Twins set Opening Day roster, officially put 6 on IL
Baseball season is officially here, and the Minnesota Twins’ Opening Day roster is set.
Minnesota opens the season Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, ready to pursue another AL Central title.
Ahead of Thursday’s game, the defending division champions formally announced some moves to set the roster, which is already dealing with a slew of injuries.
The club put six pitchers on the injured list: Anthony DeSclafani (60-day, right elbow strain), right-handed pitcher Jhoan Duran (15-day, retroactive to March 25 – right oblique strain), right-handed pitcher Josh Staumont (15-day, retroactive to March 25 – left calf strain), left-handed pitcher Caleb Thielbar (15-day, retroactive to March 25 – left hamstring strain), right-handed pitcher Justin Topa (15-day, retroactive to March 25 – left patellar tendinitis) and right-handed pitcher Zack Weiss (15-day, retroactive to March 25 – right shoulder strain). Plus, right-handed pitcher Josh Winder has already been on the 60-day injured list since last month due to a right scapular stress fracture.
Those injuries obviously changed the make-up of the Opening Day roster, which is as follows:
Pitchers (13): RHP Jorge Alcala, RHP Daniel Duarte, LHP Kody Funderburk, RHP Jay Jackson, RHP Griffin Jax, RHP Pablo López, RHP Bailey Ober, LHP Steven Okert, RHP Chris Paddack, RHP Joe Ryan, RHP Cole Sands, RHP Brock Stewart and RHP Louie Varland;
Catchers (2): Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez;
Infielders (6): Carlos Correa, Kyle Farmer, Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, Carlos Santana;
Outfielders (4): Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Manuel Margot, Matt Wallner;
Utility (1): Willi Castro.
The squad includes six players who made their first Opening Day roster.
The Twins will wrap up the season-opening series in Kansas City with games on Saturday and Sunday, then play two games in Milwaukee early next week before coming to Target Field for the home-opening series against Cleveland starting next Thursday.