Although the 70-92 record largely reflects a failure of a season, there was still plenty of positives to take away. Minnesota will highlight those during their offseason Diamond Awards ceremony this winter, but the recipients were revealed on Wednesday.

Diamond Awards winners highlight best of 2025 Minnesota Twins

It should be pretty expected that Bryon Buxton was the Minnesota Twins best player this season. He is going to get down-ballot MVP votes, and will earn contract incentive bonuses because of it. He’s not the only standout though, and the local BBWAA chapter voted on the yearly Diamond Awards that were made public this week.

Of course Byron Buxton was awarded with the team MVP. The results of the vote are not made public, but that should have been unanimous. Across 126 games he batted .264/.327/.551 with a career-high seven triples, 35 homers, and 83 RBI. With any level of help, Buxton would have led the Twins into a deep postseason run.

Buxton’s selection as Defensive Player of the Year likely represents an unwillingness to vote for since-departed players. Harrison Bader was traded to the Phillies, but he was easily Minnesota’s best fielder this season. Buxton as a second choice is hardly a misstep however.

There isn’t much of a surprise anywhere across the totality of these awards. Austin Martin being named the most improved player is a reflection of him capitalizing on late-season opportunity. After dealing with injury early in 2025, he finished with 50 games played and a .282/.374/,365 slash line. That will earn him an Opening Day roster spot in 2026, and he turned the arc of his career around.

Michael Busch, who played in the postseason with the Chicago Cubs, was named the Upper Midwest Player of the Year. The Inver Grove Heights native batted .261/.343/.523 with 34 home runs. Chicago was bounced from the postseason by the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Twins will host the Diamond Awards ceremony on January 23, 2026 at Target Field during TwinsFest Live! The event will be followed by TwinsFest on the 24-25.

The hot streak has turned the season around. After a 7-15 start, there were all sorts of trade deadline and Rocco Baldelli job security questions. More concerning was how many fans just didn’t care anymore. Target Field empty, interest was dropping. Until the win streak. And now for the past two weeks, vibes in the Twins clubhouse have been immaculate.

Then Thursday, we were brought back down to earth fast, when CF Byron Buxton and SS Carlos Correa, collided in shallow center field trying to run down a weak pop fly that was hit into no-man’s land, during the third inning of a win over the Orioles.

Buxton is staying in the game, Correa is coming out. Replay shows Buxton ran into Correa's shoulder and they bumped heads pic.twitter.com/Zl7yG351lM

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) May 15, 2025

Correa left the game immediately, Buxton finished the half-inning, before he too was pulled out of the lineup. Later during the game, news broke that both players had entered MLB’s concussion protocol. On Friday, both are out of the lineup.

Ryan Fitzgerald joins Minnesota Twins taxi squad

With Correa potentially heading to the 7-day concussion list, the Minnesota Twins need infield help. Specifically, they need someone who can play shortstop. Enter former undrafted Creighton Bluejay, Ryan Fitzgerald.

Former @CU_Baseball standout Ryan Fitzgerald has been called up to the @Twins from AAA St. Paul Saints.

He went undrafted in 2016, and started his pro career in ‘17 with the @railcats. What a story.@_robanderson @KETV @gocreighton

— Jack Connolly (@JackConnolly21) May 15, 2025

Shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald joined #MNTwins today and is on the taxi squad in case Correa or Buxton isn’t able to avoid concussion IL.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) May 16, 2025

Fitzgerald went undrafted out of Creighton in 2016 and began his professional career in independent ball the following season. He has spent the majority of his minor league career with the Boston Red Sox, but played in the Kansas City Royals organization last year.

This season at Triple-A St. Paul Fitzgerald has batted .328/.426/.528 across 35 games. He has 11 doubles and four home runs with a 29/19 K/BB rate. The former Worcester Red Sox fan favorite has 684 minor league games under his belt, but he’ll be making his major league debut when in the lineup for the Minnesota Twins.

Over the course of his career Fitzgerald has played all over the diamond. His 2,991 innings at shortstop are where he is most comfortable though, and that gives the Twins a needed backup on the dirt.

He's 8th in the IL in OPS (.926) and @RyRyThisGuyy continues to stay hot with this RBI double to center. He's 3-3 on the day pic.twitter.com/2kHTTNdYai

— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) May 14, 2025

With Correa on the injured list, Brooks Lee should be assumed as the regular shortstop. Willi Castro has also played there in recent seasons but his -9 DRS (defensive runs saved) last season are a cautionary tale to playing him at the position.

