Spring Training cuts are done in waves, and the first set is typically the least surprising. Nonetheless, let's look at who was in the Twins' first set of cuts and whether they could still make some noise in the major leagues this year.
The Twins cut nine players on Sunday, moving down to 48 players still in major league camp, down from 57. With Opening Day still a few weeks away, the position battles will still be ongoing and likely won't be solved until closer to the end of camp.
The first round of cuts were pitchers Travis Adams, Matt Canterino, Marco Raya, Randy Dobnak, Cory Lewis and Erasmo Ramirez. The three position players in this round were catcher Alex Isola, first baseman Yunior Severino and one of the Twins' top prospects, Emmanuel Rodriguez.
While the first round of cuts doesn't announce the Opening Day roster, it says who won't make it, and none of these players are surprising as the first group to be sent out of big league camp. Both Dobnak and Ramirez have previous experience in the big leagues, but both came into camp with expectations of being depth options and will likely start the year at St. Paul.
Let's look at each of the first guys, what level they should play most of their games at, and if they may, or may not, make an appearance at Target Field sometime this summer.
Travis Adams
Adams worked his way up to Triple-A this past year, and the Twins added him to the 40-man roster before the Rule-5 draft in December. He's ranked in the top 30 Twins prospects by multiple rankings, and one can expect to see him with Triple-A Saint Paul this coming year.
He will likely pitch in the rotation with a few familiar faces, and could certainly earn a call to Target Field at some point this year, as the major league average for starting pitchers used is somewhere between 10-12, typically.
Matt Canterino
Canterino is injured, again.
He has not been able to stay healthy throughout his professional career. He's dealing with a shoulder strain, and hopefully, this is just a small bump in an otherwise decent comeback season for Canterino.
When healthy, Canterino is electric, and he will be used solely as a relief pitcher going forward, hoping to preserve his health. If he can be healthy, he has the upside of a pretty solid relief pitcher, but at this point, that's a big if.
Marco Raya
Raya has been handled cautiously over the past few years, but the training wheels started to come off toward the end of 2024.
He pitched most of this past season with Double-A Wichita but did earn one start with the Saints, where he threw five innings, striking out four and giving up five hits. Raya is ranked sixth on MLB.com among Twins prospects, and he could also be among the 10-12 pitchers to start a game for the Twins this year. Keep an eye on how he does in a more extended look with Triple-A Saint Paul.
He's an exciting, young prospect with some upside.
Randy Dobnak
Dobnak was first called up during the 2019 season, and he looked pretty solid over his first nine appearances that season. He threw to a 1.59 ERA, starting five games and pitching out of the bullpen in four.
Since then, he has had ups and downs, dealing with a finger injury over the past couple of seasons. Dobnak has made a couple of appearances this spring and looked pretty decent overall. He will likely earn a call at some point, and his major-league experience is a nice thing to call on.
He appears to be a really good dude and is easy to root for, so hopefully, his 2025 is healthy and productive.
Cory Lewis
You've probably seen stories about Lewis' knuckleball. He throws it in the high 80s, which is not common for a knuckleball to be thrown that fast.
Lewis has slowly climbed up the minor league ranks as a former ninth-round pick since being drafted in 2022. Lewis was the Twins minor league pitcher of the year in 2023, where he started 22 games, threw 101.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.49 between Low- and High-A. He finished the year in Triple-A Saint Paul, pitching five innings in his final start for the Saints. Lewis is a fun prospect and someone you can expect to see at Target Field shortly.
Hopefully, Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez will be ready to catch a very fast knuckleball.
Erasmo Ramirez
If you recognize Ramirez, it wouldn't be surprising, as he has major league experience going back to 2012. He's pitched with six different teams, prior to signing a minor league deal with the Twins in February. He's appeared in 327 games in his career, and has a 4.37 career ERA.
Unfortunately, Ramirez is slated to miss "significant time" due to a shoulder injury, so it will likely be a few weeks before we get an update on how long the injury will take him out.
Alex Isola
Isola was drafted as a catcher in the 29th round in the 2019 draft out of TCU. He has since played first base and in the corner outfield in the minors. Isola played the 2024 season with Double-A Wichita and Triple-A Saint Paul. He was likely in camp as another catcher, but expect to see him with the Saints and continue to try to put himself in the Twins/ future plans.
Yunior Severino
Severino made some noise in 2023, hitting 35 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A.
He's moved down the defensive spectrum during his professional career, playing second base early on and mostly being a first or third baseman since. He did play 10 games in right field with the Saints in 2024, so that is something to keep an eye on for this year as well. Severino is a typical corner bat in that he has good power, strikes out a lot and walks at a decent rate.
Depending on how Ty France and other first base options do, Severino could hit his way to Target Field as an option at a corner spot or as a designated hitter.
Emmanuel Rodriguez
Rodriguez is the Twins' No. 2 and MLB's No. 37 overall prospect in baseball on MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects. Rodriguez was slowed by an ankle injury at the beginning of camp and is looking to stay healthy and show what he can do.
If he can stay healthy, he can play his way to Target Field this year and insert himself into the outfield mix before the end of the season.