Top Prospects Highlight Twins Lineup for Spring Training Opener Friday Night
By Sean Facey
The Minnesota Twins are set to open up their Spring Training slate of games with an exhibition showdown against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and they've got their potential lineup of the future ready to roll out.
Suiting to the occasion -- they're playing a college team, after all -- the Twins will trot out a lineup made up largely of young prospects for Friday night's clash.
Dobnak and top prospects highlight tonight's line up vs the Gophers. Baseball is back! #MNTwinsST pic.twitter.com/EbCwvX5UFc
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) February 21, 2020
Twins' top-10 prospects Royce Lewis, Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach lead the way in the order. Lewis, the most heralded of the bunch, is the No. 9 overall prospect in baseball. After posting a .975 OPS in the Arizona Fall League, expectations for him are high, and he'll hope to impress early on in the spring.
That trio is followed by Brent Rooker, Travis Blankenhorn and Gilberto Celestino. Rooker, the No. 7 overall prospect in the Twins' pipeline, slugged 14 home runs in just 65 games in Triple-A last year, so he'll provide adequate pop in the heart of the youthful lineup.
Twins' lineup for tonight's spring opener vs. the Gophers features eight of my top 40 prospects, including six of the top 15:
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) February 21, 2020
#1 Royce Lewis
#2 Alex Kirilloff
#3 Trevor Larnach
#6 Brent Rooker
#11 Ryan Jeffers
#14 Gilberto Celestino
Full write-ups here: https://t.co/w2Prt2HvaY
Rounding out the final three spots in the order are Zander Wiel, Jack Reinheimer and Jimmy Kerrigan. Meanwhile, Randy Dobnak will toe the rubber and draw the start on Friday night.
There's plenty of youth and promise in this lineup for the Twins' Friday evening game, and it could provide fans with a glimpse into the bright future of the team.