There are 24 days remaining before Twins pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, FL, on February 12th to signify the official commencement of spring training. Here are 24 questions they’ll need to answer as they steer toward the start of a 2026 season brimming with uncertainty.

1. Who’s closing games?
If the Twins were to carry a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning on Opening Day in Baltimore, who would get the ball to pitch the ninth? Is that pitcher currently on the roster, or still yet to be acquired? The former would be rather uninspiring, barring a big spring breakthrough from someone like Connor Prielipp.

2. Who’s pitching the other high-leverage relief innings?
Beyond the closer role, there are going to be a lot of important innings to be doled out to Twins relievers. They are presently short on compelling options for the setup and fireman roles. You hope newcomer Eric Orze can build on his solid rookie campaign and Cole Sands can rebound from a disappointing year. That would be a start. Much work to do.

3. How will the catching unit take shape?
They’re not going to carry three catchers on the 26-man roster … are they? With Ryan Jeffers and now Victor Caratini topping the depth chart ahead of Alex Jackson — who’s out of options and owed $1.35 million via arbitration — that’s how things are currently laid out. Something seemingly has got to give.

4. How will Twins catchers handle the new ABS challenge system?
This is a question faced by every team, with the implementation of Automated Ball-Strike challenges bringing a new twist for major-league batteries (and batters). For the Twins, who are currently getting familiar with a pair of new catchers in Caratini and Jackson, there’s an added element of learning and discovery in play.

5. Was Royce Lewis‘s healthy finish a trend or mirage?
The second half of the 2025 season saw Lewis look as healthy as he has in years, even though it didn’t necessarily translate into outstanding production. Hopefully the positive physical signs carry over into this new season, helping him unlock his previous form. We’ll likely know pretty quickly; Lewis got injured in spring training last year, and on Opening Day in 2024.

6. What will Josh Bell‘s split between 1B/DH look like?
This matter because it will have an impact on the value Bell can provide — will a hitting-only role accentuate the benefits of his bat, or will too much time in the field prove detrimental? Of course, the answer to this question also has implications on who else can get playing time at these spots. There’s no question the switch-hitting Bell will be playing every day if healthy. 

7. Can Bailey Ober bounce back or is this his new norm?
Ober has a history of showing up to camp with a few extra ticks on his fastball, igniting the imaginations of fans who wonder what a consistent mid-90s fastball could do for his repertoire. This year, following a major drop-off, a spring stuff boost for Ober feels like more of a requisite than a luxury. If he’s throwing 89 MPH again in mid-March, what do they do? Anything?

8. Will Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez really still be here?
The Twins have been insistent that they don’t intend to trade either, and the rumor mill has gone quiet on both fronts. I still wonder. If a late push emerges among suitors, and the Twins take a realistic look at their contention chances over the next couple years, will they really turn down an aggressive make-sense offer for either or both?

9. Who will emerge among the second tier of starters?
Assuming the top three veterans do all remain in place, there are only two rotation spots available. Simeon Woods Richardson has to be penciled in as fourth starter. That leaves one remaining spot for a group that includes Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel. It sets up a competitive spring battle. Are the Twins really planning to send three of these clearly MLB-ready guys to Triple-A? Another “something’s gotta give” situation, which is why I’m skeptical on question #8.

10. Which young starters will transition to relief, and how quickly?
This is one of thing that might give. Moving, say, Matthews and Festa into relief roles would alleviate the starting logjam and help address the bullpen shortage. It would also be a fairly tough sell for two guys who still have rotation upside. Whatever the decision, the Twins likely need to make some firm calls early on so these pitchers can acclimate to their roles in spring training.

11. Will Trevor Larnach stick around?
Maybe the biggest looming roster question at this point. There’s little question the Twins would be very open to unloading his $4.5 million salary and removing some redundancy to their roster mix, if the right offer came along. But they don’t want to lose a talented former first-round hitter for nothing — thus the reason they tendered him a contract in arbitration. 

12. Other than Brooks Lee, who gets shortstop reps in spring training?
The departure of Carlos Correa leaves the Twins without much in the way of proven major-league shortstops. Lee is the closest thing, having played the position regularly following the Correa trade last year. He’s a question mark, and everything behind him even more so. Ryan Kreidler, Orlando Arcia and Vidal Brujan figure to try and make their cases in exhibition play. The divvying of opportunities among them will be interesting. 

13. Is growth or regression ahead for Luke Keaschall?
Keaschall was a spark of energy that catalyzed the Twins when he was on the field as a rookie. He’s one of the biggest causes for excitement among fans this season. But all too often we’ve seen a promising young Twins hitter break through and follow up by taking a major step backward rather than forward. Can he avoid the pervasive regression bug?

