Twins outfielder DaShawn Keirsey builds up his fielding — and his possibilities

FORT MYERS, FLA. – DaShawn Keirsey made an incredible running catch to save an extra-base hit Tuesday, then smacked a ball to the warning track to knock in the game-winning run against the Yankees.

His reward: Riding a bus for five or six hours Wednesday.

Keirsey, who made his major league debut for the Twins last September, is fighting for a job as a backup outfielder this season, and he’s getting noticed.

“If we’re being honest, a couple of years ago, he didn’t have the skills to do all the wonderful things that he’s doing now. And he worked for it,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He put in the work, he got better every day, and now we talk about him. We talk about him a lot.”

Baldelli talked at length, in fact, about Keirsey’s play to rob Yankees prospect Braden Shewmake of a double or triple in the eighth inning Tuesday. The long fly ball was pushed toward the right-field corner by a strong wind. Keirsey ran at top speed along the warning track and reached the ball just before it could strike the wall.

“That’s a really challenging play,” Baldelli said. “The sun is in your face, the wind’s blowing crazy in different directions. That ball, most of the time in spring training, that play doesn’t get made. Doesn’t even matter who’s out there, it just doesn’t get made most of the time.”

But the manager said he wasn’t surprised that Keirsey somehow did “because he is a very good defender. He’s really an above-average defender. He brings a skillset that is increasingly rare in this game, and it’s getting rarer every day to see athletes like that take over the game with their legs and their defense. And he’s one of the few that can do it.”

Keirsey, a 27-year-old former fourth-round pick out of Utah, batted .300 in 111 games for Class AAA St. Paul last year, and Baldelli said he’s seeing improvement at the plate at the major league level, too. Case in point: the warning-track line drive that delivered the walk-off 5-4 win over the Yankees.

“He already has the defense and the legs, and the offense is still improving,” Baldelli said. “He’s a good athlete, and he’s still improving. We’re going to keep giving him at-bats.”

He’ll get a few of them Wednesday about 125 miles away, when the Twins bus to Lakeland to face the Tigers.

“He’s going,” Baldelli said. The schedule originally had Matt Wallner making the trip, but with Monday’s rainout, Wallner started Tuesday. “Worked out good for everybody,” the manager said. “Keirsey is going to play right field in beautiful Lakeland.”