Related: Minnesota Twins Lose Two Superstars in One Ugly Outfield Collision

The Twins will need to announce a 40-man move to add Fitzgerald to their active roster. Michael Tonkin, who was recently pulled off his rehab assignment, could be a logical candidate for the 60-day injured list. Byron Buxton is out of the lineup for Minnesota on Friday as well, but no move has been announced regarding his status.

MN Twins need youth to rise up

Fitzgerald is not a top prospect by any means. The 30-year-old is a minor league veteran which means counting on him to carry the load for Correa seems unlikely. The infield now will lean heavily on the left-side combination of Royce Lewis and Lee.

Lee is batting .250/.299/.410 through his first 29 games this season. The offensive results haven’t been consistent, but he has looked much better than the guy who owned a .585 OPS in 50 games as a rookie. If there’s a time for him to step up, now is it.

Lewis just recently returned to the lineup and hasn’t been playing third base every day. This could necessitate that change. It took him five games to land his first hit, but he has a pair of two-hit games in his last three starts. Lewis is looking for his first home run of the season.

The concussion injured list doesn’t present a guaranteed timeline for Correa. It’s a shorter seven day period to allow for a player to return more quickly, but he must still progress through concussion protocol and be ready to go.

It’s an unfortunate blow for the Twins, and Correa, who had started to turn things around after a slow start. His .236 average has been on the rise, but a .274 on-base percentage, and .331 slugging percentage are just a sliver of what expectations are for a superstar player.

The Twins start a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. They return home Monday for a divisional matchup with the Cleveland Guardians.

But with Lewis and Lee on the injured list, plan B, C and D infielders Mickey Gasper, Edouard Julie and Jose Miranda, all of which have limited MLB experience and incredibly underwhelming results.

And now 15 games in, the Minnesota Twins hold a dreadful 4-11 record, in part thanks to much of the same from all three, especially Gasper and Miranda, neither of which has an OPS over .420 or a batting average above the Mendoza line.

Minnesota Twins ready to activate Brooks Lee; send message to others

Thankfully, there is one aforementioned reinforcement on the way. Former No. 8 overall pick, Brooks Lee, has been on a rehab assignment across the river with the St. Paul Saints for most of this week. Saturday night, news broke that Lee is ready to return to the big league lineup.

But instead of demoting Mickey Gasper or even outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr — who has yet to get a hit this season — either of which would have been more obvious moves, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli wants to send a message to his underperforming team with this roster move.

That’s why, according to Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic), after a brutal baserunning blunder yesterday vs the Tigers, the Minnesota Twins decided to demote Jose Miranda to Triple A, as the corresponding roster move for Lee’s activation, a transaction that became official Sunday morning.

Umpire called Jose Miranda safe, saying the fielder didn't touch the base to get the forceout. But then Miranda just walked away and got tagged out anyway. pic.twitter.com/rtgSBNKcDU

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 12, 2025

Source: #MNTwins are demoting Jose Miranda to Triple-A following his base-running blunder Saturday and .167 batting average in 12 games.

Brooks Lee is expected to be activated from the injured list to take Miranda's place on the Twins' active roster.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 12, 2025

“Jose has to do better on that play. The guy on the other side of the field was not on the bag, and Jose didn’t make it to the bag on the slide either way. And the umpire was clearly signaling safe. We have to be paying attention, to say the least. We have to be paying attention there and never allow something like that to happen.”

Rocco Baldelli (via The Athletic)

Of course, in order for Brooks Lee to help improve the MN Twins play (and hopefully their record), he’ll have to perform better at the plate than he did during his rookie season in 2024, when he struggled to adjust to the big leagues, hitting just .221 with a .585 OPS in 50 games (185 plate appearances).

Related: Minnesota Twins DFA Righty Reliever; Recall Lefty

But the 23-year-old former Cal-Poly star was drafted in the top 10 for a reason. All he has done his entire life, no matter the level of competition, is hit the baseball and hit it well. If he can get back to that in 2025, inserting Lee into the Twins lineup should immediately make it much more dangerous.

