Watsonville native Luke Keaschall made his Major League Baseball debut with the Minnesota Twins on Friday night, hoping to make a name for himself right off the bat. No pun intended.
The former Aptos High baseball standout made quite the impression after he batted 2-for-4 with one double, one single, one RBI, one run scored and one stolen base in the Twins’ 6-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves in front of 39,142 boisterous fans at Truist Park in Atlanta.
“It was great,” Keaschall told The Pajaronian. “I was excited to be out there and just playing with the guys. At the end of the day, it was the same game. I just had a lot of fun playing and it was cool to be in front of the crowd like that.”
The Twins blew a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, which put a damper on what was already a thrilling night for Keaschall. His parents, grandpa, brother, a cousin and Keaschall’s girlfriend along with her parents all made the trek to Atlanta.
“The Twins did a great job of giving me notice and helping me set everything up, and making sure everybody was included,” Keaschall said. “Really thankful for that.”
It was the same group he called shortly after receiving the news Wednesday afternoon that the Twins were calling him up for his major league debut this weekend. And boy did he put on a show.
Keaschall, 22, became the first Twins player to get his first league base hit, RBI and stolen base in his MLB debut since Jake Cave did it May 19, 2018. Prior to that, Matt Macri did it May 24, 2008 and Cesar Tovar on April 12, 1965.
“Luke’s a talented young man,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said in an in-game interview during the bottom of the fourth inning in Friday night’s contest. “He’s been a very good hitter at the minor league levels. He’s a real good athlete, he can really run and he has no fear. He really enjoys playing the game, and we’re getting a chance to see him just go out there and just kind of just go right at ‘em. That’s the way he’s played the game since I met him, and since we’ve acquired him. So, pretty nice to watch.”
Keaschall, who batted eighth in the starting lineup as the team’s designated hitter, recorded his first career base hit in his very first at-bat in the top of the second inning. He smacked a line drive past Braves first baseman Matt Olson and drove in catcher Ryan Jeffers for the RBI single that extended the Twins’ lead at 2-0.
“I just went in there with my approach and I was trying to execute it,” Keaschall said. “I didn’t do anything I wasn’t supposed to do in the at-bat. I was just trying to get a pitch up and something I could hit in the outfield. I ended up chasing a slider down, but hooked it over the infield’s head, just good enough there for my first hit.”
On the ensuing pitch, Keaschall got an excellent jump and sprinted his way toward second base to pick up his first stolen base in the big leagues, beating out a throw from Braves catcher Sean Murphy.
In his second at-bat, Keaschall hit a 1-1 slider that zipped down the line past Braves third baseman Austin Riley for a double. Keaschall then got his jersey dirty as he slid his way head-first across home plate on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Edouard Julien, extending Minnesota’s lead at 4-0.
Prior to Friday, Keaschall was batting a .261 average with one home run, one double, five RBIs and a .727 on-base plus slugging percentage in 14 games for the St. Paul Saints—the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
Keaschall—the Twins’ No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 57 prospect—climbed up the minor league ladder rather quickly. He was called up after Matt Wallner went on the 10-day injured list Thursday.
A second-round pick out of Arizona State in 2023, Keaschall posted a .903 OPS across both High-A and Double-A levels this past season. He came into the 2025 season as the reigning minor league player of the year after batting a .303 average with 15 home runs, 21 doubles and 48 RBIs in 103 games played.
Aptos head coach Jason Biancardi was the skipper when Keaschall was a member of the Mariners’ varsity baseball team from 2018-20, including the abbreviated 2020 season that was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In high school, he was towards the smaller size but was a gamer and could hit the ball anywhere,” Biancardi said in a text message. “Then he got bigger and the hits turned into doubles and home runs.”
Biancardi said Keaschall’s work ethic was second to none and knew the Mariners’ standout player had something special brewing for the future despite having his senior year cut short.
“I always knew he was going to make it far in baseball,” Biancardi said.
In 2024, he was off to a stellar start in his High-A and Double-A seasons before he was sidelined for the rest of the year due to Tommy John surgery in August. The right-handed hitter turned into a designated hitter for most of his Triple-A playing time, but is slowly making his way back on defense as a second baseman.
“My arm’s felt great, so far,” Keaschall said. “It hasn’t felt this good in years. I’m just excited to go out there and play every day. If I get to play second base, I’m super comfortable there and I feel awesome. Ready to go.”
