In his new leading role, Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers embraces the responsibility

After Kansas City shut out the Twins on Wednesday, Ryan Jeffers stepped up, for the first time, to take on a more veteran responsibility: Speaking for the team after a frustrating loss.

It's one of the less glamorous aspects of the job, having to face the media and explain why the lineup struggled so glaringly at the plate. So older, more prominent teammates usually bear that burden and spare the rookies.

Jeffers isn't a rookie anymore, though, having debuted in 2020 and established himself as the No. 2 catcher behind Mitch Garver the past two seasons. But with Garver gone in a spring training trade and former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez still acclimating to his new team, Jeffers seems to have found his voice as one of the Twins' key starters.

In the visiting clubhouse after that 2-0 loss to the Royals, that showed when Jeffers owned up to his own offensive struggles, saying bluntly that there was no reason Kansas City pitcher Daniel Lynch should have been able to shut down the Twins hitters. But that maturity isn't something Jeffers just puts on for the press.

"I always want to be, whether I'm the youngest catcher in the big leagues or whatever it might be, I want to instill that trust and that faith in my pitchers," Jeffers said. "I don't want to them to think, 'Oh, he's the young guy.' I want to try and instill enough trust to be like, 'Oh, wow, he really knows what he's talking about.' "

The 24-year-old, who has been splitting time behind the plate with 29-year-old Sanchez, exemplified that in the recent series sweep of the White Sox. Sanchez was supposed to catch Friday's game but was a late scratch with abdominal tightness, which will keep him out for a couple of days. Not only did Jeffers put the pads on with short notice, but he had his best game of the season.

After collecting just four hits and four walks in his first 34 plate appearances this year, he hit an eighth-inning double that helped the Twins come back for 2-1 victory. And to preserve the score in Chicago's last at-bat, he stole strikes and blocked a pitch in the dirt with the bases loaded.

"The block at the very end of the game was huge in a moment where there's people on base, there's a lot of emotional swings in the game, that easily could have turned into something not benefiting us, for sure," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It was a big, big moment."

And it didn't come just from talent. Jeffers does a lot of pregame research so he's prepared for anything. He hadn't caught starter Bailey Ober since last season before having to parachute in Friday. He hadn't caught Saturday starter Dylan Bundy in a game before, minus some spring training work.

But Jeffers rewatched Bundy's previous starts and also met with Bundy ahead of the game to run through the plan.

At some point during the Chicago series, Jeffers took a foul ball off his left knee. And while he was supposed to start the finale Sunday, the Twins decided to instead just make him available off the bench so the bruise could heal. That meant recent call-up Jose Godoy would make his Twins debut catching starter Chris Archer, whom he had only barely crossed paths with during spring camp.

Jeffers ensured Godoy was prepared.

"I did a meeting with the pitching coach, with the starter. Jeffers helped me a lot because he told me about the lineup and gave me a couple things about the game, about the hitters. He did a really good job," Godoy said. "… That was nice. We worked together."

Jeffers' help plays a role in the overall strength of the Twins' new starting rotation this season. The combination of Ober, Bundy, Archer, Joe Ryan, Sonny Gray and Chris Paddack sports a 2.62 ERA, which ranks second in the American League and fifth overall.

Jeffers also seemed to have harnessed the momentum behind the plate for his appearances at it. In Saturday's 9-2 victory, he smacked another double plus a solo home run. Jeffers came into this season with a revamped swing, noticeable from his lower-set hands. Baldelli said it might just have taken some time for Jeffers to perfect his timing and see results from those adjustments.

The same could be said for settling into his role on the team. He's not one of the big names like Byron Buxton or Carlos Correa, but Jeffers is helping to lead the Twins in his own modest way.

"He's falling into a really good place out there, and he's playing well. You can't ask for anything more from a young player," Baldelli said. "You don't want to put incredibly high expectations on a young guy in this game. ... He's handled everything well, and I think he is settling in more and more as time goes on in a really nice way."