ATLANTA – Two hours before first pitch Friday, Luke Keaschall hadn't been added to the Twins roster, hadn't seen a lineup, hadn't been told exactly what he was doing at Truist Park.

He didn't care a bit.

"I'll play wherever they want me to. I feel great. I'm super excited and super confident I can deal with everything," said the 22-year-old rookie, already dressed for batting practice. "Feel like I can do damage up here and help this ballclub win. Excited to see what I can do. It's a dream come true."

Yes, the 2023 second-round pick from Arizona State was feeling the adrenaline rush of his major league debut, preparing to play in front of a half-dozen relatives who were rushing to Georgia for his big day.

"I bet he'll do pretty much everything he's asked to do right now and be excited about it," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said with a laugh, shortly after welcoming Keaschall to the team.

Keaschall was brought to Atlanta in case Willi Castro's tight oblique didn't improve; when Castro convinced the team's medical staff he didn't need a stint on the injured list, the team chose to option Mickey Gasper to Class AAA St. Paul instead.

Splitting his time between designated hitter and second base, Keaschall was hitting .261 at St. Paul, with a .379 on-base percentage.

Though he hasn't played the outfield this year (and likely won't with the Twins, at least not right away), Keaschall is here in part to replace Matt Wallner, out because of a hamstring injury. Wallner has been the team's best hitter this season, and the team wanted a dangerous hitter to add a little more production to the lineup. Keaschall, the Twins' Minor League Player of the Year in 2024 despite missing the season's final month for Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, was the best option.

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Baldelli batted the rookie eighth, as the designated hitter, and Keaschall got hits in his first two at-bats, driving in a run with a single in the second inning in his first major league at-bat and doubling and scoring in the fourth. He finished 2-for-4 and also stole a base and scored a run in the 6-4 loss to the Braves.

"He's an exciting young player," Baldelli said. "We had a really good chance to watch him this spring, watch the way he swings the bat. … We'll probably be playing a little more of an athletic brand of speed-oriented baseball," and Keaschall figures to be in the middle of it.

"We've got a bunch of stars here; we're going to turn it around," Keaschall said of the Twins' slow start. "I'm going to do my job, do it right, do it hard, play the right way. People who do that usually get rewarded."