The Twins' bullpen is anything but set in stone. Spring training performances will likely play a big part in deciding who makes Minnesota's Opening Day bullpen.
Relievers Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Anthony Banda and Taylor Rogers are pretty much guaranteed to make the Opening Day Roster. Eric Orze will likely make the Opening Day roster as well, but he has a minor-league option remaining, so Minnesota may consider having him begin the year in Triple-A. Other bullpen options are Julian Merryweather, David Festa, Liam Hendriks, Andrew Chafin, Matt Bowman, Andrew Bash, Dan Altavilla and more.
One reliever on the Twins' 40-man roster who hasn't been getting much attention and could make the Opening Day roster is righty John Klein. MLB.com's Matthew Leach wrote that Klein is a dark horse candidate to make Minnesota's 26-man roster out of spring training.
John Klein could force his way into Twins' Opening Day bullpen plans with strong spring training
Klein, 24 in April, went undrafted in 2022 after attending Iowa Central Community College. The Twins signed Klein, a Twin Cities native, to a minor-league deal in Aug. 2022.
After a cup of coffee in rookie ball with Minnesota in late 2022 and early 2023, Klein impressed in six starts for Low-A Fort Myers in 2023, posting a 2.97 ERA over 30 1/3 innings. He made one start with High-A Cedar Rapids in 2023 and spent the entire 2024 season with the club. He had a 4.57 ERA with 90 strikeouts and 38 walks over 100 1/3 innings during the 2024 season.
Klein began the 2025 season with Double-A Wichita, posting a 3.12 ERA in 80 2/3 innings over 24 outings (11 starts) with 95 strikeouts and 24 walks. He then hurled 25 2/3 innings for Triple-A St. Paul, posting an awful 6.66 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks. He mainly pitched about four innings every four days last year.
Klein threw a scoreless inning of relief during the Twins' 10-3 win against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday, allowing two hits and collecting one strikeout. His fastball hit 96 mph. The righty also threw a low-90s cutter and low-80s curveball during the game against the University of Minnesota.
Klein will most likely be left off the Opening Day roster, but he has a chance to prove he belongs on the team if he has a strong spring training. The righty has progressed quickly through the minors, and his stuff could make for an effective big-league reliever. Given that Klein went undrafted and hails from Minnesota, it'd be an awesome story if he were to make the Twins' 26-man roster out of spring training. If he doesn't, we'll still likely see him in the majors at some point during the season.