There were few surprises when the Minnesota Twins announced their first group of cuts over the weekend. That group included Emmanuel Rodriguez, Matt Canterino, Marco Raya and Travis Adams among rostered players and Randy Dobnak, Erasmo Ramirez, Cory Lewis, Alex Isola and Yunior Severino among non-roster invitees.
The second group of cuts wasn't much more surprising, as Andrew Morris was moved to minor-league camp after a terrific outing on Tuesday, with reliever Ryan Jensen joining him and Diego Cartaya heading down as well via an option as a 40-man player.
So who's left as a non-roster invitee in camp? And beyond that, who still has a chance to make the team.
What Twins non-roster invitees can still break camp with the club?
Left-handed pitcher Anthony Misiewicz
The first two players on this list are largely interchangeable, with the nod going to Misiewicz as the lefty. Maybe I'm overselling the importance of that — especially in light of the Danny Coulombe addition — but I think the Twins might look to use an open 40-man spot (Matt Canterino's, perhaps, or if the Twins return Eiberson Castellano to the Phillies) on a reliever with lefty Kody Funderburk nearby at St. Paul.
Misiewicz vs. Funderburk here comes down to Misiewicz having a little better numbers over his career, notably in command and fly-ball rate (which the team seems to prefer over groundball rate based on how they've rostered pitchers in recent years).
Right-handed pitcher Scott Blewett
Blewett could just as easily be the choice if the Twins care less about handedness and more about effectiveness (which they should).
The righty acquitted himself with the Twins down the stretch last year, striking out 8.0 batters per nine with a 1.77 ERA in 20.1 innings. He's been perfectly fine this spring, allowing one earned run in four innings with four strikeouts, and again could just as easily be the choice as Misiewicz.
Right-handed pitcher Huascar Ynoa
If Ynoa is healthy, the case for him is a lot easier to make. With Ramirez sent out and injured besides, there is an outside shot the team could use Ynoa as a long reliever.
They seem to be prepping Louis Varland for that role, but bringing along Ynoa for it could allow them to focus Varland's appearances in tighter spots, too. That's especially true if they're going to want Varland to pitch more than one inning at a time, which remains a possibility.
Ynoa turns 27 in late May and has thrown 122.1 innings in the big leagues already, so if he's ready to contribute right away, he feels like he has an outside shot of making the club.
Utility man Luke Keaschall
Let's be honest — if Keaschall had been playing defensively all spring he'd have a much better chance to make it.
That might be the jump from 0.1 percent to 1.0 percent, but it's still a sizable leap.
The arrows are almost exclusively pointing up on Keaschall, who has shown good command of the zone and some extra-base pop this spring while hitting .235/.381/.471.
But he doesn't have a defensive home, and it's for multiple reasons. First, he's not all the way back from Tommy John surgery and thus isn't playing the field (so far) this spring, but secondly he's still likely behind Edouard Julien/Austin Martin/Mickey Gasper.
You know, the guys on the 40-man roster who are also vying for time on the big-league roster, too.
If's possible, if not probable, that Keaschall is already the best player of the group, but the timing just isn't right yet.
Right-handed pitcher Alex Speas
Speas' command has unwound this spring, as he has now walked six batters in three innings with just two strikeouts.
He can still throw the hell out of the ball, but he's just as likely to throw it to second base as home plate right now (not technically).
First baseman Mike Ford
The Twins could use the power off the bench, but there's just not a fit for Ford, who is just 1-for-24 this spring with a home run. The signing of Ty France likely bumped Ford's chances of making the roster to zero percent, literally.
Infielder Armando Alvarez
The infield was going to be tough to crack for any non-roster player, but that's doubly true for Alvarez, who primarily sees himself as a third baseman and is just 2-for-20 so far this spring. He'll be an interesting stash at St. Paul after hitting .315/.407/.560 at Sacramento (A's Triple-A) last season.
Right-handed pitcher Darren McCaughan
Small-sample size analysis isn't fair, but McCaughan has been hit pretty hard this spring (.450 BAA) and has less MLB success than others to lean back on in his case for inclusion (6.43 ERA in 56.0 big-league innings).
He'll be another stash at St. Paul.
Catchers Patrick Winkel/Jeferson Morales
Non-roster catchers were just not likely to do much for this team from the start, as Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez have handled nearly 100 percent of the catching for this team the last two years (save one Jair Camargo appearance).
Add to that the addition of Cartaya and Camargo still being in the picture, and these guys are likely still in camp to give pitchers someone to throw to. It's not much, but it's honest work.