In the five weeks since Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in Ft. Myers, the most closely monitored position group has been the bullpen, with fans and pundits interested in how the eight-pitcher collective will look as the team travels to Baltimore to face the Orioles on Mar. 26. Right now, Cole Sands is a lock to be part of the Opening Day group. Veteran southpaws Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, and Andrew Chafin are strong candidates to join Sands, with 35-year-old righty Justin Topa also likely earning a spot. However, three spots remain in flux, with spring training set to conclude in just over a week.
Lefty Kody Funderburk is a strong candidate to fill one of those three spots. Because they’re already lefty-loaded and Funderburk can still be optioned to the minors, though, the front office could send him to St. Paul to begin his 2026 campaign at Triple-A, to maximize depth. Righty Eric Orze, 28, is in the same boat as Funderburk; the team still holds the right to option him. Liam Hendriks has an automatic opt-out clause in his contract, but the Twins could add him to the 40-man roster only to move him to the injured list to begin the season. Prioritizing depth with Funderburk and Orze and health with Hendriks, Minnesota could be poised to hand one of its final bullpen spots to Dan Altavilla.
Signed to a minor-league contract in mid-December, the 33-year-old Altavilla joined Minnesota after strong persuasion from new bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins. Hawkins is a “big fan” of Altavilla, and expects the veteran to be “a big asset for [the Twins] this year.” That piece from Zone Coverage ran on Feb, 19. The hard-throwing righty has only improved his case over the past month, performing like one of the club’s best relievers this spring.
Over three innings pitched, Altavilla has a 0.00 ERA, a 2.34 FIP, and a 22.2% strikeout rate. Spring results don’t matter, of course, and three innings’ worth of spring results matter even less. Yet, his impressive performance this spring comes off a 2025 campaign with the Chicago White Sox in which he posted a 2.48 ERA, 4.66 FIP, and a 21-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 29 innings. Altavilla’s alarming underlying metrics and well-below-average walk rate suggest he should have performed worse last season. Still, he managed to induce an incredibly low hard-hit rate and average exit velocity when attacking the zone, resulting in a near-elite ground ball rate (50%; the league averages roughly 43%).
With an above-average sinker and slider, Altavilla has a profile roughly similar to that of Topa. Topa has regressed since joining Minnesota, and those who follow the Twins shouldn’t expect Altavilla to sustain a sub-2.50 ERA if he pitches for the club this season. Still, if Altavilla could perform at a similar rate to Topa’s 2025 campaign (wherein he netted a 3.90 ERA and 3.04 FIP while generating weak contact), he’d give them a harder-throwing insurance policy against further injury or regression by Topa himself.
Currently pitching for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, Altavilla fits a comparable archetype to Chafin and Hendriks, in that he’s a veteran brought in on a minor-league deal who is out of minor-league options. After a solid Grapefruit League look and two innings in which he’s surrendered one homer but struck out four and walked just onee in the WBC, there’s little chance Minnesota would be able to stash him at Triple A to begin the 2026 campaign. Altavilla would likely refuse his assignment, enter free agency, and join a different organization. Instead, Twins decision-makers would be wise to prioritize organizational depth and add the sturdy righty to the 40-man roster, awarding him a spot in the Opening Day bullpen.