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Twins Spring Training 2019: Checking in on the roster battles

What’s shakin’ with the roster after a couple moves and departures?

Will Jake Cave be sent back to his cave?
Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

Even before first cuts (besides the one on Miguel Sano) have been made in this year’s Spring Training, a few moves have transpired. A signing, an injury or two, a retirement, and a role switch has made some changes to the roster inevitable. What impact did these happenings have on the current state of the roster? Along with some roster moves, I included some statistics for each section. Let’s take a look! (Stats are through March 4.)

Catchers

Most Likely: Jason Castro, Mitch Garver
Maybes: Willians Astudillo
Dark Horses: Tomas Telis*
Nopes: Ben Rortvedt*, Wynston Sawyer*, Brian Navarreto*

There are no changes for the catchers so far this Spring Training. Outside of catching, Astudillo has seen some time at third base while Sawyer has seen a majority of his playing at first base. With Sano not being available until possibly May, will fan-favorite Astudillo claim a spot on the active roster?

Catchers Stats

Player Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Player Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Astudillo 27 5 15 13 4 1 4 0 0 0 0 0.308 0.333 0.538 0.872 7 1
Castro 32 4 10 6 1 0 1 0 0 3 2 0.167 0.400 0.167 0.567 1 0
Garver 28 5 15 14 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 0.071 0.133 0.143 0.276 2 1
Navarreto* 24 5 7 7 2 1 3 0 0 0 1 0.286 0.286 0.714 1.000 5 0
Rortvedt* 21 6 7 6 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.333 0.429 0.500 0.929 3 0
Sawyer* 27 8 11 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.182 0.182 0.273 0.455 3 0
Telis* 28 6 9 9 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.111 0.111 0.111 0.222 1 1
baseball-reference.com

Infield (and Designated Hitter)

Most Likely: Jonathan Schoop, Jorge Polanco, C.J. Cron, Tyler Austin, Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez
Maybes: Ehire Adrianza
Dark Horses: Ronald Torreyes, Lucas Duda*, Randy Cesar*, Adam Rosales*
Nopes: Miguel Sano, Nick Gordon, Luis Arraez, Royce Lewis*, Dean Anna* (retired)

The infield got the biggest update with the recent signing of Marwin Gonzalez. His use is yet to be determined: will he be mainly in the infield or helping in the outfield? Or will he be used all over the place? I added him to the infield depth chart here for now and pushed Ronald Torreyes to the “Dark Horses.” With the recent injury news about Sano, Adrianza may make the team as a bench player for the early part of the season. Lewis has been out for most of Spring Training with an oblique injury and may not appear in a major-league Spring Training game.

Infield/DH Stats

Players Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Players Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Adrianza 29 5 14 14 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.429 0.429 0.714 1.143 10 0
Arraez 22 8 15 12 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.083 0.267 0.083 0.35 1 0
Austin 27 6 19 19 4 0 1 0 0 0 7 0.211 0.211 0.263 0.474 5 0
Cesar* 24 8 12 11 2 1 1 0 0 1 3 0.182 0.250 0.455 0.705 5 2
Cron 29 5 15 11 4 2 3 0 0 4 1 0.364 0.533 0.909 1.442 10 0
Cruz 38 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 -- 1.000 -- -- 0 0
Duda* 33 6 18 14 5 0 0 0 0 4 5 0.357 0.500 0.500 1.000 7 0
Gonzalez 30 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Gordon* 23 6 13 13 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.231 0.231 0.231 0.462 3 0
Polanco 25 5 15 14 3 0 1 1 0 1 3 0.214 0.267 0.286 0.552 4 0
Rosales* 36 6 15 13 4 2 3 0 0 2 1 0.308 0.400 0.846 1.246 11 0
Schoop 27 5 15 14 3 1 2 0 0 1 3 0.214 0.267 0.429 0.695 6 0
Torreyes 26 6 17 16 3 0 2 0 0 1 1 0.188 0.235 0.25 0.485 4 0
baseball-reference.com

Outfield

Most Likely: Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler
Maybes: Jake Cave, Zack Granite (traded to Texas Rangers)
Dark Horses: Michael Reed
Nopes: LaMonte Wade, Alex Kirilloff*, Luke Raley*, Brent Rooker*

The only major move with the outfielders as of late is the trade of Granite to the Rangers for Xavier Moore (who was then traded for international money). Cave is still a “maybe” as we are still unclear how much Gonzalez will be utilized in the outfield. If the Twins decided to keep both Cron and Austin on the active roster, Cave may be out of luck.

