Rocco Baldelli had a runny nose on Wednesday. He said it wasn’t anything to be worried about, but his voice betrayed the illness he was dismissing. Still, Baldelli didn’t have an upper respiratory sickness like Sonny Gray, who spun five scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately, it was a Pyrrhic victory that sealed the series against the Pale Hose. Kyle Farmer needed oral surgery after Lucas Giolito accidentally hit him with a 92 mph fastball. Byron Buxton collided with infielder Lenyn Sosa trying to reach second base.
“This offseason, (the front office) really attacked the depth,” said Ryan Jeffers, who took the podium postgame in lieu of Gray, who was battling illness after the game.
We had a really, really good team last year and got bit by the injury bug. I think this year, we have a little bit more forgiveness from injuries that happen. … The depth that we built and the guys we got nine through one, everybody on that roster, coming off the bench, can go out there and do the job when we need them to. I think that’s going to pay dividends.
The Twins have already had to tap into their depth because Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, and Carlos Correa suffered injuries. Alex Kirilloff and Jorge Polanco are still in Fort Myers rehabbing. Buxton is day-to-day; Farmer will be out for a while. As a result, Minnesota has called up Matt Wallner and Edouard Julien. Wallner is from Forest Lake and hit .228/.323/.386 in 18 games last year. He’s a Gallo-type who can rip the cover off the ball. Julien is a Quebec-born former Auburn second baseman who the Twins took in the 18th round of the 2019 draft. He has had a meteoric rise and might have been on the Opening Day roster if Minnesota wasn’t so deep.
But the Twins had the foresight to fortify their roster after last year’s collapse. They led the AL Central for most of the season, but the Cleveland Guardians and the White Sox passed them in the final month of the season. A big reason? Most of the team was hurt. Minnesota has Bailey Ober sitting in Triple-A, ready to make a major-league start if Gray’s illness lingers. Wallner and Julien are getting valuable major-league time. And Farmer had performed well early in the season, which was vital with Correa out. Nick Gordon has also been a versatile backup who can play the infield and the outfield.
The Twins have been tested early. They took a series at home against the Houston Astros; the defending champions swept Minnesota last year. And they won two of three against the White Sox, who were early favorites to win the AL Central. Now they head east to play the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on the road. Under any circumstance, we’d know a lot about the Twins’ early form once they returned home. But things are a little different now. The Yankees, and to a lesser extent Boston, will test their mettle. However, they’re really testing Minnesota’s depth.
Baldelli says he anticipated that the depth would be tested, and he trusts the players who are filling in right now.
You have to anticipate it. If we didn’t anticipate it, we wouldn’t have all these good players to be able to fill in and play in these spots for these guys that are out. We wanted to be prepared, you’re never going to be able to prepare for everything. But I think we’re about as prepared as you can be.
We have guys that are versatile and can go play all over the place, so your Nick Gordon is bouncing around. You have [Willi] Castro in there playing. We had them in a different spot, and then we had to change the lineup again, and then we moved him to another spot. To have guys like that, that can go play two and three places on the field, they make days like this a lot easier.
Kepler, Gallo, Correa, Kirilloff, and Polanco are veterans who would be starting for the Twins if they were healthy. Correa signed a $200 million contract in the offseason. Kepler and Polanco have been part of the organization since 2009, and Kirilloff was Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2016. Gallo is a two-time All-Star who signed a prove-it deal in the offseason. Ideally, the Twins would enter Yankee Stadium at full strength, given how much they have struggled there. But like many teams, they emphasize their 40-man roster. That their team is more than the 26 active players on Opening Day.
Regardless of who is available against the Yankees, the Twins are making a first impression in New York. Winning two of three from the Astros is a positive sign that they can bounce back from their 78-win season last year. Taking the White Sox series shows they can compete in the division. But Minnesota has long been able to compete in the Central and the junior circuit. Beating the Yankees? That’s been a more difficult task. If the shorthanded, under-the-weather Twins can take a series in the Bronx, it says a lot about what they can do this year.
