The majority of talk surrounding the Minnesota Twins is the 2014 season and beyond.
However, the team still needs to play the 2013 season and here is how the lineup and roster is currently shaping up.
There are 22 pitchers currently on the 40-man roster. Some already have their roles determined, but there are still some trying to carve out their niche.
The starters
The Twins have four starters penciled into the starting rotation. Left-hander Scott Diamond is the only returning starter of those four. The Twins have signed right-handed free agents Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey to major league contracts. The other major league starter is right-hander Vance Worley, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade last month.
The players battling for the fifth spot in the rotation are right-handers Cole De Vries, Kyle Gibson, Liam Hendriks and Trevor May.
The long shots are right-hander B.J. Hermsen and left-hander Pedro Hernandez.
The rotation still lacks a frontline starter, but the guy to watch out for is minor league free agent Rich Harden. He has a history of injuries throughout his entire career. He last pitched 180 innings in a season in his first full season in 2004 and has not thrown 140 innings since 2009. When healthy, he is a strikeout pitcher that can take games over. The key is keeping him healthy.
The relievers
Left-hander Glen Perkins is the closer. The relievers in front of him will likely be right-handers Alex Burnett, Jared Burton, Ryan Pressly and Anthony Swarzak and left-handers Brian Duensing and Tyler Robertson.
The candidates for the other bullpen spots are Casey Fien, Josh Roenicke, Michael Tonkin and Tim Wood and left-hander Caleb Thielbar.
The bullpen spots are a lot less mysterious. The wild cards in the group are Pressly and Fien. Fien pitched well after getting called up from Rochester last season. Pressly is a Rule-5 draft pick that has to make the squad or be offered back to the Boston Red Sox. If Fien outpitches him in Spring Training, the Twins may want to work out a trade to keep him in the organization.
The early prediction of the opening day staff
Starting Rotation
Scott Diamond
Vance Worley
Mike Pelfrey
Kevin Correia
Liam Hendriks
Bullpen
Closer Glen Perkins
Right-handed setup reliever Jared Burton
Left-handed setup reliever Tyler Robertson
Middle reliever Alex Burnett
Middle reliever Ryan Pressly or Casey Fien
Left-handed middle reliever Brian Duensing
Long reliever Anthony Swarzak
Comments