Me and my big mouth. Sheesh.
Not 48 hours ago, I released my second look at how I expected the Opening Day roster to shake out.
About 14 hours later, Royce Lewis was hustling out of the batter's box to beat an Alex Bregman throw to first base when he pulled up limping and grasping for his left hamstring. He left the game and was replaced by Tanner Schobel.
That's correct; it's the same hamstring that almost led to him missing the playoffs in 2023.
The Twins, namely manager Rocco Baldelli, said Monday that Lewis had suffered a mild hamstring strain. All things considered, this is a fairly good prognosis after his Opening Day quad injury in Kansas City last season cost him about eight weeks.
But Baldelli also spoke of it as a week-to-week thing. Even the most optimistic folks seem to be saying it'll be 3-to-4 weeks, with a 4-to-6 week timetable easily in play.
And frankly, this stinks. All of the talk nationally this spring was how good the Twins could be "if they could stay healthy." I'm going to hear that phrase in my sleep now, haunting me like one of those Simpson's cut scenes where Lisa needs braces and the Simpson family needs a dental plan.
With that said, it's not some sort of epic tragedy. The Atlanta Braves won a World Series without Ronald Acuna Jr., and will be without the superstar perhaps a month or more into the 2025 season as he recovers from a torn ACL (something Lewis knows all too well).
The Twins are strangely well-equipped to face this sort of dilemma. Jose Miranda isn't that far removed from being a top prospect at third base, and he's coming off a better season than most would realize offensively (115 wRC+).
He also doesn't have as easy of a path to playing time at first base as he did before with Ty France in the picture, so he could certainly be an option at third for as long as the Twins need.
Willi Castro is also an option. He's played capable defense all over the field since joining the Twins in 2023, and was expected to mix-and-match all season long anyway with perhaps one of the first shots at playing more often than not at second base (before the Lewis injury, that is).
Another option is Brooks Lee, who played third base in Bradenton on Monday and has experience at the position.
Those three options, however, are mitigated a bit by the fact that the Twins don't have an every day second baseman. Castro and Lee are options there, but a roster spot is now open in Lewis' stead and makes the competition for the last two spots on the offense a bit of a curiosity.
Edouard Julien, Mickey Gasper and Austin Martin sure appear to be fighting for two roster spots.
Julien can play second base, first base and DH with any available plate appearances in that spot — more so now with Miranda in the mix at third base — and has put together a respectable spring stat line (112 wRC+ entering play Monday).
But how much playing time does Julien have to be penciled in for to make it worth keeping him in the big leagues as a part-time player versus St. Paul as an every day option? Should he make the team over someone like Gasper, who is 29, can also play first and second base and is also an option to catch in a pinch, as well?
Gasper's more or less who he is at this point, and another nice factor is that he's a switch hitter. He too has put together a nice spring, hitting .310/.432/.448 over his first 12 spring training games.
Martin doesn't much play the infield anymore, but could be a fallback option there if needed. Harrison Bader's signing probably made it more difficult for Martin to make the team, but the team is still pretty left-handed in the outfield with Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach holding down starting spots.
Still, does Bader render Martin less necessary, like he seems to have done to DaShawn Keirsey Jr.? Keirsey has looked really good this spring as well, and also plays a capable center field, but is left-handed.
Advantage, Bader.
But it's hard to even read the tea leaves on which way the Twins are leaning here. Like it's not out of the realm of possible that they send Julien and Martin down and keep Keirsey and Gasper up (though to be fair, that's probably the least likely).
In any event, a lot comes down to how they plan to use Castro. If he's mostly an outfielder, they'll likely lean toward infield help like Julien and Gasper. If they intend for Castro to play a lot of third base with Lewis out, and second base just due to the sheer need, then maybe an outfielder joins the mix.
And if they aren't sure, well, that doesn't clear up anything.
From my point of view, Gasper should be in. He's 29, he's done everything they've asked this spring and gives them a Willians Astudillo-like element off the bench (not as much of a cult figure, but similar defensive versatility).
From there, it comes down to eliminating Keirsey just due to him not being the right fit for right now. His time will come; it's just not right now.
So if Gasper is in and DKJ is out, that leaves Martin vs. Julien. Martin hits right-handed, has a bit more positional versatility and is probably a better fit as a pinch-runner, too (where Keirsey could also help, but so too does Bader).
There's also an avenue where Martin comes in as a late-inning defensive replacement in left field depending on where Bader or Byron Buxton are, and he handles the bat well enough to hit in spot late where they need a hitter to make contact.
Julien might have the most offensive upside of the whole lot, but sort of feels like the odd man out based on fit. Then again, this is all very abstract.
And wouldn't you know it?
Roster Resource has Martin and Julien making it, not Gasper.
Of course.