Tensions are already running a bit high. On Monday, manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected from the opening game of Minnesota’s four game series in Kansas City. It was quite the scene, too. The 40-year-old manager threw papers all of the field, from the dugout, before screaming at umpires for a full minute. All of that for a pitch clock violation.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli ejected after a pitch clock violation pic.twitter.com/EZW34URK2B

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 8, 2025

As you can see, the Minnesota Twins could use Brooks Lee back in their lineup and infield. Not only is he one of the best infielders on their roster, defensively, but if he comes off the IR with a hot bat, he’s a .300 hitter who can produce upwards of 1.000 OPS, when going well. That’s why he was the No. 8 overall pick in 2022.

Brooks Lee inching closer to Minnesota Twins

How close is Lee to returning, though? Well, the 24-year-old out of Cal-Poly made his regular season pro debut on Sunday, in a rehab assignment game at Single-A, Fort Myers. He played shortstop for seven innings and got three at-bats for the Mighty Mussels.

Unfortunately, he went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. More importantly, however, is how his body responded to that day at the park. To that, the MN Twins had some good news on Tuesday the Mighty Mussels sent out news that Lee’s rehab assignment has been moved from Fort Myers up to St. Paul, where he’ll assumedly join the Saints’ lineup tonight or Wednesday.

The @MightyMussels have announced Twins infielder Brooks Lee has had his rehab assignment transferred to @StPaulSaints

— Ted (@tlschwerz) April 8, 2025

The Saints are home for a six-game series this week against Omaha (Royals Triple A affiliate), so the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Last year, Lee also started the regular on IR, which caused him to miss multiple big league promotion opportunities.

Royce Lewis was injured on Opening Day and didn’t return for three months. Carlos Correa also had issues staying on the field early in the season, though not as much as he did in the second half, when Lee was available to help fill the infield void he left.

Related: MN Twins Injuries: Another Brock Stewart Setback + Michael Tonkin Latest

Last season, though, Brooks Lee didn’t return to playing baseball games until May 20, and didn’t reach St. Paul until June 5th. Across 20 Triple-A games in 2024, Lee crushed opposing pitching, slashing an absurd .329/.394/.635, with five doubles and seven home runs.

After a hot start big league start to his career, Lee’s game fell off and never really returned. When the dust settled last fall, Lee’s final slash line was .221/.265/.320, which made him a true roster bubble candidate this spring, where he didn’t look all that much better (.238/.273/.381), prior to his back problems returning.

MN Twins infield needs a Brooks Lee infusion

With Lee and Royce Lewis out of the picture, the Minnesota Twins have been forced to turn to Mickey Gasper, Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda to fill time at second and third base. Willi Castro has hit ok, in the early going as the team’s primary second baseman (.235/.333/.444).

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Miranda at third base. The 26-year-old owns a putrid .172/.172/.276 slash line with a 10/0 K/BB. His lone extra-base hit is a home run, and he seems nowhere close to replicating the 114 OPS+ from his rookie season, or 112 OPS+ last year.

Royce Lewis' injury gave Jose Miranda a starting job, and, well… pic.twitter.com/XXNrv4D2Ay

— Ted (@tlschwerz) April 7, 2025

Lee would be a prime candidate to immediately take over at the hot corner. He is also a switch hitter and therefor presents lineup flexibility for Baldelli. If the Twins can activate, and have a healthy version of the prospect Lee was expected to be, then they may have a nice boost to turn things around.

Randy Dobnak found his way onto the club in St. Louis, after Brock Stewart hit the injured list toward the end of Spring Training. Louie Varland landed in the Twins bullpen, after Michael Tonkin joined Stewart on the IL.

Then on the position player side of the roster, their two top young infielders, Brooks Lee (lumbar strain) and Royce Lewis (hamstring strain), were left down in Florida to continue recovering from their own Grapefruit League injuries.

Brooks Lee starting rehab assignment for Minnesota Twins

Both first round shortstops are expected back before the season changes to summer, but they are not on the same timeline. Brooks Lee is actually already back in action. He played his first rehab assignment game on Sunday with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Lee finished 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts.

He went 0-for-3, but played all seven of his scheduled innings at shortstop, without any issues. Despite the results, that’s a very positive first step on his way back to the big leagues.

We've got a big leaguer in the house today!@Twins INF Brooks Lee has been added on a rehab assignment and will bat second this afternoon.

🎧 https://t.co/EGBAPp0Wt9 pic.twitter.com/dnqJm10VTE

— Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (@MightyMussels) April 6, 2025

The Minnesota Twins wanted Lee to win the second base job this spring, but they were in no hurry to hand him the job, like they did Royce Lewis (more on him shortly). While Lee began last season on the injured list, too he made it clear early on that this injury was not the same level of severity as last year’s herniated disc.

