Or at least he hopes so.
“I bought this chain a week and a half ago and I haven’t been wearing it the last two days and I believe there’s bad juju in it, so I need to get rid of whatever cursed that chain,” Kepler said on Monday night after blasting two home runs.
Kepler picked up the chain from a friend of his, who is a jeweler, and while he said he wasn’t sure if he was superstitious, he certainly took note of the fact that he took the necklace off and began to hit.
Whatever the reason for the breakthrough, it’s a welcomed development for the Twins. Kepler’s season has been disrupted twice by injured list stints — first for a bout of COVID-19 and more recently after straining his hamstring. And his numbers have taken a dive.
Through his first three games in July, Kepler is 4 for 12 with three home runs and five runs scored after hitting .147 with 13 strikeouts in the nine games he played in June after coming off the injured list.
“I went through a rough patch where I probably struck out the most I ever have. All that aside, I just went back and told myself ‘You can put a lot of pressure on yourself when you’re going through a patch like that and stuff can come at you quickly,’” Kepler said. “But I sat down and reminded myself where I’m at and (to) just appreciate the little things and try to play small ball. I’ve had two stints where I was out and it was a grind trying to catch up and make up for lost time.”
Kepler, who hit a two-run home run early in Monday night’s game, added another later in the game to the opposite field. Afterward, his manager said he had thought he had simplified things nicely and later noted that the outfielder had began to heat up.
“When he’s driving the ball the other way like we saw (Monday), I think you’re seeing a guy that feels really good at the plate,” Baldelli said. “That’s a bullet out the other way and that’s what it looks like when he’s going right.”
Pineda returns
Michael Pineda is slated to return from the injured list on Wednesday, a little more than three weeks after a forearm issue forced him out of action.
Baldelli said Pineda will start the series finale on Wednesday at 12:10 p.m. against the White Sox after throwing a successful bullpen earlier in the week. Pineda made a rehab start with the Triple-A Saints, giving up five runs (four earned) in four innings pitched on Thursday.
Pineda has posted a 3.70 earned-run average in 11 starts this season and could be a trade chip for the Twins later this month.
Briefly
Third baseman Josh Donaldson remained out of the starting lineup on Tuesday as he deals with hamstring tightness. Donaldson was out on the field pregame doing drills to test out his hamstring. … Nelson Cruz returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday. Baldelli had said Cruz had developed neck stiffness from a persistent cough. The cough was a result of what Baldelli described as a lingering “chest cold.” Cruz saw a doctor on Monday and his chest X-rays and all his COVID-19 tests have come back clean.
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July 07, 2021 at 09:02AM
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Twins' Max Kepler starts to heat up - Pine Journal
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