3 former Twins struggling mightily during 2024 spring training

Things seem to be off to a pretty decent start for the Minnesota Twins so far this spring. Nothing has jumped out to justify standing (mostly) pat during free agency, but the team has looked better than initial fears suggested.

It’s yet to be seen how the Twins will replace Sonny Gray and Kenta Meada — the latter of whom is off to a great start with his new team. The Opening Day lineup feels like it’s mostly set elsewhere on the roster, though, as the latest round of roster cuts suggests there’s a clear vision for what the position groups will look like.

Players like Bailey Ober, Jorge Alcalá, and Brooks Lee all flashed this spring, even if only one of them will be making the 26-man roster. New additions like Carlos Santana and Manuel Margot have also seemingly settled in nicely, even if the sample size is small.

The same can’t be said for a few former Twins players who are having a rough time this spring and are hoping things turnaround before the end of the month arrives.

3 former Twins struggling mightily during 2024 spring training

Sonny Gray

It didn’t take long for Sonny Gray’s St. Louis Cardinals career to hit some turbulence. In just his second start of Spring Training, Gray needed to be removed from the game due to tightness that was later diagnosed as a hamstring strain.

Gray had logged less than four innings of work before getting injured, but he at least looked good in the small sample size. He had only allowed three hits and zero runs, while striking out three batters, but the injury casts a shadow over everything.

Thankfully it seems like things aren’t as bad as they initially seemed. Gray has been slowing working his way back, throwing his first bullpen session this week since the injury, although it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

It’s an unfortunate break for Gray, who was mostly healthy throughout his entire stay in Minnesota before bolting this winter to sign a $75 million deal with the Cardinals. That’s the context of this injury, which even if it ends up being minor is not the way anyone wanted his tenure in St. Louis to start.

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Joey Gallo

Last year was a rough one for Joey Gallo, and it seems things haven’t gotten much better for him.

Gallo signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Washington Nationals after the Twins decided to move on this winter. He got off to a decent start after signing with Minnesota in December 2022, but things quickly fell off and he was ultimately left off the postseason roster.

He started the year on the right track, with Gallo hitting three home runs in his first four games and finishing April slashing .304/.360/.870 but that’s pretty much where he maxed out. Aside from getting some sweet revenge on the New York Yankees, Gallo struggled from May onward and never hit above .200 from the beginning of June through the end of the season.

Gallo’s hot start was halted by an injury in the Twins’ first home stand of the season, something that resulted in Edouard Julien getting called up. That will be his lasting legacy with Minnesota and it seems things have not gone much better since joining the Nationals this offseason.

So far in Spring Training Gallo is slashing .150/.190/.200 in seven games and 20 at-bats. Washington gave him a $5 million contract that already seems like a mistake, as the struggles Gallo suffered through in Minnesota don’t seem to have been fixed in the time since.