MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins’ path to contention in 2027 isn’t going to hinge on one move or one breakout. It’s going to come down to a handful of players answering big questions, and a few of them are right at the center of the roster.
There’s reason to believe Minnesota could be in the mix next year if the right progress shows up in the right spots. But there’s also plenty of uncertainty baked into the group, which makes these five players especially important in shaping what the 2027 season looks like.
Pablo López is the headliner. If he had been healthy, the Twins likely would have played at least around a .500 pace and stayed in the race into the season’s final week. Instead, he was unavailable from Day 1 after right elbow surgery.
The early signs have been encouraging. López’s recovery has gone well, he’s expected to begin throwing off a mound next month, and he hopes to enter Spring Training close to normal.
Even so, there’s usually a rust factor after Tommy John surgery, and command often lags in that first year back. Still, getting López back near the top of the rotation would give Minnesota a major lift.
Byron Buxton is just as important, and maybe even more difficult to project. The Twins are hoping his recent right hip surgery clears the way for him to finally play without the constant issues that have followed him.
His first half last season looked like the version of Buxton Minnesota has always wanted: .271/.328/.575 with 25 homers and 45 RBIs, plus his third All-Star Game selection. Then the hip pain took over in the second half and the production fell off. A healthy Buxton remains one of the game’s elite players and the Twins’ undisputed veteran leader.
The young bats are part of the story too. Walker Jenkins, the Twins’ No. 1 prospect and MLB’s No. 13, and Kaelen Culpepper, the No. 3 prospect and MLB’s No. 31, combined to play 59 games, and the club has enough of a look at them to feel good about what they can bring offensively in ’27.
There will be rough patches, naturally. Both players will have to handle slumps and the adjustments that come once the league gets a better book on them. But the upside is obvious.
Then there’s Emmanuel Rodriguez, who remains the wild card. The 23-year-old outfielder got into only 13 Major League games, so he never had the kind of extended run Jenkins and Culpepper got.
He also doesn’t have options left, which makes his roster situation tricky. He’s likely to be on a Major League roster somewhere, whether that ends up being in Minnesota or not, because he probably wouldn’t clear waivers.
Kendry Rojas is another high-variance piece with real upside. In 12 games, including four starts, he struck out 34 batters in 29 2/3 innings.
The strike zone wasn’t always his friend, but the stuff was loud enough to stand out. Interestingly, he looked better as a starter than as a reliever in his limited big league work.
The Twins are expected to stretch Rojas out early in Spring Training, which makes sense because it’s easier to shorten a pitcher than to build him up later. The hard-throwing left-hander could end up anywhere from late relief to long relief to the rotation.
Royce Lewis rounds out the group, and his season was a mixed bag. His overall line, .227/.287/.380, wasn’t pretty.
But he did manage to stay mostly healthy, and after he spent 15 games in Triple-A St. Paul in May, he hit better once he returned on June 6.
From that point on, the 2017 first overall Draft pick posted .245/.295/.409 with 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 44 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 94 games. The bigger question is what Lewis can sustain over a full season.
He can still catch fire in a hurry, but the cold stretches are part of the package too. If he can lean into his strengths more often, he could be a real asset at first base.
The problem is, nobody really knows yet how he’ll hold up, or what kind of season he can put together over the long haul.
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