4 exciting Twins players who'll be squeezed off Opening Day roster
Part of making some tough roster decisions means keeping some guys on the outside looking in.
It seems like just yesterday that we were watching the Minnesota Twins end their 19-year postseason losing streak, but Opening Day is almost here. With the season starting in just a few weeks, the Twins are going through final preparations in Spring Training to make sure the roster is set and the right peices are in place.
Part of that means leaving guys who might be deserving off the roster.
The 26-man roster seems to be pretty much set, with only a few fringe questions still needing to be answered. What happens with the final reliever role in the bullpen is really the only open roster spot as everything else seems to be secure.
What that means is the youth movement we're expecting to see continue this season will have to wait to get back underway. We know who will be on the final roster, but there are a few exciting players who will get left off that Twins fans will want to keep an eye on.
4 exciting Twins players who'll be squeezed off Opening Day roster
Jorge Alcalá, RP
Last year Jhoan Duran was touted as an All-Star caliber reliever who lit up the league with his 100 mph pitches and his electric walkout entrance. Had things gone a different way, Duran might not be the only stud reliever in the Twins bullpen, as Jorge Alcalá had -- and still possess -- the right stuff to be dominant for Minnesota.
Just a few yers ago he seemed to be on the rise in a big way. Alcalá posted a 3.42 ERA and a 1.043 WHIP across 85 innings between 2019 and 2021. He also struck out 89 batters and walked just 22 as well as a 124 ERA+, all of which suggested he was trending hard in the right direction as a reliable late innings pitcher.
Injuries interfered, though, and he was utterly forgettable the last time we saw him. Prior to getting shut down, Alcalá was rocked for a 6.23 ERA in just over 17 innings. It was a far cry from the rising star we'd seen in both the minors and a small sample size of in the majors.
Thankfully this spring he's started to turn a corner back toward being the pitcher he was at the start of the decade. Alcalá has been extremely solid, posting a 2.57 ERA in seven innings of work with seven strikeouts and a 1.000 WHIP. More than that, his fastball has been consistently clocking around 96 to 97 mph, which is very encouraging.
Heading into the season Alcalá has the highest strikeout percentage of his career (67 percent) and could very well compete for the eighth reliever role on the 26-man roster. That's really the only roster spot up for grabs as the season approaches, and the fact that Alcalá is as close
Brooks Lee, 2B
When the Twins drafted Brooks Lee back in 2022, the hype train was already starting to leave the station. He drew immediate comparisons to Royce Lewis, both due to how high he was drafted (the highest pick since Lewis in 2017) and his insane upside. Lee has already started to deliver on the promise he's shown, quickly ascending from being a newly drafted player to rising all the way to Triple-A last season.
Now he's knocking on the door of making his MLB debut.
It's not just smoke around Lee, there's some serious fire to his game. He's a better defensive option at second base than Edouard Julien, although his bat isn't nearly as powerful. He's faced competition at a few different levels as a minor leaguer but tore through them all to arrive at St. Paul late last year.
Once with the Saints, Lee slashed 237/.304/.428 with five homers and 23 RBI in 38 games and continued to sharpen his skills this spring down in Fort Myers. It got to the point where Derek Falvey was openly teasing Lee's arrival at the major league level, something that won't be happening on Opening Day but might not be far off.
Lee is behind Austin Martin at the starting gate, as it seems he'll have to wait a few months to get the call. There's a clear path for him to the MLB roster, and a place for him once he gets there. The Twins traded Jorge Polanco this winter to free up room in a crowded infield, and Lee was a major piece of that puzzle.
He won't make the 26-man roster, but it seems like a matter of when -- not if -- we'll see Lee make his debut.
Matt Canterino, SP
There have been pitchers we've all kept an eye on this spring, but one name to start buying as much stock as you can in right now is Matt Canterino.
He didn't have a robust Spring Training, but Canterino struck out five batters in two starts for the Twins before getting re-assigned as part of roster cuts. It's not what he did on the mound that's notable so much as the fact that he was there to begin with; Canterino is coming back from Tommy John surgery and so far his progress suggests he could work his way into the big picture soon.
Canterino underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2022, which set him back a bit after a tremendous start to his career. After getting drafted in 2019 he posted a 1.48 ERA with 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings before lighting up Double-A with a 1.83 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 34.1 inning.
#MNTwins No. 7 prospect Matt Canterino was dealing tonight for @CRKernels:
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 29, 2021
4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K pic.twitter.com/VMDcLPdivd
It wasn't long after that start in 2022 that he needed to be shut down, halting what seemed to be a clear and rapid ascent to the MLB roster. Had he not needed to have surgery there's a decent chance we're talking about Canterino the same way we are Bailey Ober and the Twins rotation situation is completely different.
His solid spring wasn't anything major in terms of blowing folks away on the stat sheet, rather the way he seemed to slip right back into the pitcher he was before needing surgery is a positive sign. He still needs to work his way back slowly, but Canterino will be a name to watch this year as he prepares for a potential late-season call up.
Austin Martin, OF/INF
This might end up being the most surprising omission from the Twins initial roster, even if it's grown less surprising as the offseason unfolded.
At one point Martin looked like a lock for the Opening Day roster, specifically as centerfield depth behind Byron Buxton. He checked a ton of other boxes, as he's a right-handed hitting outfielder who can play infield positions and is also one of the team's biggest top prospects. Martin was acquired as part of the Jose Berrios trade back in 2021, but injuries stunted his ascension (which is a macabre rite of passage among Twins prospects).
He had an injury scare last spring but bounced back to slash .263/.387/.405 with 28 RBI and a.791 OPS at St. Paul. It was the sort of uptick with his offense that seemed to suggest he might be ready to make the jump to the majors, especially when combined with his ability to play at important positions.
All hope of Martin debuting on Opening Day ended when the Twins traded for Manuel Margot, who took both Martin's role behind Buxton and his 26-man roster spot.
That's not the end of the story, though. While most prospects who got edged off the roster might have to wait a while to get a shot, Martin seems to be in a next-man-up situation. He's an injury away from getting called up, something that happened to Edouard Julien last April when he was left off the Opening Day roster. After Joey Gallo hit the IL following Minnesota's first home series of the season, Julien was called up and has been a key piece of the lineup ever since.
Perhaps the same trajectory we can expect with Martin even if we have to wait for him to make the jump.
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