Related: MN Twins Extend Deadline for New Ownership Bids

Lee, now 24 years old out of Cal-Poly, didn’t exactly light the world on fire during Spring Training, where he batted .238/.273/.381 with a pair of homers and an 8/2 K/BB. He hit .308/.368/.606 in 25 games with Triple-A St. Paul last season, which is much closer to the results Minnesota expects to get out of him.

Brooks like that one is GONE pic.twitter.com/GZXVoFqDmi

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) March 6, 2025

Although Lee got off to a solid start to his big league career in Minnesota, he finished with just a .221/.265/.320 slash line in 50 MLB games, as a rookie. He struggled to catch up to fastballs for the first time in his career and really had to tweak his process this offseason.

Baldelli has no shortstop depth behind Carlos Correa. That’s not a great thing, being their $36 million superstar has missed significant time for two different bouts vs plantar fasciitis, over the last two seasons. Once Brooks Lee gets back to the MLB, he represents by far the Twins’ best option to give Correa breaks at SS throughout the season.

Twins will continue to wait on Royce Lewis

Unlike Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis’ injury is a longer-term situation. According to what Minnesota Twins president Derek Falvey told reporters late Sunday morning, the 2017 No. 1 overall pick is just three weeks into a 6-8 week recovery process, putting his potential return date out to the very end of April, more likely mid-to-late May.

Royce Lewis (hamstring) has been hitting and doing some running, per Derek Falvey.

Falvey: "No change in his status. He just needs to continue to progress."

Lewis is three weeks into his recovery from a moderate hamstring strain. In general, those have a timeline of 6-8 weeks.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) April 6, 2025

Given the multitude injuries Royce Lewis has dealt with through the first 150 games of his career, the Minnesota Twins certainly aren’t going to rush him back. Lewis had a great spring as he batted .346/.469/.423 across 12 Grapefruit League games.

All of the momentum fell apart when he pulled up trying to beat out an infield single. Last season, after getting hurt on Opening Day and again later in the year, Lewis played in just 82 games for the Twins. That still represents his high-water mark in a big league season.

Related: Former Twins First Round Pick Returns to AL Central

After posting a .309/.372/.548 slash line in 58 games during 2023, Lewis cratered to a .233/.295/.452 line last year. His lack of performance aided the Twins collapse to end the season, and it brought questions about his position this offseason.

Baldelli has already stated that Lewis is his starter at the hot corner when healthy. The Twins are at their best when he is on the field and productive. It’s still a waiting game as his body recovers, but the hope would be that this is the only time the talented infielder misses the rest of the way.

Thanks to an early 0-4 hole they dug themselves into, a trenching that started with a three game sweep in St. Louis at the hands of the Cardinals last weekend. Since then, the MN Twins have just been trying to get their season back on track, before it goes too far off the rails.

Their only wins so far this season came vs the Chicago White Sox, who posted the worst season in MLB history in 2024. But thankfully, there was a little bit of good news on Thursday for Minnesota Twins fans who might be looking for some.

Brooks Lee begins road back to Minnesota Twins lineup

According to Darren “Doogie” Wolfson (KSTP), 24-year-old former No. 8 overall draft pick Brooks Lee is feeling healthier. The 2022 1st rounder out of Cal-Poly — who was placed on the injured list back on March 23 due to a lumbar strain that got him scratched form the MN Twins’ spring training lineup just a couple of days earlier — has gotten back to full baseball activities, including participation in exhibition scrimmages and games down in Florida.

While it'll still be a bit until INF Brooks Lee is back playing games here, he's making good progress (on I.L. with lumbar strain). Today he'll start playing in rehab scrimmages/games. #MNTwins https://t.co/oSz469ekCi

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) April 3, 2025

Brooks Lee is trying to get back onto the field so he can begin his mission to prove he’s the big leaguer Minnesota drafted him to be four years ago. This, after a disappointing rookie season where Lee hit .221 with a .585 OPS (3 HR, 27 RBI) in 172 at bats.

Twins desperate to get Lee back in the infield

Of course, 2024 would appear to be a blip on Lee’s professional and collegiate offensive career. At every other stop in his professional career, Brooks Lee has been the same reliable hitter. He has a .290 batting average and .841 OPS in 860 minor league plate appearances. In the spring, Lee hit .238 with a .654 OPS (44 PA), before he got hurt.

