Keep an eye on this roster battle in Twins' camp

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This has already been a strange camp in one significant way: Seemingly for the first time in my time covering the Twins, there really aren’t many significant roster battles to generate speculation as Spring Training games get underway in earnest.

The Twins have a clear top five in the starting rotation. They have (many) more veteran position players than spots in the starting lineup, with the health of Alex Kirilloff seemingly the determining factor for now, more than any performance-related competitions.

Which leaves … the bullpen. And that’s where some intrigue might be found.

Jhoan Duran is a lock, as are Griffin Jax, Jorge López and Caleb Thielbar. There’s Emilio Pagán, who's pursuing a bounceback from his tough 2022. Then, manager Rocco Baldelli has said that he’d prefer to have a long relief option in his bullpen who can go 50-75 pitches as often as possible -- and that’s probably a Cole Sands or Josh Winder type.

That means there’s room for two more pitchers -- with three candidates for those roles, at this moment: Jovani Moran, Trevor Megill and Jorge Alcala. If Alcala hadn’t missed essentially all of last season with an elbow injury that eventually required season-ending surgery, he’d likely be a shoo-in for a spot. But early this camp, the Twins have indicated that they’re more focused on him regaining his feel than anything else.

“I don’t want to lay too much on him,” Baldelli said at the start of camp. “I want to use this Spring Training to get him in the best possible place. … We’re just going to keep watching him and massaging him and working with him and getting him in the right spot.”

Then, there’s Moran, whose tremendous changeup helped him post a 2.21 ERA in 31 appearances with the Twins last season as he bounced between Triple-A and the Majors (the victim of having Minor League options), and Megill, who can throw 100 mph but was entirely too hittable with a 4.80 ERA last season -- and got off to a rough start this spring, allowing six runs (including a grand slam) in his first outing.

“When those guys are in the zone, getting ahead, and then attacking with the pitches they want, they are very tough, and they're going to be good Major League relievers when they do that,” Baldelli said.

Injuries could resolve the roster battle, but if not, keep an eye on those last three pitchers (and perhaps the long relief spot) as a potential roster question in camp.