Twins Finalize 26-Man Roster for 2026 Season: Three Big Questions

After six weeks of spring training, the Twins' 26-man roster is set (barring a last-minute addition) and the team is headed to Baltimore to kick off a 162-game marathon on Thursday afternoon.

The final roster moves were to place pitchers David Festa and Travis Adams on the 15-day IL and to designate third catcher Alex Jackson for assignment, creating a 40-man roster spot for reliever Cody Laweryson. The Twins acquired Jackson from the Orioles early in the offseason but then signed a better second catcher in Victor Caratini.

Let's take a look at the roster, then get to some big questions ahead of Opening Day.

Position players

C Ryan Jeffers
C/1B Victor Caratini
1B Josh Bell
1B/2B Kody Clemens
2B Luke Keaschall
SS Brooks Lee
3B Royce Lewis
UTIL Tristan Gray
OF Byron Buxton
OF Matt Wallner
OF Trevor Larnach
OF/UTIL Austin Martin
OF James Outman

Gray beat out Orlando Arcia and Ryan Kreidler, among others, for the sixth infielder/backup shortstop spot. He can play all four infield positions, and although he hasn't had much offensive success in a small sample size in the big leagues, he did have multiple 30-homer seasons in Triple-A when he was in the Rays' organization.

Tristan Gray | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Martin was always likely to make the team due to his versatility and the need for a second right-handed bat who can play in the outfield. The final spot went to Outman, who led the Twins in both home runs and stolen bases this spring. A big reason why he made it over Alan Roden is that Roden still had minor-league options, while Outman did not.

Pitchers

SP Joe Ryan
SP Taj Bradley
SP Bailey Ober
SP Simeon Woods Richardson
SP Mick Abel
RP Taylor Rogers (lefty)
RP Anthony Banda (lefty)
RP Kody Funderburk (lefty)
RP Cole Sands
RP Eric Orze
RP Justin Topa
RP Zak Kent
RP Cody Laweryson

Manager Derek Shelton has confirmed that Ryan, Bradley, and Ober (in that order) will start the Twins' three games in Baltimore this weekend. Abel used an excellent spring to beat out Zebby Matthews for the final spot in the rotation.

In the bullpen, the Twins didn't see enough from either Liam Hendriks or Andrew Chafin to put them on the roster. The final two spots went to Kent — who was claimed off waivers a month ago — and Laweryson, who debuted with the Twins last year and then took a strange offseason path to get here.

Three big questions

1. Why is Larnach still here?

It didn't make a whole lot of sense when the Twins tendered Trevor Larnach a contract in November, and it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The 29-year-old has over 1,600 MLB plate appearances with an OPS+ of 101, which is just barely above league average. And as a corner outfielder who is entirely unremarkable defensively, the offensive bar to be valuable is higher than that.

Because of Larnach's presence and Outman's lack of options, Roden never had a real chance to make the roster, which meant he was sent to Triple-A despite a good spring at the plate. He figures to join the big-league club at some point, but right now, he's blocked. Wouldn't it benefit the Twins more to see what they have in Roden (who has just 153 MLB PAs) over a known mediocre quantity in Larnach? They also eventually have to clear a path for another lefty corner outfielder in Emmanuel Rodriguez (the No. 4 prospect in the organization) to get his shot.

For what it's worth, Larnach hit .191 with a .602 OPS in spring training. What are we doing here?

2. Can Lewis and Ober bounce back?

Two of the Twins' biggest X-factors for the 2026 season are third baseman Royce Lewis and starting pitcher Bailey Ober. Both have been key pieces of this roster in the past, but they're also both coming off of ugly 2025 seasons. Lewis had a .671 OPS in 106 games, while Ober was demolished in the month of June on his way to a 5.10 ERA in 27 starts.

Their spring results haven't exactly been encouraging. Lewis struggled more than any other Twins regular, hitting .133 with a .449 OPS and only two walks to 11 strikeouts. Ober allowed 17 hits and 6 earned runs in 13 innings, with as many walks as strikeouts (6). More notably, his fastball averaged below 90 miles per hour in all four of his outings.

If Lewis and Ober can shake off their spring performances and return to their early-career norms, the Twins' 2026 outlook would improve quite a bit. If either player simply looks cooked over the first few months, the Twins will need to be ready to move on instead of letting them tank their season.

3. Will the bullpen be adequate?

After trading away their five best relievers at last year's deadline, the Twins didn't exactly make a bunch of major additions to restock that group this offseason. Lefties Rogers and Banda were solid pickups with plenty of experience, while Orze and Kent may have some upside. Hendriks and Chafin also figured to be here, but the Twins didn't see enough velocity or consistency from either veteran this spring. As of now, this projects as one of the shakier bullpens in baseball.

Here's how many MLB innings each pitcher has thrown:

Taylor Rogers: 541.1
Anthony Banda: 233.1
Cole Sands: 195.2
Justin Topa: 149.2
Kody Funderburk: 87.2
Eric Orze: 43.1
Zak Kent: 17.2
Cody Laweryson: 7.2

A key factor that will determine whether the Twins are interesting this year or downright bad is the bullpen's ability to simply avoid being a disaster. If they can get competence out of that group — which could eventually be supplemented by possible starter conversions like Connor Prielipp, David Festa, and Marco Raya — they might have the makings of a competitive team. But if leads consistently melt away in the middle-to-late innings, it's going to be a long season in Minnesota.