3 October 2023
The Twins’ Wild Card Series roster is official.
Minnesota used Monday’s workout day to assess the readiness of three star players who ended the season on the injured list. In the end, they deemed Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis ready to play. Byron Buxton was not included on the roster, which is only for the best-of-three Wild Card Series and could change should the Twins reach the next round.
Though Correa has not played since leaving a Sept. 18 game early because of plantar fasciitis, he had maintained that he would be back for October, a time of year in which the shortstop has thrived historically.
There was more of a question as to whether Lewis, who suffered what the Twins called a Grade 1+ hamstring strain, would play. Before participating in the team’s workout on Monday, Lewis sounded uncertain, saying he had yet to run at 100 percent and he hadn’t seen significant improvement yet.
But clearly the Twins have seen enough to include him on the roster, where the rookie, who has shown a penchant for big moments early in his career, will likely serve as the team’s designated hitter.
“This team is rolling. I just want to be a part of it any way,” Lewis said Monday. “If I’m a cheerleader, that’d be great. If I’m hitting homers, that’d also be great. Whatever I could do and whatever (manager) Rocco (Baldelli) and the team thinks is best, I’ll do that.”
As for Buxton, his inclusion on the roster has seemed unlikely for some time now. He has been on the injured list since early August and suffered a setback with his knee near the end of the month. He played in a couple of rehab games with St. Paul before the Triple-A season concluded and has been getting his work in at Target Field.
The spot that likely would have been Buxton’s went to speedster Andrew Stevenson, who could also serve as a pinch runner or late-game defensive replacement in the outfield.
The Twins opted to go with 14 position players and 12 pitchers.
Wild Card Roster
Pitchers
Pablo López, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar, Emilio Pagán, Brock Stewart, Louie Varland, Chris Paddack, Kody Funderburk
Position players
Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vázquez, Kyle Farmer, Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano, Willi Castro, Max Kepler, Andrew Stevenson, Michael A. Taylor, Matt Wallner, Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis
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