Minnesota Twins 2021 Opening Day lineup
Here’s how the 26-man roster shakes out for the 2021 Minnesota Twins. Opening Day is in Milwaukee against the Brewers, and the lineup and roster are below.
Pitchers
SP - Kenta Maeda
SP - José Berríos
SP - Michael Pineda
SP - Matt Shoemaker
SP - J.A. Happ
RP - Taylor Rogers LHP
RP - Tyler Duffey
RP - Alex Colomé
RP - Jorge Alcala
RP - Randy Dobnak
RP - Cody Stashak
RP - Hansel Robles
RP - Caleb Thielbar LHP
Twins Opening Day Lineup
LF Luis Arráez
3B Josh Donaldson
2B Jorge Polanco
1B Miguel Sanó
RF Max Kepler
CF Byron Buxton
C Mitch Garver
SS Andrelton Simmons
P Kenta Maeda
Bench
Nelson Cruz
Ryan Jeffers
Willians Astudillo
Jake Cave
Kyle Garlick
Notes for posterity:
*Starting in an N.L. park has Cruz limited to pinch-hitting responsibilities. He’s not considered an option to play the field because he’s, uh, 40. Universal DH was in consideration apparently all the way up to the start of this season, but it has not been implemented.
*Maeda seems like the very deserving choice to get the ball on Day 1. He was lights-out in 2020 during a shortened season and finished 2nd in the A.L. Cy Young voting behind unanimous winner Shane Bieber. I kept the scorecard from Maeda’s near no-hitter last year.
*Many teams are using or considering a 6-man starting rotation with the diminished workload and significantly increased weirdness we experienced in 2020. The Twins say they are not using that approach for now, which means Dobnak is in the bullpen, fresh off a nice little contract extension.