Per Spring Training rules, Gerrit Cole was able to re-enter the game in the 3rd inning. Brooks Lee shortly followed that up with a home run

(via @Twins)pic.twitter.com/cOsI30790R

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 6, 2025

Entering Spring Training, Brooks Lee’s spot on the MN Twins Opening Day roster was far from guaranteed. Then, Royce Lewis went down with a hamstring injury, leaving third base wide open for the taking. Lee’s injury happened one week later.

Related: Why the MN Twins Chose Not to Trade Chris Paddack… and How it Could Bite Them

But Lewis is still weeks away from a rehab assignment, and Jose Miranda is carrying a .158 batting average (.316 OPS) to start the season at third base. In other words, the Minnesota Twins are desperately waiting for Brooks Lee to return, no matter what their plans for him entering spring training were.

Back problems aren’t anything new for Brooks Lee. Last season, they cost him two months of the regular season. He didn’t make his 2024 baseball debut until May 20, and that came with the Complex League squad in Fort Myers.

Brooks Lee give his own injury update

But Lee told Dan Hayes (The Athletic) Sunday that the back issues holding him back this year are different than last year, which he describes as being much worse than what he is dealing with now. He describes it as being higher up on his back, and in his muscle, not disk.

“I feel way better than last time. Hopefully it shouldn’t take too long…It’s all muscular. I’ve obviously had the disc problems. I don’t think it has any connection to that. It’s a normal muscle spasm and a lot higher than it was last year and the times before. I kind of knew it was different, but it’s still the back.

It’s just making sure my body is aligned correctly for at least (Sunday and Monday). I’ll probably continue to do more aerobic stuff like walking. Hopefully, in five or six days I start testing for rotation and start doing a swing buildup. Last time it was three months, which is way too long. Hopefully, this is pretty short.”

Brooks Lee – The Athletic

It’s unfortunate that not all of the expected talent will join Minnesota on Opening Day. Royce Lewis, who pulled his hamstring last week, won’t be in the lineup Thursday, either. Last season, the Twins could have used Lee, when both Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa were hurt, but he was unavailable.

Related: Two New Guys Make MN Twins Opening Day Roster

This year, Lee was in position to make the Opening Day roster and play significant time at second base, after Lewis went on the IL. The 24-year-old has looked solid this spring, too batted .238/.273/.381 across 14 Grapefruit League games.

How much time Lee misses will obviously determine his path back. He will probably need a level of conditioning before getting back into game shape, as well. Minnesota has Lee working on a treadmill right now, and an absence of weeks, not months, could present him as an option for the Twins by mid-April.

Edouard Julien time again for the Minnesota Twins

As a rookie, Edouard Julien put up spectacular numbers across 109 games. His .263/.381/.459 slash line was exceptional, and he earned down-ballot consideration for rookie of the year honors. Last season, however, Julien was demoted to Triple-A, and he finished with just a .199/.292/.323 line.

Minnesota now needs a return of the rookie version of Julien, and for the Canadian to forget his sophomore season. This spring so far, he owns a .269/.345/.404 line in 17 games.

Edouard Julien hits his second homer of the game! 💪 pic.twitter.com/zaje5GRgRi

— MLB (@MLB) April 10, 2024

Things looked promising when Julien came out of the gates hot last season, as he had seven home runs by the end of April. Maybe he wasn’t attempting to be a power hitter, but something went awry with the approach. His strikeout numbers jumped (33.9 K% in 2024, 31.4 K% in 2023) while his walk rate plummeted (11.0 BB% in 2024, 15.7 BB% in 2023).

With opportunity at both second and first base early this season, the Twins would love to see Julien be a contributor right out of the gate. If he can be consistent, Willi Castro can remain a flexible player and utilize his versatility.

Brock Stewart is not going to be in the bullpen this week, after he suffered a hamstring injury earlier in camp. He’s back on the mound and pitching in spring games again, but he is being handled carefully after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. 

Then, there’s former top prospect Brooks Lee, who was scratched from the MN Twins’ lineup last week with a back injury, a chronic issue he’ll have to learn how to maintain if he’s going to have a successful Big League career. But with Opening Day taking place this week in St. Louis, the final 26-man roster is starting to take shape.

