Jose Miranda, Trevor Larnach sent down as Twins trim roster to 38 one week before Opening Day

FORT MYERS, Fla. – With Opening Day a week away, the Twins took a big slice out of their spring training roster, trimming the list to 38 players.

The Twins optioned infielder Jose Miranda — who had an impressive 2021 minor league season — and outfielder Trevor Larnach — who made his MLB debut and played 79 games with the Twins last season — to Class AAA St. Paul.

Miranda ascended from Class AA Wichita to the Saints last season, batting .344 with 94 RBI and 30 home runs. But with the MLB infield already crowded with personnel, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli felt Miranda would be better suited to playing at third base every day at a lower level than riding the bench in the bigs.

"With our Major League group, where it is right now … there's no real move to be made because you don't want a player like that not playing regularly. He needs to be on the field," Baldelli said of sending Miranda to St. Paul. "… But if he continues to play the way he's been playing, we might not be talking about that forever."

Baldelli gave a similar reasoning for Larnach, who struggled his first year in the majors, batting .223 and ending the year with a left hand contusion. Statistically, Larnach had one of the best springs, hitting .294 with six RBI and two home runs in 17 at-bats.

Larnach and Miranda will stay in camp for more at-bats before meeting the Saints in Louisville for their April 5 season opener.

The Twins also reassigned righthanded pitchers Chi Chi Gonzalez, Ian Hamilton, Trevor Megill and Juan Minaya; catchers David Banuelos and Caleb Hamilton; infielders Jermaine Palacios and Curtis Terry; and outfielder Derek Fisher to minor league camp. These players will take Thursday off before flying to St. Paul on Friday to start preparations for the Class AAA season.

Of the 38 remaining players, seven are nonroster. There are 20 pitchers (three nonroster), three catchers, eight infielders (two nonroster) and seven outfielders (two nonroster).

Winder: Starter or bullpen?

With the Chris Archer signing, the Twins five-man rotation seems set with some combination of Archer, Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. Archer threw a bullpen Wednesday and should see his first start Friday, after Bundy goes on Thursday. Baldelli said Gray's next start after he pitched in Monday's minor league game is still to be determined.

But that leaves out Josh Winder, who has been starting just about every five days this spring after he rose from Class AA to Class AAA in 2021 before a shoulder injury ended his year prematurely.

Baldelli said after Wednesday's game — which Winder started and played three innings, allowing three hits and one earned run off a homer while striking out four — the righty could end up in a "variety of roles" this season.

"We're not going to go six-man. So if it's in the big leagues, it's going to be as some kind of bullpen option," Baldelli said. "But we can get creative in April, and we will have a lot of pitchers on our staff [with the likely 28-man roster], and we will have starters that are not completely built up. There's ways to use a guy like Josh Winder in the big leagues, even if he's not starting."

Winder has been a starter his entire career, and while Rocco said he wasn't worried about possibly transitioning Winder to a bullpen within a week, it does present some challenges. Starters work all spring to ramp up to being able to throw multiple innings. Being in a bullpen and only pitching an inning or so every few days could undo all that work.

"As long as we can get our guys regular work," Baldelli said. "We're not going to be afraid to carry a starter in the bullpen."

Winder is trying to keep an open mind about potentially starting in Class AAA or being in the MLB bullpen. If it were the bullpen, he said he'd lean on some of the veteran arms in there like Taylor Rogers or Tyler Duffey to smooth his transition.

"It's all hands on deck, especially this first month. Because a lot of guys aren't built up, like myself. I'm not built up as much as I like to be before the season," Winder said. "But it's going to be a fluid situation and kind of uncharted territory. So we're all kind of learning and adapting as we go."

And either way, Winder joked his suitcase was packed, and his Minnesota apartment is ready. So all he needs to know is if he's driving to Target Field or CHS Field.

Other notes: