Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa are on the roster today as the Twins open a wild-card series at Target Field against Toronto.
Twins playoff roster has few surprises as Lewis, Correa active, but Buxton is not
Twins outfielder Andrew Stevenson grabbed the final roster spot instead of Jordan Luplow as Byron Buxton's knee injury still has him sidelined for the wild-card series against the Blue Jays.
October 3, 2023 at 6:54PM
Byron Buxton and Jordan Luplow are not.
Outfielder Andrew Stevenson is, as the final of 14 position players. The Twins kept 12 pitchers for the series, which begins at 3:38 p.m. today. Stevenson figures to fill a pinch running role, while Luplow was considered as a righthanded hitting option.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the veteran Buxton, plagued by a bad knee, worked hard to return but "had minor setbacks along the way."
"He worked his butt off to get in the best possible physical shape he could," Baldelli said, "but it was a hard, emotional talk. We both were sitting in the room knowing that he wasn't going to be able to play in this series."
Lewis, who was named the AL rookie of the month for September, is recovering from a hamstring injury. He will bat third today and be the designated hitter. Baldelli said Lewis playing third base isn't out of the question during the series.
Correa missed the final two weeks of the season because of plantar fasciitis. He is at shortstop, hitting sixth.
Bailey Ober, who started the regular-season finale in Colorado, is not on the roster. Lefthanded reliever Kody Funderburk made it.
The roster is just for the opening playoff series, not the entire postseason.
The Twins' wild-card roster:
Catchers: Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vázquez
Infielders: Carlos Correa, Kyle Farmer, Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano.
Outfielders: Willi Castro, Max Kepler, Andrew Stevenson, Michael A. Taylor, Matt Wallner.
Pitchers: Jhoan Duran, Kody Funderburk, Sonny Gray, Griffin Jax, Pablo López, Kenta Maeda, Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagán, Joe Ryan, Brock Stewart, Caleb Thielbar, Louis Varland.
López (11-8, 3.66 ERA in the regular season) starts for the Twins against Blue Jays righthander Kevin Gausman (12-9, 3.16).
BLUE JAYS LINEUP
George Springer, RF
Brandon Belt, DH
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
Bo Bichette, SS
Cavan Biggio, 2B
Alejandro Kirk, C
Kevin Kiermaier, CF
Matt Chapman, 3B
Daulton Varsho, LF
TWINS LINEUP
Edouard Julien, 2B
Jorge Polanco, 3B
Royce Lewis, DH
Max Kepler, RF
Alex Kirilloff, 1B
Carlos Correa, SS
Ryan Jeffers, C
Matt Wallner, LF
Michael A. Taylor, CF
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Emmanuel Rodriguez had an abbreviated season after being hit by the injury bug, but he showed promise as a disciplined hitter.
