La Velle E. Neal III: What happens when big leaguers are demoted to the minors? Saints manager Brian Dinkelman takes charge.

La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune on May 29, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Having covered baseball since 1995, I’ve seen players reveal a range of emotions following a demotion to the minors.

My most memorable: When I was on the Kansas City Royals beat, I drove to their affiliate in Omaha to interview a young slugger who had been sent down a week earlier. When I asked him how he planned to turn things around, he replied that he was going to pretend the baseball was the face of the manager who had just demoted him.

So, yes, a minor league manager has to be prepared for anything when he receives a player from the majors. Triple-A is supposed to be a final stop for a prospect ascending up the developmental ladder to the majors. But some players sink rather than swim, and the Triple-A manager has to be the life preserver. Has to help them address flaws and get in the right frame of mind to earn a return to the big leagues.

“Whenever someone is sent down, they’re never really happy to be here,” Saints manager Brian Dinkelman said. “They want to be in the big leagues. So you try to make them comfortable at first. They know they are here to work and improve on whatever they are struggling at.”

Dinkelman, in his first season at St. Paul, spoke while sitting in his office before a recent game at CHS Field. Behind him sat a couple of items left by his predecessor, Toby Gardenhire: An ice-making machine and a motor scooter. Gardenhire joined the major league staff this season.

The 42-year-old Dinkelman’s major league career spanned 23 games in 2011 — six in June and then 17 as a September call-up. So he knows what being demoted is like. He also understands that the stakes are a little higher for two particular players he’s trying to help return to the majors.

Over the span of six days in May, outfielder Matt Wallner and infielder Royce Lewis were optioned to St. Paul. Both were top prospects who slumped their way back to the minors.

Both spent the offseason making adjustments to their swings. Both attempts failed. Both are tough developments for a Twins team that is playing a little better than expected and could use their offense. Both are looking to rediscover their game.

That’s where Dinkelman comes in, helps them return to the majors and finds out what work they want to put in to make it happen.

Sound obvious, right? Sometimes an angry and frustrated player needs to hear it.

“Baseball is a mental game that can wear on you at times when things aren’t going well,” Dinkelman said. “So I talk with the major league staff just to see how they took the news and what they were working on.”

Wallner, optioned on May 14, was aware his swing needed an overhaul upon joining the Saints. The first step toward solving a problem is admitting that he had one, and he has done that. Wallner has 40-homer power that must be tapped into. It’s a process, as he’s batting .209 over his first 11 games with the Saints. But Wallner knows change can take time and he is ready to make the effort.

“He knows things weren’t going great for him over there,” Dinkelman said. “Come over here, reset, have some good at-bats, get him back to the hitter he was previously and get him out of here.”

The Twins have had turnover among their hitting coaches since Wallner and Lewis debuted in 2022, going through David Popkins and Matt Borgschulte on their way to Keith Beauregard. Throw in whoever the players worked with during the offseason, and that’s a lot of voices and different messages. The lack of continuity likely hasn’t helped. That’s when taking a step back to relax and sort things out in the minors can be a good thing.

What Dinkelman noticed when Lewis arrived in St. Paul was his trademark smile.

“He’s happy to be playing baseball,” Dinkelman said. “Obviously, he wants to be over there in the big leagues, playing with them. But as soon as he walked in, he was excited to see us and said hi and talked for a while. And he’s been working hard every day he’s been here so far.

“So far, he had a couple good games.”

In his first eight games, Lewis was batting .290 with six home runs. The ball is exploding off his bat like it did during his first 162 major league games, where he belted 33 homers and had an .801 OPS.

There’s no evidence that Lewis is pretending the ball is Derek Shelton’s face.

But it’s the response you want from a player when he takes a step back. The Twins need to see it from Wallner as well, but not all reclamation projects are the same.

Dinkelman’s approach to both Wallner and Lewis will be the same. How fast both return to the majors can impact the Twins’ season.