Kyle Garlick provides spring surprise by making Twins' Opening Day roster

FORT MYERS, FLA. – After a month and a half in the Florida sun, the Twins on Monday finalized their roster with one spring training game remaining on their schedule.

There were perhaps only two surprises in all of camp: That Alex Kirilloff is not the starting left fielder, and that Kyle Garlick is taking his place on the roster.

After Kirilloff was demoted, and is likely to start the season at Class AAA St. Paul, the competition for the left-field rotation came down to Brent Rooker and Garlick.

The other battle for a roster spot was for the eighth, and final, spot in the bullpen, where Caleb Thielbar was competing with Derek Law and Brandon Waddell.

After the Twins beat Pittsburgh in Bradenton on Monday, the team announced that it had optioned Rooker to its alternate training site and reassigned Law and Waddell to its minor league camp.

It would be an oversimplification to say that Garlick won the left-field job. The starter in left on Opening Day well could be utility player Luis Arraez. Extra outfielder Jake Cave could also play there, and backup catcher Willians Astudillo could contribute in a pinch.

During the offseason the Twins decided not to tender a contract to incumbent left fielder Eddie Rosario because they believed it was time for Kirilloff to take over in left and provide a better approach at the plate and a higher on-base percentage.

When Kirilloff struggled and the Twins sent him to the minors last week, they opened the door for Rooker and Garlick, and Garlick, the former Dodgers prospect now with his fourth organization, walked through.

It's an interesting decision because Rooker has hit at every level and posted an OPS of .960 for the Twins last summer before an injury ended his season.

But the Twins would like to see him improve defensively.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he "sat with" Rooker while explaining the decision. "He knows that there are certainly things in his game that he still needs to focus on and lock in on and spend time on so he becomes a more well-rounded player," Baldelli said.

This spring, Rooker has posted an OPS of .645 and Garlick an OPS of 1.011.

"With that outfield discussion, Kyle Garlick has come in, he's had a fantastic spring," Baldelli said. "He's done everything we could possibly ask someone to do in a situation where we're probably looking for a little something like a righthanded bat who can hit some lefthanded pitching and do it well, and he goes out there and competes real well in the outfield.

"He can go out there and play both corners if you need him to. And he can run a little bit, he can do some things. And again, he's handled himself within our group and our clubhouse very well coming into a new situation, so Kyle's going to get some opportunities out there, there's no doubt about it."

Here's the roster breakdown:

Outfielders/DH: Cave, Garlick, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Nelson Cruz.

Infielders: Josh Donaldson, Jorge Polanco, Andrelton Simmons, Miguel Sano and Arraez.

Catchers: Mitch Garver, Ryan Jeffers and Astudillo.

Starting pitchers: Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios, Michael Pineda, J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker.

Relievers: Taylor Rogers, Thielbar, Jorge Alcala, Alex Colome, Randy Dobnak, Tyler Duffey, Hansel Robles and Cody Stashak.

Pitcher Edwar Colina will start the season on the injured list. The five-man taxi squad will be pitchers Waddell and Luke Farrell, infielder J.T. Riddle, Rooker and catcher Tomas Telis.

The Opening Day roster will change inevitably and perhaps quickly. The bullpen, in particular, could change weekly depending on usage and injuries.

"I would say it's an exceptionally deep group, looking at the number of guys that can and have pitched late in games successfully," Baldelli said. "It gives us plenty of really good options. And there will probably be some guys who did not make our team out of spring training that we will be turning to at some point, and I feel good doing that.

"We have some guys who are basically major league pitchers who won't break with us, and who will be very successful if given the opportunity."