Minnesota Twins Roster
- AL Central
- Stadium
- Target Field
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez did his part to keep his team in the game during Wednesday's defeat to the visiting New York Yankees, registering a quality start with 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball on a season-high 10 hits and no walks while fanning a season-low three batters. Lopez only threw two clean innings on Wednesday, but he did a great job of limiting the damage for his third straight quality start to begin the month of May. The 28-year-old fantasy stalwart takes a solid 3.93 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 58:8 K:BB over 50 1/3 innings (nine starts) for the Twins into his next scheduled appearance during Monday's series opener against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Although it's a favorable matchup on paper, Lopez yielded five runs across four innings in one start against Washington a year ago.
Minnesota Twins catcher/designated hitter Ryan Jeffers continued his power surge in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Yankees. Jeffers went 1-for-4 with a leadoff home run and three strikeouts. The 26-year-old has continued his offensive success from last season and is now slashing .290/.368/.629 with 10 HR and 31 RBI in 144 plate appearances. He has become a higher-end fantasy catcher option.
Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton (knee) will test out his knee on Tuesday in front of the team, and if all goes well, he will play in some minor-league rehab games before returning to the Twins. Given the fact that Buxton has had surgery on his knee two different times, it makes sense for the Twins to test him on a minor-league assignment before activating him from the injured list. The 30-year-old has teased fantasy baseball managers with his power/speed combination for years but has coupled that with an inability to stay on the field because of injuries. Buxton was an All-Star in 2022 but has played in 100-plus games in a season just once since 2015 and doesn't run like he did earlier in his career. Until Buxton is able to get past his knee injury, Willi Castro should continue to benefit from extra playing time in center field in Minnesota.
Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (quadriceps) is doing some running on the field on Tuesday, and the Twins are ramping up his baserunning in what is described as a big week for his recovery. Lewis will do more aggressive change-of-direction stuff later this week, which will give us a better idea of a timeline for his minor-league rehab assignment. He still has a ways to go before we'll see him back in the big leagues, but it's nice to see that he's making progress for fantasy managers that have been stashing him since his injury. Lewis has been out since Opening Day on March 28, but his power/speed combination makes him a worthy stash in most fantasy formats. The Twins have plenty of options to play the hot corner until Lewis is able to return, but Jose Miranda has been seeing most of the opportunities there of late.
Minnesota Twins outfielder Max Kepler, second baseman Edouard Julien, outfielder Alex Kirilloff and first baseman Trevor Larnach are all out of the starting lineup on Tuesday with the team facing left-hander Carlos Rodon and the visiting New York Yankees. Kepler has been one of the hottest hitters of late in the big leagues and is now hitting a strong .325/.380/.542 with a .923 OPS, three home runs, 17 RBI and 13 runs scored in 83 at-bats in 2024. Ride Kepler while he's hot, but just know that he's also carrying an xBA of .245 and an xSLG of .418, which makes him a good sell-high candidate in fantasy. Manuel Margot is in right field and is hitting fifth, Austin Martin is in left field and batting ninth, and Ryan Jeffers is the designated hitter and is batting leadoff for the Twins. Similar to Kepler, Jeffers has been exceeding expectations at the plate so far this year.