The Minnesota Twins' 2027 Opening Day lineup seems fairly projectable, but the 2028 one is a different story. I did my best to predict Minnesota's Opening Day lineup for the 2028 season, and I included top prospects Vahn Lackey and Marek Houston. It may be bold to suggest that Lackey, the 2026 No. 3 overall pick, will be in the Opening Day lineup as soon as 2028, but prospects have been reaching the big leagues sooner than ever lately, making it entirely possible.
Predicting Twins’ 2028 lineup
- Luke Keaschall DH
- Walker Jenkins CF
- Kaelen Culpepper 2B
- Byron Buxton LF
- Emmanuel Rodriguez RF
- Brooks Lee 3B
- Kody Clemens 1B
- Vahn Lackey C
- Marek Houston SS
It's pretty difficult to project the lineup this far in advance. Hopefully, the Twins will add an established power bat for the 2028 team, but I went ahead and predicted the lineup based on players currently in the organization.
Keaschall ended the year as Minnesota's leadoff hitter. He became Minnesota's primary right fielder in the middle of the 2026 season, but I went ahead and put him at DH because of his poor defensive metrics in 451 2/3 innings in right field (-7 Defensive Runs Saved and -1 Outs Above Average). Keaschall is speedy and athletic, so maybe he will figure things out defensively. But for now, I'm going to put him at DH.
After Keaschall at leadoff, I put Jenkins batting second as the starting center fielder. Jenkins had a rough start to his big-league career upon being called up in August, but he finished the season by slashing .343/.361/.514 (146 wRC+) with two home runs over his final nine games. I put Jenkins in center over Buxton because Buxton will be 34 heading into the 2028 season, and the Twins might want to attempt to reduce Buxton's injury risk by putting him in a corner outfield spot.
Then we have Culpepper at No. 3. Culpepper made his MLB debut last season and started all of his games with Minnesota at shortstop. Many questioned whether he could stick at shortstop long-term, but he ended up looking solid there over 281 innings. I still think he will be the primary second baseman long-term because Houston is viewed as an elite defensive shortstop. With solid shortstop defense, Culpepper would likely be very good at second base, an easier position to play.
Buxton is batting cleanup and playing left field in this projected lineup. Left field seems like a good spot for Buxton once he gets older. Health is always a question when it comes to the outfielder, but if he's healthy and still doesn't want to waive his no-trade clause, Buxton should be in the starting lineup for 2028.
Then we got Rodriguez, Lee and Clemens. Rodriguez and Lee should 100% be in the 2028 lineup, but Clemens is more of a question mark. He is coming off an outstanding season, winning Twins MVP, but he just turned 30 and could be due for regression. Hopefully, I'm wrong about that, and he continues to be a key part of the lineup.
In the final two spots, I put Lackey and Houston. Lackey is clearly the Twins' catcher of the future, while Houston should be the shortstop of the future. Lackey already reached High-A, while Houston finished the season at Double-A.
Unfortunately, I left Royce Lewis off this lineup. The Twins may let the infielder go this offseason, as he posted an 85 wRC+ over the past two seasons and is turning 28 soon.
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