The Minnesota Twins’ 2026 season has already been hit with bad news before it begins. On Friday, the team announced that starting pitcher Pablo López will undergo his second Tommy John surgery and miss the entire year.
While López won’t be on the mound, he will still be in the clubhouse for almost every home game in 2026, still offering support as a mentor to the younger pitchers in the clubhouse. But staying around the team will also help him as he begins the long rehab process after a second Tommy John surgery.
As soon as Minnesota’s front office needs the space, it will move López to the 60-day IL for the rest of the year, which will open up a spot on the 40-man roster. There has been some speculation that the Twins might pursue one of the few remaining starters on the open market, such as Lucas Giolito or Zack Littell. Still, the Twins have made it clear they intend to fill López’s rotation spot with the starters they already have on the 40-man.
The corresponding move will likely add another pitcher to Minnesota’s 40-man roster, and the spot will be taken by one of the 13 pitchers the Twins have in camp as non-roster invitees.
Some of these pitchers, such as Matt Canterino and Cory Lewis, are unlikely to be options to take the open spot because they are recovering from injuries in camp. However, four veteran relivers are all looking to make their cases and could easily earn the spot if they perform well this spring.
Hendriks is the leader in the clubhouse amongst fans to earn the 40-man spot that is soon to open up. Despite throwing only 18 ⅔ innings over the last three seasons, due to a cancer diagnosis, Tommy John surgery, and right elbow ulnar nerve transposition, he has looked healthy in all of his bullpen sessions so far this spring.
Hendriks is looking for his healthiest season since 2022, when he made his third All-Star team, was second in the American League with 37 saves, and posted a 2.81 ERA and 2.61 FIP over 51 relief appearances. His fastball velocity has dropped slightly from his last healthy season, from 97.6 MPH in 2022 to 94.9 MPH in 2025.
If he can keep the fastball velo a touch over 95 MPH on average with the Twins, it will be a strong indicator of how well Hendriks has recovered from his surgeries.
Chafin has only been in camp for about a week, having signed a minor-league deal with the Twins on February 14. He is now the fourth lefty reliever option for Minnesota’s Opening Day bullpen. The Twins had acquired LHP Anthony Banda just a couple of days before signing Chafin.
He had another solid season in 2025, pitching to a 2.41 ERA. 3.46 FIP, 25.2% strikeout rate, and 13.3% walk rate in 33 ⅔ innings of work across 42 relief appearances with the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Even with another solid season that had Chafin traded in five of the last six trade deadlines, he had minimal interest from teams in free agency this winter.
“They only want me at the deadline,” he said. “That’s a bad joke.”
The Twins only have three bullpen spots locked in for Opening Day – Cole Sands, Justin Topa, and Taylor Rogers – so Chafin has a real chance of making his case to join the Opening Day bullpen. With the annoyances of free agency behind him, Chafin has fit right in as a veteran ‘odd couple’ alongside Hendriks in the clubhouse, and felt welcomed all around by his new teammates.
“So far so good. It seems to be a great group of guys,” he said. “We’re having a lot of fun out there, getting a lot of work done. Our meeting was exciting, energizing. ‘Let’s get behind this idea and let’s fricking go. It’s time to go to work.’”
Brought into camp the same day as Hendriks, Merryweather is hoping for a bounce-back opportunity with the Twins after a lousy 2025 season. He started strong with the Chicago Cubs in April, but had a poor run of nine outings in May, where he had a 10.57 ERA and 7.18 FIP over 7 ⅔ innings.
Merryweather bounced around in the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers farm systems the rest of the season. Still, he didn’t improve much from his stretch with the Cubs. To try and change things up in his favor, Merryweather has added a splitter to his pitch arsenal, hoping it can be a weapon against hitters in and outside the zone.
He still averages 96 MPH with his fastball velo and has an effective slider to use against hitters. If those three pitches work well against batters in spring training games, then Merryweather will have a chance to make his case for the open 40-man spot.
Altavilla has one of LaTroy Hawkins’ favorite fastballs in camp among relievers. He’s compared it to Joe Ryan’s, saying it’s very similar. With Altavilla coming off one of the better seasons in his nine-year MLB career, he could be in the mix for an open spot.
Altavilla had a strong performance with the White Sox in 2025, posting a 2.48 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 17.5% strikeout rate, and 12.5% walk rate in 29 innings across 28 relief appearances.
He has been able to get his fastball anywhere from 96 to 99 MPH early in camp. With the Twins having fewer flamethrowing relief options in the pen after last year’s fire sale, that will also help his case.