One of the favorite walk-up songs Minnesota Twins fans have had over the last five years will be returning to Target Field this summer. Building 429’s ‘Where I Belong’ caught many people’s attention in the summer of 2022 at Target Field, because Minnesota’s everyday third baseman, Gio Urshela, used it as his walk-up song.

On Monday, the Twins reunited with Urshela, signing him to a minor-league contract with an invite to spring training for 2026. Whether people truly sang along to the faith-based lyrics is up for debate. Still, there’s no denying that fans enjoyed the melody that played each time Urshela came to the plate.

Urshela has bounced around with a few teams the past three seasons. He spent all of 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels after the Twins traded him there for LHP Alejandro Hidalgo, who finished last season in Double-A.

He split the 2024 season between the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, appearing in a couple of playoff games for the Braves. Then, he spent parts of last season with the Athletics and has kept his bat warm in the Dominican Winter League this offseason, hitting .317/.353/.381 with zero home runs over 63 plate appearances.

In the majors, Urshela has seen a decline in his production at the plate since the Twins traded him. He performed well in 2023, hitting .299/.329/.374 with two home runs and 24 RBI in 228 plate appearances. However, missed 100 games due to a fractured pelvis in mid-June.

Gio Urshela returned in 2024, playing 128 games between the Tigers and Braves, but had his worst full season to date, hitting only .250/.286/.361, with nine home runs and 52 RBI. Urshela’s playing time was once again limited in 2025 due to a hamstring injury in late May through mid-June. He ended up playing in only 59 games with a .238/.287/.326 slash line, no home runs, and 20 RBI. The Athletics released him on August 17.

Minnesota’s reunion with Urshela addresses a temporary issue regarding who will back up Royce Lewis at third base this season. Though there’s a good chance Urshela starts the season in Triple-A due to his offensive decline, he’s still the next best defender between the non-roster invites and 40-man roster players battling for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Three of the players already on the 40-man have playing experience at third, but their career totals are dwarfed compared to Urshela’s 751 games. Tristan Gray is the most likely in this group to back up Lewis as is, but he has played 12 of his 47 career games at the position.

Eric Wagaman has played 20 games in his two seasons, but has four errors over those games. Ryan Kreilder has played the most games of these three at third, but didn’t play there at all in 2025. As spring training is about to start, the Twins seem committed to trying him out as the backup shortstop.

That leaves Urshela as the most likely candidate of these four to be available as the backup third baseman if needed. But it’s also a testament to how much the Twins will be depending on Lewis at third this year.

Lewis’ WAR projections rank 14th out of all third basemen in the league by Steamer. They expect him to have a 2.2 WAR in 2026 and play in 116 games. That would be just 10 more games than Lewis played last year, which is a step in the right direction with his health. However, that leaves 46 games for other players to fill at the position, and none of the other four options have a Steamer-projected WAR over 0.2.

Plenty of roster moves can still happen between now and Opening Day to bolster Minnesota’s depth at third base, and reuniting with Urshela does that slightly. But if Lewis has another season with injury setbacks, they will need to do more than add his predecessor to bolster the depth.

There’s a good chance that Kaelen Culpepper makes his debut by the middle of the summer, and can shift Brooks Lee into more of a utility role to help back up third. But the Twins cannot bank on that alone. Gio Urshela can still roll out as a strong mentor for the youngsters at Triple-A to start the season. Hopefully, that will give the Twins a good chance to improve for the 2026 season.