Minnesota Twins make decisions on Brooks Lee and Eiberson Castellano

After Lee was scratched on Thursday, the MN Twins suggested his status was day-to-day. Unfortunately, his chronic back pain will not allow him to return that early, and it’s almost certain, at this point, that he too misses Opening Day.

#MNTwins roster starting to take shape. Rule 5 pitcher Eiberson Castellanos has learned he won't make the team. Brock Stewart and Brooks Lee are starting the season on the IL.
Four players for three spots on position side.
One reliever job up for grabs.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) March 23, 2025

Lee struggled during his first season at the big league level. Across 50 games as a rookie, the 2022 No. 8 overall pick batted slashed a frustrating .221/.265/.320 with 10 extra-base hits (three home runs) and a 27/11 K/BB.

As a prospect, Lee has crushed fastballs. He’s a pure hitter who makes a lot of solid contact. That got lost last season, which could have been a byproduct of his back issues. The hope would be that Minnesota can get him right quickly this time around, and he can be a viable option for the majority of the season.

Related: Minnesota Twins Pitcher to Begin Season on Injured List

Another announcement came with the Lee news in the form of a Rule 5 decision. Eiberson Castellano was the Phillies minor league pitcher of the year last season and got scooped up by Minnesota. Across 10 2/3 innings during Grapefruit League play, Castellano put up a 13/10 K/BB and sealed his fate.

The Twins likely wanted to carry Castellano, but they needed to see enough from him to warrant it. Now Minnesota must expose Castellano back to waivers. If he clears, then they could attempt to work out a trade with Philadelphia. They did have preliminary talks prior to selecting him in the Rule 5 Draft, so that remains a possible outcome.

What do the Minnesota Twins do with their bullpen?

Things have changed quite a bit since our latest roster projection. Royce Lewis is going to begin the year on the injured list. Stewart and Lee will join him there. Minnesota needed to make eight more decisions as of Saturday night. Castellano and Lee cross two off that list.

The bullpen options remaining in camp include veterans Scott Blewett and Anthony Misiewicz. The former pitched for Minnesota last season and has had a good spring. He has a 5/2 K/BB across six innings. However, Blewett has been informed he will not make the team.

Related: Chronic Back Injury Causing Problems for MN Twins Infielder Again

The latter has 115 2/3 major league innings under his belt, and a 7/1 K/BB this spring. He is a viable option for the final bullpen spot. Minnesota will also be scouring the waiver wire to see who is released. Another path forward could be to recall someone like Kody Funderburk, who was previously cut from camp.

Misiewicz is with the Twins as a non-roster invitee. He signed as a free agent this offseason. Like Funderburk, Misiewicz is left-handed and would give Minnesota a second southpaw to pair with Danny Coulombe in relief.

Who takes the final position player spot for the Twins?

On the position player side of things it comes down to the group of Mickey Gasper, Austin Martin, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Armando Alvarez, Edouard Julien, and Mike Ford. Gasper looked to already have an inside track, and Julien gets helped by Lee’s injury. The final outfield spot is where the most contentious battle comes.

Keirsey Jr. has had a solid spring with a .243/.356/.351 slash line. He’s a better outfielder than Martin, and is arguably the same or better speed threat. Unfortunately he’s left-handed and that puts him at a disadvantage considering Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner’s handedness.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. drives in the go-ahead run vs. #RedSox. Twins end up with the 2-1 win.

Keirsey has more than earned a shot at considerable time in the majors this year. Opportunity awaits.#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/nMMALbHfiM

— Talkin' Twins (@TalkinTwins) March 21, 2025

Martin has batted just .243/.310/.270 across 43 plate appearances this spring. He won’t ever hit for power, but is a contact guy who utilizes his speed and has successfully stolen three bases in three attempts this spring. It seems like being right-handed will give him the role, but Minnesota could decide otherwise.

Related: New MN Twins Starting Outfielder Named 2025 Breakout Candidate

Rocco Baldelli has just a couple of days left to set his Opening Day roster. The Minnesota Twins are projected to win the AL Central this season. Even with a few bumps coming out of the spring, they are well-positioned. The good news, at least for now, is that none of these injury issues seem to be too incredibly long term.

The marathon towards October is about to kick off. Minnesota must run it in a much more complete fashion than they did last season.

But given the amount of talent already on this club, and some of the prospects banging on the big league door, it’s not far fetched to see this roster producing 85-95 wins, if it can stay reasonably healthy and avoid the type of second-half collapse that doomed their 2024 season.

