The last time Christian MacLeod was in the Twin Cities, he was nothing more than a tourist making the drive up from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with his fiancé during last year’s All-Star break. He enjoyed the sites, and couldn’t help but dream about making it his permanent baseball home. Sunday afternoon at CHS Field it became more of a reality for the left-handed starter, who made his Triple-A debut with the Saints in a 6-5 loss to the Columbus Clippers.
The 6-foot-4, 227-pound MacLeod, a fifth-round pick by the Twins in the 2021 draft out of Mississippi State, began the season at Class-A Cedar Rapids before being promoted to Double-A Wichita in July. The 24-year-old Alabama native pitched five innings on Sunday, allowing five runs — four earned — on six hits. He walked one and struck out five.
“I think it went all right,” MacLeod said. “I made a few mistakes that I wish I could have back, but overall I just wanted to go out and compete and give us a chance to win. Again, a few pitches, a few plays I would like to have back but that’s all a part of it.
“Getting my feet wet was really important, and take it into next week.” MacLeod’s dad, Kevin, was a 10th round draft pick by the Oakland A’s in 1987 as a left-handed pitcher and reached as high as Double-A. When the younger MacLeod found out on Thursday that he would be going up and starting the game on Sunday, he was excited to share the news with his dad.
“He was super pumped,” MacLeod said. “He was .