Polanco (knee) doubtful for Opening Day; who steps up?

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jorge Polanco might not be ready to start the regular season on time, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey announced Sunday.

The club had previously been optimistic that its starting second baseman would be active for Opening Day despite a conservative approach to his buildup in camp, but lingering soreness surrounding his comeback from the left knee issues that ended his 2022 regular season prevented him from making the necessary progress.

"He hasn’t been able to do all the leg activities and all the legwork and all the running and all the strength and conditioning stuff that everybody would at this stage, so some of it’s just responding to where he is from a timing standpoint," Falvey said. "Obviously, the calendar plays a role now as we get closer and closer to Opening Day.

"He’s a little behind; there’s no other way to put that. But how far behind? We’ll have a better sense of where we go on Tuesday."

Falvey said Tuesday was an arbitrary day that Minnesota chose for re-evaluation and, if necessary, a calendar adjustment following Polanco’s work on the back fields on Sunday and during Monday’s off-day. Falvey stressed that this potential shift in plans was not because of any setback or reinjury, but instead a revision due to minor soreness and fatigue in Polanco’s legs along the way that hampered his progress.

“He’s had actually a pretty good couple of days talking to [head athletic trainer] Nick [Paparesta] about it and is tracking well,” Falvey said. “So … our hope is that he’s only behind relative to where we thought, but we had a pretty tight timeline to Opening Day as is.”

With just 11 days remaining until the first game of the regular season and Polanco yet to see any game action this spring, it makes sense to assume that someone else will man second base on March 30 against the Royals and in the short term. Here’s a look at three potential fits.

Nick Gordon
Gordon, the Twins’ superutility guy who can play everywhere but catcher, seems to be the best option here.

Gordon is aiming high this season and reported to camp having added nearly 10 pounds of muscle with plans to gain another five to six pounds before Opening Day. The 27-year-old, who slashed .429/.429/.643 with a double and a triple through his first six spring games, hit .272 last year during his first full Major League season and played five defensive positions, pitched and appeared at DH.

Gordon missed nearly two weeks this spring with a left high ankle sprain and has been strong since his Thursday return, playing second base in two games and hitting 2-for-6 with a double.

Kyle Farmer
The Twins acquired Farmer from the Reds in November when it appeared Carlos Correa was headed elsewhere, so now, Farmer’s a great guy to provide middle-infield depth. He’s seen reps at everywhere but center and right field in his six-year MLB career, and he figures to slot in nicely against left-handed pitching, against which he produced a .948 OPS last season.

Farmer entered play Sunday hitting .381 across 11 Grapefruit League games, including a two-homer game against the O’s on Friday.

Donovan Solano
Solano probably won’t be the main option to fill the hole at second, but he gives Minnesota another look and a solid bat against lefties. The Twins signed the 35-year-old -- who played 26 games at first base, 16 games at third, seven games at second and 26 as designated hitter last season -- to a one-year deal on Feb. 23.

Solano slashed .284/.339/.385 with the Reds in 2022, but he managed to record a .301 batting average and a .770 OPS against left-handers.