Minnesota Twins: 2022 Opening Day Roster Prediction
It’s the second-to-last day of March, and the Minnesota Twins open up their major league season in just over a week. After the addition of Chris Archer and Derek Falvey indicating the team wouldn’t be adding another starter, another addition seems unlikely.
With 33 players currently on the roster, the team needs to make five more moves in order to get the team compliant for the start of the season. With this in mind, we’re going to break down the five moves that will be made and predict what the roster will look like come next Thursday, including specific starting rotation, lineup, bullpen, and bench predictions.
We break down how the Minnesota Twins roster will look when Opening Day arrives.
We start off this list with the team’s lineup, the group that will be expected to carry the team through the season until the rotation gets some help later in the year. After adding Carlos Correa, it’s the team’s biggest strength.
Minnesota Twins Starting Lineup Prediction:
- Catcher: Ryan Jeffers
- First Base: Miguel Sano
- Second Base: Jorge Polanco
- Shortstop: Carlos Correa
- Third Base: Gio Urshela
- Left Field: Alex Kirilloff
- Center Field: Byron Buxton
- Right Field: Max Kepler
- Designated Hitter: Gary Sanchez
No surprises here. Though there’s a chance Urshela, Sanchez, or Kepler could start the season on the bench for a better hitting matchup, all 10 of these players are locked into roster spots. Alex Kirilloff showed serious flashes last year, but he and Ryan Jeffers need to take big steps forward in order to compete.
Gary Sanchez and Miguel Sano both have struggled this spring, but both should be solid in their roles as both could face free agency this winter. Regardless of anything else though, Jorge Polanco, Carlos Correa, and Byron Buxton are one of the best trios up the middle in the league, so expect this lineup and defense to impress from the jump.
Roster Count: 9.
Minnesota Twins Bench
In:
- 2B/3B/LF Luis Arraez
- 2B/SS/OF Nick Gordon
- LF/RF Brent Rooker
- C José Godoy
Out:
- 1B/2B/3B Jose Miranda
- CF Gilberto Celestino
- LF/RF Trevor Larnach
- OF Jake Cave
- OF Kyle Garlick
The bench will likely change very quickly as injuries and ineffective play cause issue for the team. Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon are locks as versatile pieces for manager Rocco Baldelli to work with. Brent Rooker’s age makes him a likely candidate as well, with him running out of chances if he struggles again in 2022.
The Twins lack of depth at catcher means José Godoy lands on the roster, while Rooker’s inclusion likely means that Cave and Garlick head to Triple-AAA or in Garlick’s case maybe released.
For Jose Miranda, Gilberto Celestino, and Trevor Larnach, all three have very little left to prove in the minors, but the Twins would rather see them get more playing time, meaning Triple-AAA makes the most sense. Expect all three to be back VERY soon, Larnach especially.
Roster Count: 13.
Minnesota Twins Starting Rotation
In:
- Sonny Gray, RHP
- Joe Ryan, RHP
- Bailey Ober, RHP
- Chris Archer, RHP
- Dylan Bundy, RHP
Out…of the Rotation, In as the Long Reliever:
- Griffin Jax, RHP
Out:
- Josh Winder, RHP
- Devin Smeltzer, LHP
It’s not the rotation we wanted, but it’s the rotation we have. Despite a higher than normal ERA in 2021, Sonny Gray is a high-end starter, even if he’s not a legitimate ace. Chris Archer is a fine back of the rotation option if he can remain healthy, and Dylan Bundy will definitely be better than last year.
Griffin Jax misses the rotation, but we’ll include him here as he seems likely to hold off non-roster guys Lewis Thorpe and Devin Smeltzer for the long reliever job. Winder may have missed the Opening Day rotation, but it won’t be long before he leapfrogs Bundy into the Top 5. The whole rotation rests on Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober though.
If Ryan and Ober pick up where they left off last year, this is a solid rotation. If not, the rotation will fold in on itself, forcing the lineup to carry too much of a load. The rotation is the key to seeing if this team wins 90 games or 75.
Roster Count: 19.
Minnesota Twins Bullpen
In:
- Taylor Rogers, LHP
- Tyler Duffey, RHP
- Caleb Thielbar, LHP
- Jorge Alcala, RHP
- Joe Smith, RHP
- Jharel Cotton, RHP
- Cody Stashak, RHP
- Jovani Moran, LHP
- Jhoan Duran, RHP
Out:
- Jhon Romero, RHP
- Danny Coulombe, LHP
- Juan Minaya, RHP
- Lewis Thorpe, LHP
The Twins are lucky to have several very solid options who can out of the pen, but we can only keep nine, given how we’ve constructed our roster. Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Caleb Thielbar, Jorge Alcala, and Joe Smith are locks. What about the last four spots?
We give Cody Stashak the nod here because he was stellar in 2019 and 2020 before an injury filled and ineffective 2021. He should bounceback this year. Jharel Cotton and Jhoan Duran have been fantastic all spring, so they earn spots. We then gave the last spot to Jovani Moran, because his stuff is still so good, but he is the most likely to miss the cut.
Next. Minnesota Twins: We Got the Sizzle, Now How About the Steak?. dark