Monday, February 16

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Did you think I’d forgotten to wrap up Around the Horn? No such luck. Although camp is under way, a deep dive into various units of the 2026 Twins continues. We’re finally to the pitching staff, and more specifically, the rotation.

If the Twins are going to contend in ’26, it will have to start with this unit, which features both a strong top two and lots of intriguing depth.

On the 40-man roster: Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, David Festa, Pablo López, Zebby Matthews, Andrew Morris, Bailey Ober, Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya, Kendry Rojas, Joe Ryan, Simeon Woods Richardson

New arrivals: None

Departures: None 

Top 30 prospects: Rojas (No. 5), Dasan Hill (No. 7), Prielipp (No. 9), Riley Quick (No. 10), Ryan Gallagher (No. 14), Charlee Soto (No. 15), C.J. Culpepper (No. 17), Raya (No. 18), Morris (No. 19), James Ellwanger (No. 20), Matt Barr (No. 22), Adrian Bohorquez (No. 23), Jose Olivares (No. 24), Jason Reitz (No. 27) 

The big question: Just how much of a competition is there?

At first glance, it would appear that only three spots in the Twins' rotation are set, and arguably only two are really set in stone. López and Ryan will pitch the first two games in some order, and assuming he’s healthy and right, Ober is the third starter.

Conventional wisdom has held that after those two, it’s pretty open. Bradley, Woods Richardson, Matthews, Festa and Abel are likely to be the frontrunners for two final spots, with Rojas and Prielipp as long shots hoping to make an impression for down the road. That perception is strengthened by the fact that López, Ryan and Bradley will all pitch in the World Baseball Classic. That means that all of the contenders will get plenty of innings to make their cases.

But … just how wide open is it? The Twins gave up a significant piece (Griffin Jax) to get Bradley, and though the righty is only 24 years old, he’s made 73 big league starts. He made six starts down the stretch for the Twins last season after a stint with Triple-A St. Paul. It’s conceivable that he could get bumped if he struggles this spring, but Bradley has to be a significant favorite for a starting spot.

Meanwhile, Woods Richardson made 22 starts for the Twins last year and posted a solid 4.04 ERA, finishing very strong. He’s also out of options, so he has only two potential destinations as a Twin -- in the big league rotation or the big league bullpen. As with Bradley, he’s certainly not a lock to be in the rotation, but you’d have to say he’s favored.

So where does that leave Matthews, Festa and Abel? Well, the good news is they’ll have every opportunity to compete. Thanks to the aforementioned Classic commitments, there will be plenty of innings to go around. If any of them have taken a big step forward this offseason, they’ll have the chance to show it.

Two of the runners-up will likely head St. Paul to pitch in the rotation, since no team can be lucky enough to only need five starters all season. The Twins will almost certainly dip into their depth over the course of the year. One, however, will probably be bullpen bound. Even if none of them is in the season opening bullpen, the club will likely determine that at least one of these promising young arms is the next Jax or Louie Varland or Jhoan Duran.

That’s to be determined over the next six weeks.

Sunday was a milepost day in camp, as hitters faced pitchers for the first time. For the first few days, pitchers only throw bullpens, but on Sunday, several Twins pitchers took the mound to face hitters. Inside the stadium at Lee Health Sports Complex, with no screen in front of them, Joe Ryan, Zebby Matthews and Kody Funderburk pitched to hitters. Ryan threw three simulated innings, Matthews two and Funderburk one.

Ryan is a little ahead of many other pitchers since he’ll be pitching in the World Baseball Classic. 

“I love it,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Now you actually have competitive at-bats. It’s not just hitting [off of] a coach or hitting [off of] a [pitching] machine, you’re actually facing someone. It is challenging. It’s mainly challenging for pitchers because the last thing a pitcher wants is to go out and run a sinker or run a fastball in on one of their own guys. They are extremely cognizant of that.” 

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote that Twins Pass gets you into 81 home games. Unfortunately, that’s erroneous, because there are only 80 games at Target Field this year -- there will also be the Field of Dreams Game in Iowa. All other facts are correct, but Twins Pass is good for 80 games, not 81. Apologies for the error.  

Subscriptions are on sale now for the 2026 season of Twins.TV. Fans can get the full slate of regular-season Twins games, with no blackouts (exceptions for national exclusive games may apply), for $99.99 for the full season. Full details for how to watch the Twins in 2026 can be found at this link. 

This past weekend marked the annual Drive-By Truckers HeAthens Homecoming shows in our former town of Athens, Ga., and it was our first time missing Homecoming since 2013. So here are five of my favorite Drive-By Truckers songs to hear live. Y’all be kind and look out for each other, OK?

“Women Without Whiskey” 

“Heathens” 

“Gravity’s Gone” 

“The Living Bubba” 

“Tales Facing Up” 

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