14. How committed are the Twins to Kody Clemens?
His trajectory toward making the team isn’t in much doubt, based on comments from team officials. And that’s fair enough, given some of the flashes he showed last year. But if he struggles for a prolonged period, reverting to his pre-Twins form (career 70 OPS+), are we really going to have to watch the team stand firm on its thinly-supported belief? Is there a level of play this spring that could push him out of the Opening Day plans, given the presence of Bell, Caratini and Wagaman?

15. Are the Twins really going to carry James Outman on the roster?
He’s out of options so they will be compelled to do so. But Outman looked really rough during his 60 games with the Twins after being acquired last year, both offensively and defensively. If he doesn’t hit or show more in the outfield during spring training they’ve got to just let him go. Right? Outman turns 29 in May. Not impossible he passes through waivers.

16. Can any of the low-tier hitters they’ve added show anything with the bat?
Needing to improve their offense, the Twins have brought in a lot of position players with very poor track records for hitting. Can guys like Kreidler, Jackson, Arcia, Brudal or even a theoretical bat-first player like Eric Wagaman shake off their woeful recent runs of production? It’s going to be hard to score runs with bottom-of-the-barrel performers getting a bunch of collective plate appearances.

17. How open is the door for MLB-ready prospects?
When the alternative is giving innings to fringe 30-year-old journeymen, or veteran hitters who have struggled over sizable samples, I’d just as soon give the reins to young prospects who could surprise, or at least benefit from taking their lumps. I’m curious to see if players like Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya and Gabriel Gonzalez might be given an opportunity to compete for roster spots.

18. Where will Alan Roden start the season?
A particularly interesting case. The Twins acquired Roden in the Louis Varland trade because they viewed him as MLB-ready. He joined the team immediately, didn’t hit, and then suffered a season-ending injury. The jury is out on his major-league viability, but Roden has a little to prove at Triple-A (.917 OPS) and he’s 26. In a way it would feel strange for a semi-rebuilding team to send him to St. Paul, but I don’t see how he fits on the roster alongside both Larnach and Matt Wallner — especially if Outman is there.

19. Where will Austin Martin start the season?
He’ll turn 27 in March, and like Roden there’s not much left for him to accomplish in Triple-A, where Martin has 500+ plate appearances and an .816 OPS. He too is trending to be the victim of a roster crunch, however. His lack of a standout bat, or viability at SS/CF, work against his fit on a short four-man bench.

20. What will Derek Shelton do differently than Rocco Baldelli?
With relatively little changing on the roster makeup front, the Twins are leaning hard on their coaching staff overhaul to shake up the dismal status quo from 2025. On the surface, Shelton doesn’t seem to represent a significant change from Baldelli, who was dismissed following last season. But starting in spring training, we’ll get a chance to see first-hand how he approaches and talks about the game … and how the team responds.

21. Can voices of respected former players make a difference?
In addition to Shelton and a handful of new coaches (including former players like LaTroy Hawkins and Grady Sizemore), the Twins are bringing a couple of recently retired, familiar faces: Michael A. Taylor to help the outfielders, and Ryan Pressly to help the relievers. It’s an interesting tactic and I’ll be curious to see how much these seasoned voices can resonate with some of the young big-leaguers finding their way.

22. What would it take for Eduardo Julien to avoid waivers?
As things stand, he’ll be coming to spring training to compete for a roster spot. And he’ll need to win one, because Julien is out of options, so he’ll hit waivers if the Twins want to send him to the minors. It’s really hard to find a role that Julien could fill, even with a big spring, unless there are multiple injuries in the 1B/DH mix. 

23. How serious are the Twins about leaning into stylistic changes?
After the trade deadline sell-off in 2025, Baldelli and the Twins embraced a much more aggressive style of play, stealing and taking extra bases with abandon. There have been comments suggesting the team wants to keep leaning into this scrappy bygone identity, but you have to play to your roster strengths and this still isn’t a team boasting much speed.

24. Will some of the team’s best young players FINALLY stay healthy?
The biggest reason to believe in the future of the Twins is the presence of near-ready potential stars in the likes of Keaschall, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez. But these guys have been constantly besieged and derailed by injuries. If that continues to happen, everything else almost feels moot. Minnesota needs its top young talents to stay healthy in camp and carry it over into the regular season.

Did I miss anything? What are your biggest burning questions as you look ahead to spring training and then Twins season, which are suddenly not too far off in the distance?