4 players who could steal Opening Day roster spots for the Twins

We're officially in the thick of Spring Training, as everyone has reported and games are starting to get underway. The Minnesota Twins opened things up on Friday with a game against the Gophers but things will truly start to count on Saturday with a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As such, players who are on the roster bubble will begin to be presented with opportunities to prove that they deserve a 26-man roster spot on Opening Day. We have a pretty good idea of what the bulk of that roster will look like, but it's far from being fully set.

Things remain fluid at the fringes, and a few guys could end up stealing an Opening Day roster spot if they can put together a solid enough spring.

4 players who could steal Opening Day roster spots for the Twins

Jorge Alcalá

Heading into this season the Twins will count bullpen as one of its key strengths, with FanGraphs ranking it as a top unit in the entire league. While largely neglecting additions to the starting rotation, Minnesota went out of its way to fortify the bullpen by adding guys like Josh Staumont, Jay Jackson, and Justin Topa.

One of the most impactful players could be someone who was already here: Jorge Alcalá.

Minnesota loves to find players who have run into some bad injury luck but have high enough upside that they could pay off as low-risk gambles. Alcalá is homegrown in that regard, as he showed insane levels of promise back in 2021 before suffering an injury that wiped out his 2022 campaign and forced him into the category of caveated pitchers who could be good if they can just stay healthy.

He's already seen MLB action, getting called up back in 2019 but truly making a mark three years later when he posted a 3.55 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings across 75 appearances for the Twins. He was looking to be a fixture in the bullpen after what he didn't between 2020 and 2021 but an injury ended his season after just two appearances in 2022 and he's been battling back ever since.

Aaron Gleeman wrote a glowing piece recently about how Alcalá seems to be on his way back, which means this spring could be huge for him getting back into the mix. His fastball velocity seems to be back,

If he can tap back into the pitcher he was at the start of the decade -- a guy who posted a 1.042 WHIP -- an already highly-touted Twins bullpen going to border on being potentially elite.