Projecting the Twins' Opening Day Lineup Against Orioles' Lefty Ace

The Baltimore Orioles announced on Friday that Trevor Rogers will be their Opening Day starter when the regular season begins on March 26. It'll be the first Opening Day start for the 28-year-old Rogers, who has had a rollercoaster career but is coming off a remarkable 2025 season that saw him finish ninth in AL Cy Young voting.

The Twins will be the Orioles' opponent 13 days from now at Camden Yards. And with Rogers being a left-handed pitcher who has held lefty hitters to a .661 OPS in his career, new Minnesota manager Derek Shelton figures to get as many right-handed bats as realistically possible into his first meaningful lineup as the Twins' skipper.

Here's our projection of what that could look like.

Possible Twins Opening Day lineup vs. LHP Trevor Rogers

Luke Keaschall, 2B
Byron Buxton, CF
Ryan Jeffers, C
Josh Bell, DH (switch hitter)
Royce Lewis, 3B
Austin Martin, LF
Brooks Lee, SS (switch hitter)
Matt Wallner, RF (lefty)
Victor Caratini, 1B (switch hitter)

That's a lineup with eight right-handed bats, three of which hit from both sides of the plate.

Keaschall feels like a strong leadoff hitter for the Twins with his hit tool and ability to steal bases. He oddly did not hit well in 66 plate appearances against lefties as a rookie, but there's no reason to expect that to continue. He's followed by Buxton, the Twins' clear best hitter and the owner of an .819 career OPS against lefties.

Jeffers may be a surprising choice in the No. 3 spot, but he's much better against lefties than he is against righties, with a career .848 OPS when he has the platoon advantage. Newcomer Josh Bell, who is having a strong spring, is a reliable producer with pop from both sides of the plate. Then there's Lewis, a major bounce-back candidate in 2026, to round out a solid top five.

Ryan Jeffers | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Assuming Martin makes the 26-man roster due to his versatility, he should be in the Opening Day lineup. He's a career .287 hitter against lefties, albeit in only 137 PAs. Lee's career numbers aren't great from either side of the plate, but they are slightly better against lefties and he doesn't currently have any competition for everyday starts at shortstop.

The one lefty in our lineup is Wallner, whose .641 OPS against LHP isn't quite as rough as some of his southpaw teammates. Trevor Larnach, Kody Clemens, James Outman, and Alan Roden all have sub-.600 OPS marks against lefties in their careers. Wallner isn't great against same-side pitching, but he's got a shot at drawing a walk or getting a hold of an extra-base hit.

Wallner ➡️ over the wall pic.twitter.com/gT0s8NArgP
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 10, 2025

Rounding out our lineup is another switch-hitting newcomer in Caratini, a catcher who can also play first base. That versatility allows us to keep the defensively-limited Bell at designated hitter in this lineup. Eric Wagaman would be a better fit than Caratini in this spot, but as of now, he's not on our projected 26-man roster for the Twins.

That feels like a solid lineup for Shelton and company. If Rogers pitches anything like he did last year, the Twins are in for a challenge. He had a 1.81 ERA and a WHIP just over 0.9 in 109.2 innings last season. However, it's hard to know how much to trust those numbers, given that Rogers had a 5.09 ERA in 249.1 innings in the three seasons before that. It's been an up-and-down career for Rogers, who was an All-Star with the Marlins in 2021.

The Twins' expected Opening Day starter is Joe Ryan, but it may be a bit before that decision is announced. Due to a minor back injury early in camp, Ryan has made only one spring training start so far. As he continues ramping up, his next start might just be for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic championship game on Tuesday night.