MINNEAPOLIS — Trevor Plouffe and the Minnesota Twins were both out of options.

Plouffe, the 26-year-old former first-round draft pick, spent his first three stints with the Twins swinging at every pitch in sight and bouncing around the diamond as the team tried to find a position for him that didn’t bring errors and inconsistency.

In the span of a month, Plouffe went from barely hanging on to a roster spot on one of the worst teams in baseball to slugging it out with reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun in a weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“It’s hard to explain,” Plouffe said. “I’m just trying to ride the wave as long as possible.”

By May 14 this year, Plouffe was hitting .133 with one home run and three RBIs, showing little to none of the promise that had scouts excited about the athletic, powerful shortstop they drafted out of high school in 2004.

Stuck at the bottom of the AL Central with one of the worst records in the majors, the Twins were in desperate need of some offense and in much need of stability on defense. They had already sent third baseman Danny Valencia to Triple-A Rochester, but Plouffe was out of options, meaning he would have to pass through waivers if the Twins wanted to send him back down as well.

Rather than risk losing a former first-round pick, the Twins kept running Plouffe out to third base and hoping that playing him at the same position every day would yield some rewards at the plate. Even they couldn’t have expected what happened starting on May 16.

Plouffe has hit .315 with 13 homers and 21 RBIs in the last 22 games, emerging as the kind of power-hitting corner infielder that everyone in this organization has been waiting for him to become practically since Day 1.

Suddenly, Plouffe is leading the Twins in home runs with 14, and his 13 in 22 games are the most in the majors during that span — more than Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols or Braun.

“We have a great view of it sitting in the dugout and we get to hear the crack of the bat and see the ball fly,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.