A former fourth-round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2018, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. played very sparingly in his first season in a different organization.
How Acquired
After appearing in 80 games with the Twins in his first two major league seasons, Keirsey was non-tendered by Minnesota last November and signed a minor league contract with the Braves in December.
What were the expectations?
It’s safe to say that Keirsey was expected to be a depth piece stashed in Triple-A Gwinnett. There were some questions about Atlanta’s outfield depth entering
the 2026 season, especially after a second PED suspension for Jurickson Profar, but Keirsey wasn’t high in the pecking order. Even were he to be called up, he would probably be limited to pinch-running/defensive replacement duty rather than a guy grabbing plate appearances.
Keirsey’s prior major league go-rounds didn’t go well, as they featured a combined .158 wOBA and .196 xwOBA in 102 plate appearances in 2024-2025 with Minnesota. He struck out in a third of his PAs and had a walk rate of two percent. 102 PAs isn’t anything, but a -6 wRC+, a sub-.200 xwOBA, and -0.9 fWAR in that span is pretty brutal no matter how you slice it. “Replacement level at best” seems to summarize the expectations for Keirsey were he to get any playing time.
2026 results
After spending the first five months of the season in Triple-A, the Braves called up Keirsey in mid-September, when Lane Thomas went on the Injured List with an intercostal muscle strain. Keirsey had been called up earlier in the season for a single game, but didn’t make an appearance.
He remained on the major league roster for the remainder of the regular season, but appeared in just five games and had five PAs, four of which came in the regular-season finale when the team was resting starters. He had two pinch-run appearances, one pinch-hit appearance, and one defensive replacement appearance in addition to his start.
In his Braves debut the day he was promoted, he entered as a pinch runner with the Braves trailing the Phillies 3-2 and scored the tying run from first on Sean Murphy’s single paired with Derek Hill’s error. The following day, he had his only hit with the Braves, pinch-hitting for Ronald Acuña Jr. with Atlanta leading 9-2 in the eighth and delivering a single before coming around to score.
Keirsey’s high-water mark with the Braves was probably pinch-running and scoring the winning run in the 10th inning of their 3-2 win over the Reds on Sept. 23. But that was followed by his low-water mark, when he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his lone start on Sept. 27 against the Marlins.
Keirsey was on the Braves’ roster for the Wild Card series against the Phillies, but did not appear in a game. He was not on the NLDS roster as Atlanta added more arms for a longer set.
In 109 games with Gwinnett before he was called up, Keirsey’s .295 wOBA slightly exceeded his .290 xWOBA. He stole 40 bases and was caught stealing just three times, but his strikeout rate (27.9 percent) was still too high while his walk rate (7.0 percent) was too low, leading to a 73 WRC+.
What went right?
He did the job asked of him when Thomas went down with an injury. Keirsey was never going to take on Thomas’ role or anything resembling it, but he scored a run in each of his first three appearances. He didn’t steal a base but also wasn’t caught stealing, and his speed was useful in a few close games.
It didn’t play out that way but Keirsey being on the Wild Card series roster means there was a world where he could have been of use as a pinch runner in that series.
What went wrong?
I’m not sure anything went wrong for Keirsey so much as he was the same player with the Braves as the one who was non-tendered the prior year by the Twins. Sure, he didn’t actually do well at Triple-A, but it is what it is.
In general, he’s just got too many strikeouts without anything to make up for it, in enough of a sample size now where it’s uncertain if he’ll ever be a competent big league bat. Players like Keirsey have use, especially with the stolen base numbers he amassed in the minors this season, but they have a limited ceiling that makes them more likely to be stuck in the minors than to serve as a bench option in the majors long-term.
2027 outlook
The Braves outrighted Keirsey to Triple-A after the season came to an end, and he subsequently elected free agency. Maybe he ends up back in the organization as a fringe reserve outfielder — guys seem to have a knack for doing that in this organization — but it’s entirely possible Atlanta can find a better option to fill that role going forward. Nothing that he did in 2026 changes his “replacement level at best” outlook, and he’s unlikely to be carried on an active roster for more than a few games unless he starts showing serious improvement in the minors.