Last summer, thanks to a multitude of injuries that the MN Twins suffered throughout the regular season, there were plenty of big league promotions to be had. And none came with higher anticipation than that of top prospect, Brooks Lee, who the Twins drafted with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Unfortunately, after a hot start to his big league career, Lee’s bat disappeared as the season went on and he finished with a disappointing .221/.265/.320 slash line in 172 at bats. This spring, Lee — who is no longer listed on Major League prospect lists — is just trying to make the Opening Day roster, something that is far from guaranteed.

Keith Law is all in on Brooks Lee

But even with plenty of questions surrounding the talented infielder’s young career, entering 2025, there are plenty around the game who still believe in Brooks Lee. And we can count The Athletic’s Keith Law as one of those Brooks Lee believers.

After a rookie season marred by injury, Law believes “we will see the real Brooks Lee this year” even going as far as to project the 24-year-old out of Cal-Poly as “a 2.5 WAR player” in 2025. Those are some lofty expectations for a kid who probably won’t make the roster out of camp…

“Let’s not overthink this one. Lee was a top-10 pick (No. 8, 2022), hit well in the minors, hit extremely well in Triple A last year and was awful in the majors when he wasn’t on the IL with a herniated disc in his back or shoulder soreness… A guy with back and shoulder problems who missed more than half the year couldn’t hit the ball as hard? You don’t say. I think we will see the real Brooks Lee this year, and he’s a 2.5+ WAR player.”

The Athletic

It doesn’t take a doctor to figure out how arm, shoulder and back issues could hamper a big leaguer’s production, especially a youngster, just getting accustomed to MLB pitching. This season, though, Lee has a better plan for his chronic back pain, and believes he is more prepared for the rigors of the MN Twins’ 162 game season.

Related: Unfortunately for Brooks Lee, the Twins 2B Competition is Fixed

Through ten Grapefruit League games, Lee is batting .267 with a .757 OPS with a pair of home runs; production the Minnesota Twins would happily take at second base this season… if he can make the 26-man roster, something that doesn’t appear all that likely, barring an injury in the infield or another roster shakeup in the next two weeks.

Former Minnesota Twins top prospect trying to catch up to the fastball

Contact, especially against fastballs, has never been a problem for Lee, until last season when he hit just .176 against the most basic pitch in baseball. And once opposing pitchers realized he was struggling to hit the fastball, they attacked like hungry sharks swimming through bloody saltwater, throwing him fastballs 33.9% of the time, as his offensive number continued to tumble.

“I always hammer fastballs. My whole life. Last year was the first time I never hit a fastball. It makes it pretty difficult to hit… I happened to fail after being on top of the world for two weeks. It sucked. (The first season) was not as enjoyable as I would have thought. But you play good, you feel good…When you have good mechanics, and your swing is quick, you don’t have any wasted movements, then you get to make a decision later. I think it’s a big difference in how I see the pitch and then my swing decisions…I just got to get back to that.”

Brooks Lee – The Athletic

Lee making slight mechanical tweaks, and being healthy, sounds like a perfect recipe to get back to the player we all know he can be. His 36.9% chase rate was five-percent above what he did at Triple-A last season. He cut down the whiff rate below 10% but his 64.6% contact rate on pitches out of the zone resulted in too many poorly hit baseballs, while up with the MN Twins.

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A healthy Lee, with no back or arm issues, should be confident in his ability to drive the baseball and punish fastballs. It’s out of Lee’s hands as to what level he is playing at, come Opening Day. The former Minnesota Twins top prospect can, however, control the production he puts forth wherever he ends up, and then build off of that.

It was a relatively quiet offseason for the MN Twins, who waited until the final hour before they made any moves at all. For the most part, manager Rocco Baldelli will be working with the same talent as he did in 2024, especially in the infield.

Minnesota Twins infield looking very set for Opening Day (health permitting)

The only 2025 projected starter in the Twins infield who was not on the roster in 2024 is newly signed first baseman — 30-year-old former All-Star, Ty France — who’s expected to get most of the reps, replacing last season’s gold glove winner, Carlos Santana.

Of course, we all know this is Carlos Correa’s infield, until proven otherwise. The 10-year veteran will be locked in at shortstop all season, as long as he is healthy. Then, in a bit of a surprise move, Rocco handed Royce Lewis third base at the start of camp, in order to preserve his mental health.

In case you haven’t been keeping track, that leaves second base as the only infield position up for grabs at Minnesota Twins Spring Training. But, a recent report out of The Athletic calls into question how much of a competition is really being had at 2nd base.

Theoretically, the Minnesota Twins have multiple legitimate options to partner next to Correa up the middle. They could go with 2024 Do-It-All-Star Willi Castro OR left-handed hitting machine Edouard Julien, who was out of order last summer OR newly acquired minor league veteran Mickey Gasper OR former top prospect Brooks Lee.

Willi Castro penciled in as Minnesota Twins second baseman

In a pinch, any of the above players could play a competent big league second base. Well, unless Julien can’t hit again. If that happens, his baseball career is in trouble. But in reality, it probably doesn’t matter how Julien, or any of the other second base options play down in Fort Myers.

Because unless there’s an injury in the infield, there really is no competition at second base, according to Dan Hayes (The Athletic). Even if the Minnesota Twins are trying to sell 2B as an open competition, Hayes reported Tuesday that Rocco’s plan is to have Willi Castro take the bulk of reps there, health permitting.

“In an ideal world, the Twins would be injury-free as they embark for St. Louis two weeks from now. Were they to be in such a position, the Twins likely would give the bulk of their plate appearances at second base to Castro, the team’s reigning most valuable player.”

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

Of course, Castro is Rocco’s swiss army knife, who can play any position on the field. So any injury the Twins suffer, will likely require Willi to move positions, thus opening up second base for one of the other guys.

Willi Castro was an All-Star for the Minnesota Twins in 2024. He also looked like a potential trade candidate this offseason given the arbitration salary increase. That didn’t happen and he’s now looking like the Opening Day second baseman.

When injuries hit, shuffling is imminent at 2B

Baldelli told The Athletic that, as of this moment, he doesn’t see a player that will get 600 plate appearances at second base, because there will be a lot of shuffling at that position throughout the season, but those will mostly be due to injury, according to the Twins. When healthy, it’s Willi Castro’s job to lose.

Where does that leave Brooks Lee? Probably down at Triple-A St. Paul. If the Twins are focused on playing time for Willi Castro, then Lee won’t get starting reps on a healthy team. At 24 years old, he’s a kid who needs to be playing, even if that means getting reps at a lower level.

Related: Insider Calls Minnesota Twins Starter a Breakout Candidate

If that isn’t going to be with the Twins, then he needs to get those reps with the Saints. Brooks was quoted in Hayes’ story, and you can tell he knows his fate, barring an injury he does not want to see happen to one of his teammates.

Lee is following a rookie season in which he hit well early before cooling off, batting .221/.265/.320. He’s more eager to prove he belongs than he is focused on winning a job.

“We just get better every day,” [Brooks] Lee said. “At the end of the day, we’re teammates. So I really wouldn’t view it too much as competition. If we all get better at what we’re doing, then it’s great to be a better team, and that’s what matters.”

The Athletic

It’s hard to put a ton of weight on Spring Training statistics, but Lee needed to do everything he could to put the .221/.265/.320 slash line from 2024 behind him. He’s responded with a .267 batting average and .757 OPS so far down in Florida. Barring an unforeseen injury, it won’t matter how well he hits though (see below).

Tale of the Minnesota Twins second base situation

Of the four players who have supposedly been vying for time at second base with the Minnesota Twins this spring, Mickey Gasper has played the best, by far, followed by Brooks Lee, then Eddie Julien. The crowned starter at 2B, Willi Castro, is batting .174 with a .557 OPS. Anyone who says Spring Training performance matters is a liar.

Last season, Castro played six different positions for the Twins. He got 40 games at second base, which trailed his time in the outfield and at shortstop, much of which was due to Correa’s injury issues in the second half.

The Minnesota Twins may plan to play Castro more, come the regular season, but they have maintained his positional flexibility this spring, where he has played just three of his nine appearances at second base. If he is going to open the year as the regular second basemen, it would make sense for the Twins to stack some starts for him over the next couple weeks.

Related: Minnesota Twins Make First Round of Spring Training Cuts

It’s a very real possibility that Gasper winds up being the backup second baseman for the Twins to start the season. It makes more sense to have him sit and fill in, when necessary, while Brooks Lee gets reps across the river. Gasper got a taste of the big leagues for the first time last season with the Boston Red Sox. The 29-year-old has an impressive career .317/.422/.498 slash line at Triple-A.