers got hurt, he’s gotten the team over the hump nine times in 14 tries.
Even with that, the Twins still clearly trust Caratini more, and Jackson’s future role isn’t settled. When Jeffers returns from the IL, Minnesota may still send Jackson back down, even if that means risking losing him on waivers.
But the bigger picture is hard to miss. For a team sitting in the playoff chase, losing a star-caliber catcher for more than six weeks could have gone sideways fast.
If Jackson had gone 4-10 in those starts instead of 9-5, the Twins would be looking up at the Tigers in fourth place in the AL Central and would be 5.5 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. Instead, they’re 2 games back in the division and a half-game behind the Rangers for the last prospective playoff berth.
Not all of that can be pinned on Jackson. The Twins have helped themselves in other ways over the past few weeks, and they’ve caught a little luck too.
But his energy and production fit a larger pattern that has helped keep the season alive: giving chances to players who had nearly run out of them, then watching them deliver. That’s been true with Kody Clemens and Ryan Kreidler, and it’s true with Jackson as well.
He’s become one of the clearest symbols of what Minnesota has done right during this stretch - a player the Twins saw something in, didn’t fully trust at first, and then leaned on when they had no other choice.
In Other News...
Twins Fans Have Waited Years To Hear This From Pohlad
For years, Twins fans have heard variations of the same message: stay competitive, keep the pipeline moving, trust the process. Tom Pohlad used a different tone this time. The chairman said the organization understands it has to raise its payroll investment if it wants to do more than hang around the race, and he framed the goal in much bigger terms than simply remaining relevant in September.
Pohlad also made clear that consistency is only the starting point, not the finish line, and that playoff progress will require bolder moves and real spending. He expressed confidence in general manager Jeremy Zoll, but the larger point was aimed at the fan base as much as the front office: support is earned by what the club does on the field and by how aggressively it shows a commitment to winning, not by promises alone. [Read more 🡒]
Twins May Have Just Answered Their Biggest Catcher Question
The Twins used the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft on Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, giving the organization a high-end prospect at a position that has been a constant question mark in the system. It was a notable choice on its own, and it carried extra weight because Minnesota has not spent a first-round pick on a catcher since Joe Mauer, a reminder of how rarely the club has gone this route at the top of the draft.
Lackey arrives with the kind of profile that made him one of the most intriguing names on the board, with some evaluators seeing a possible five-tool catcher and other clubs surely weighing him as well. His college track record and scouting grades help explain why the Twins were willing to make the move, and why this pick feels like more than just another premium selection, even if the real test will come once he starts climbing the ladder in pro ball. [Read more 🡒]
Twins May Be Forced Off Their Draft Plan At No. 3
With the third overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, the Twins look positioned to land a premium talent, but the shape of that board could push them in a different direction than the one they might prefer. Minnesota has been linked to shortstops Grady Emerson and Roch Cholowsky, along with catcher Vahn Lackey, and the early read is that the club is leaning toward college players rather than Emerson, whose path would likely take more time.
Keith Laws latest read on the class only adds to the uncertainty, since the Twins may have to react to how the first two picks and the clubs ahead of them break. If Cholowsky is there, he could be the obvious fit, but Minnesota may not get that clean a choice, and the possibility of a pivot to another college bat or arm is very much alive as the draft order starts to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]