Outfield Stats

Players Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Players Age G PA AB H HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB E
Cave 26 6 19 17 3 0 0 1 0 1 6 0.176 0.263 0.176 0.440 3 0
Wade 25 7 18 15 5 0 3 0 0 3 2 0.333 0.444 0.467 0.911 7 0
Raley* 24 8 16 15 3 0 1 0 0 0 8 0.200 0.188 0.267 0.454 4 0
Rooker* 24 8 16 15 2 1 2 0 0 0 9 0.133 0.188 0.467 0.654 7 0
Rosario 27 5 15 15 8 1 3 0 0 0 3 0.533 0.533 0.933 1.467 14 0
Kirilloff* 21 6 14 14 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0.214 0.214 0.214 0.429 3 0
Buxton 25 5 13 11 6 3 11 0 0 1 0 0.545 0.615 1.455 2.070 16 0
Kepler 26 4 12 9 5 2 3 0 0 3 2 0.556 0.667 1.222 1.889 11 0
baseball-reference.com

Starting Rotation

Most Likely: Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda, Martin Perez
Maybes: Adalberto Mejia
Dark Horses: Stephen Gonsalves, Chase De Jong*
Nopes: Lewis Thorpe, Kohl Stewart, Zack Littell

The Twins announced recently that Fernando Romero would be moved to the bullpen. This makes the starting rotation a bit clearer moving forward with Mejia as a possible fill-in option if someone falls to the injury bug.

Starting Pitching Stats

Players Age L/R ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BF WHIP BA OPS BAbip
Players Age L/R ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BF WHIP BA OPS BAbip
Stewart 24 R 5.79 3 2 4.2 6 3 3 0 5 1 1 23 2.357 0.333 0.978 0.353
Berrios 25 R 6.23 2 2 4.1 4 3 3 2 2 2 0 18 1.385 0.250 0.958 0.167
De Jong* 25 R 16.88 3 1 5.1 9 10 10 3 2 3 1 27 2.063 0.360 1.167 0.316
Gibson 31 R 0.00 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 8 1.500 0.167 0.708 0.333
Gonsalves 24 L 3.60 2 2 5 6 2 2 0 2 4 0 24 1.600 0.300 0.775 0.353
Mejia 26 L 3.00 2 1 3 4 1 1 0 0 3 0 13 1.333 0.333 0.808 0.400
Perez 28 L 3.60 2 1 5 5 2 2 1 0 4 0 18 1.000 0.278 0.778 0.308
Pineda 30 R 0.00 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0.500 0.143 0.286 0.167
Thorpe 23 L 14.73 3 0 3.2 7 7 6 1 2 4 0 21 2.455 0.368 1.113 0.429
baseball-reference.com

Bullpen

Most Likely: Taylor Rogers, Addison Reed, Trevor Hildenberger, Trevor May, Blake Parker
Maybes: Tyler Duffey, Matt Magill, Gabriel Moya, Fernando Romero
Dark Horses: Andrew Vasquez, Tim Collins*, Justin Nicolino*, Jake Reed*
Nopes: Ryan Eades*, Preston Guilmet*, Ryne Harper*, Mike Morin*

With the addition of Romero as a possibility for the bullpen, chances are slimmed down for a good number of candidates. On the flip side, the Twins have great depth for their bullpen and it will be interesting to see how the bullpen shakes out in the next two weeks.

Relief Pitching Stats

Players Age L/R ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BF WHIP BA OPS BAbip
Players Age L/R ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WP BF WHIP BA OPS BAbip
Collins* 29 L 9.00 2 0 2 3 3 2 1 1 2 3 11 2.000 0.333 1.232 0.333
Duffey 28 R 7.71 4 1 4.2 3 4 4 2 2 6 0 20 1.071 0.188 0.941 0.125
Eades* 27 R 0.00 3 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 5 0 13 1.000 0.231 0.538 0.375
Guilmet* 31 R 2.25 4 0 4 4 1 1 0 1 5 0 17 1.250 0.250 0.607 0.364
Harper* 30 R 0.00 4 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 5 0 17 1.000 0.235 0.529 0.333
Hildenberger 28 R 0.00 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 9 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Magill 29 R 10.13 2 0 2.2 5 3 3 0 0 2 2 12 1.875 0.417 1.000 0.500
May 29 R 2.25 4 0 4 1 1 1 1 0 4 0 13 0.250 0.077 0.385 0.000
Morin* 28 R 0.00 4 0 4 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 15 0.500 0.071 0.205 0.091
Moya 24 L 27.00 1 0 1 2 3 3 1 1 1 0 6 3.000 0.500 2.000 0.333
Nicolino* 27 L 0.00 4 0 3.2 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 16 1.364 0.357 0.732 0.417
Parker 34 R 0.00 3 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 10 0.333 0.100 0.300 0.111
Reed, A 30 R 27.00 3 0 2.1 5 7 7 2 2 2 0 15 3.000 0.417 1.617 0.375
Reed, J* 26 R 6.75 3 0 2.2 3 3 2 1 3 5 0 14 2.250 0.300 1.129 0.400
Rogers 28 L 0.00 3 0 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 12 1.000 0.182 0.523 0.25
Romero 24 R 1.80 4 0 5 3 1 1 0 2 5 1 18 1.000 0.188 0.528 0.273
Vasquez 25 L 0.00 4 0 4 2 0 0 0 4 6 0 16 1.500 0.167 0.542 0.333
baseball-reference.com

What moves do you anticipate down the stretch with the recent organizational updates? Let us know in the comments or write a FanPost!