Two weeks ago, 25 of 26 spots on the Minnesota Twins’ season-opening roster seemed set, with just a single bullpen job truly up for grabs. But injuries have a way of changing plans, and at the tail end of camp the Twins lost closer Jhoan Duran, setup arms Caleb Thielbar, Justin Topa and Josh Staumont and starter Anthony DeSclafani to the injured list, shaking up the pitching staff.
This isn’t the group the Twins expected to be taking to Kansas City, but here’s the 26-man Opening Day roster they announced on Thursday, along with some thoughts on who did or didn’t make the cut and all of the expected roles.
Starting pitchers (5): Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, Louie Varland
DeSclafani’s elbow injury opened the door for Varland to be the No. 5 starter, but he may end up pitching the fourth game on the schedule, Tuesday at Milwaukee, so the Twins can begin managing Paddack’s season-long workload coming back from his second Tommy John surgery. Getting Paddack extra time between starts when possible makes sense, but the Twins likely don’t want to skip his first turn.
Varland should be ready for his first big chance and there’s a lot riding on him, because DeSclafani may be headed for season-ending surgery before throwing a pitch for the Twins and the next-in-line rotation options are untested prospects David Festa, Simeon Woods Richardson and Brent Headrick. This is one area where ownership’s payroll cuts clearly hurt the Twins’ ability to build depth.
Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda left as free agents, and DeSclafani may not help replace them, but FanGraphs still projects the Twins to have the No. 2 rotation in the American League. López is projected as the AL’s second-best starter while Ryan (No. 13), Ober (No. 26) and Paddack (No. 28) are projected as top-30 starters in a 15-team league. If healthy, that would be a strong rotation.
Relief pitchers (8): Brock Stewart, Griffin Jax, Jay Jackson, Steven Okert, Jorge Alcala, Kody Funderburk, Daniel Duarte, Cole Sands
FanGraphs still projects the Twins to have the No. 1 bullpen in the AL despite the injuries to Duran, Thielbar and Topa, but that’s a season-long view and not representative of the relievers available right away. If, as expected, Thielbar and Topa are back by mid-April, and Duran can return by early May, the Twins will be fine in the big picture, but things could be shaky in the meantime.
Stewart and Jax (or Jax and Stewart) are a highly capable closer-setup duo, but elevating them in the bullpen pecking order leaves key outs to get in the sixth and seventh innings. That’s where Thielbar and Topa would have come in, but now that medium-leverage work will likely go to Jackson, a 36-year-old right-hander signed for $1.5 million, and Okert, the trade return for Nick Gordon.
Alcala will be asked to fill a meaningful role way sooner than expected coming off back-to-back injury-wrecked seasons. Funderburk replaces Thielbar on the roster and will serve as the No. 2 left-hander, with Okert moving up to No. 1. Sands, who filled an up-and-down role the past two seasons, was chosen to eat multiple innings in long relief.
Duarte, a February waiver pickup, is the lone player to make the team after not being on the 40-man roster when camp started. Career-long control issues have previously kept the 27-year-old righty from sticking in the majors, but Duarte impressed the Twins with a 12-to-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 1/3 innings this spring, throwing far more strikes without sacrificing his high-octane raw stuff.
Steven Okert, pictured last year with Miami, moves into the No. 1 lefty reliever role. (Kyle Ross / USA Today)
Catchers (2): Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vázquez
No surprises here, as Jeffers and Vázquez both made it through spring training healthy and will share time behind the plate for the second straight year. Jeffers led AL catchers in OPS last season while Vázquez struggled, but the Twins feel strongly about the importance of limiting catcher workloads. Jeffers is the No. 1 catcher, but a 60-40 or 55-45 split is likely early on.
Infielders (6): Carlos Santana, Edouard Julien, Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Kyle Farmer
Correa and Lewis will be the everyday left side of the infield and the Twins also seem inclined to use the 37-year-old Santana as a nearly everyday first baseman. They value Santana’s switch-hitting ability and plate discipline enough to make him the leadoff pick against lefties, and view him as a much better fielder than Kirilloff, who will likely be used mostly at designated hitter.
Julien will start at second base and lead off versus righties, with Farmer taking over for him at second base against most lefties in the same logical platoon the Twins often used last year. Farmer will also be the primary backup at shortstop, third base and second base, and possibly even play some first base. Willi Castro is listed below as an outfielder, but he’ll also be part of the infield mix at times.
Outfielders (5): Matt Wallner, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Manuel Margot, Willi Castro
There was a sense of renewed optimism about Buxton’s health status when he reported to camp six weeks ago and that grew even stronger as he played center field regularly, ran well and hit .314/.368/.600. Buxton will be starting in center field on Opening Day, a welcome sight after he missed all of spring training last year and was limited to a DH-only role before being shut down in August.
Left-handed hitters Kepler and Wallner will be the starting corner outfielders, but Wallner and perhaps Kepler will sit versus many lefties in favor of the right-handed-hitting Margot and switch-hitting Castro. Margot, who came over in a late-February trade, will also replace Michael A. Taylor as the necessary Buxton backup/insurance in center field.
GO DEEPER
Five Twins players who will beat their 2024 projections: Gleeman’s picks to click
GO DEEPER
Sweeping success: How the Twins’ Pablo López became elite by adding a sweeper
GO DEEPER
MLB American League Central preview: preseason grades, odds and analysis
(Top photo of Daniel Duarte: Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins / Getty Images)
