Minnesota Twins officially reveal 26-man Opening Day roster
By Josh Hill
Opening Day is finally here, and the Minnesota Twins have locked in the 26-man roster the team will carry with it to Kansas City to start the season.
We sort of had a good idea of what the bulk of the Opening Day roster would look like, but a few things popped up throughout Spring Training that slightly changed things leading up to Thursday. Most significantly, the Twins are already having to deal with some injuries to key players which caused some last-minute adjustments at the start of the year.
Both Alex Kirilloff and Jorge Polanco will begin the season on the Injured List. It’s unclear what their timeline to return is, although there’s hope that it happens before May. With those two out of the lineup for the time being, a couple of roster spots opened and were filled by players on the bubble in camp.
Two other names aren’t present on the Opening Day roster, as Bailey Ober and Kyle Garlick will both being the season in the minors. Ober is likely to be the next-man-up in case of an injury to a starter or if someone begins to struggle. Garlick was the odd-man-out between Trevor Larnach and Willi Castro, with the acquisition of Joey Gallo boxing him out as well.
Just because someone isn’t on the Opening Day roster doesn’t mean they won’t potentially have an impact down the roast. However, the crew that Rocco Baldelli will begin the season with is set in stone, and the 26-man roster is finally official.