Arraez, Adrianza good to go for Twins in ALDS

NEW YORK -- Luis Arraez is in. Ehire Adrianza is in. With positive outcomes in both of Minnesota's significant injury decisions, the Twins' roster is finally set for the American League Division Series against the Yankees.

Though Arraez sustained a sprained right ankle while tracking a popup last Saturday in Kansas City, it appears that the rookie second baseman showed the Twins enough in a fielding and running workout at Yankee Stadium on Thursday afternoon that manager Rocco Baldelli and his staff felt comfortable including Arraez on the roster, which features 13 position players and 12 pitchers.

Game	Date	Result	Highlights
Gm 1	Oct. 4	NYY 10, MIN 4	Watch
Gm 2	Oct. 5	NYY 8, MIN 2	Watch
Gm 3	Oct. 7	NYY 5, MIN 1	Watch

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Twins general manager Thad Levine said that Adrianza, who sustained a strained right oblique against Washington on Sept. 12, was also a last-minute decision. Arraez and Adrianza are healthy enough to play, but the Twins still opted to carry a 13th position player instead of a pitcher due to the health questions.

“I really do like having the coverage of the extra position player right now because of that, where we don't have to have any of that in the back of our head at all going forward,” Baldelli said.

Alongside the injuries that pushed the Twins' final decisions to Friday morning, the roster also included Kyle Gibson and Devin Smeltzer as length options -- or potential starters -- on the pitching staff. Left-hander Martín Pérez was left off the roster, as was rookie Lewis Thorpe, due in large part to the heavily right-handed nature of the Yankees’ lineup.

Levine said that Smeltzer was chosen as a left-handed option instead of Pérez or Thorpe because the Twins felt Smeltzer could offer the most length in the group, and also in part due to the mental fortitude that the rookie left-hander, a childhood cancer survivor, showed earlier this season in a five-inning relief appearance against New York.

"I think we say all the time that we say we never like to use small sample sizes unless that’s all we have, and then we use it," Levine said. "He’s had some trials and tribulations in his life that transcend pitching in a tough ballpark, or in a tough baseball game, and I think we saw that that night."

The return of Arraez's bat will be a huge boost to the Twins, as the talented rookie's advanced eye at the plate, bat-to-ball ability and line-drive contact to all fields serve as a change of pace that helps the second baseman work strong, patient at-bats in the middle of Minnesota's power-packed lineup.

Adrianza also made the roster despite Baldelli saying over the closing days of the regular season that the 30-year-old utility man's recovery might have been tracking behind his peers. Adrianza's inclusion is significant due to his positional versatility, as he can play all four infield positions and is the Twins' best defender on the left side of the diamond.

“He’s a really important piece of the puzzle for us, because ... he provides us backup at so many of the spots, especially some of the spots where we have other guys who are coming back from injuries,” Levine said. “So he was a guy that we were tracking and really hoping would be able to be on this roster.”

Here's the roster that Baldelli and the Twins unveiled on Friday morning:

Catchers (2): Jason Castro, Mitch Garver

Garver's 155 wRC+ this season ranked him eighth among all hitters with at least 300 plate appearances. By OPS, the backstop notched the 12th-best season ever by a player who caught at least 80 games in that year. The closest catcher to the New Mexico native's offensive production was Willson Contreras, who notched a relatively modest 127 wRC+ in comparison. Garver split time behind the plate with Castro throughout the regular season to keep both catchers fresh, but that will likely go out the window in the postseason.

Infielders (7): Ehire Adrianza, Luis Arraez, C.J. Cron, Marwin Gonzalez, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sanó, Jonathan Schoop

Considering how the Twins' injury situation looked at the end of the regular season, it is a significant positive for Minnesota that both Adrianza and Arraez will be available, meaning that the Twins will roll into the Division Series with all six of their best infielders on the roster. Sanó and Polanco should start every game, and Arraez would be the preferred starter at second. Cron has been dealing with a sore right wrist that could limit his action at first, in which case Gonzalez or the newly healthy Adrianza could slide to first base.

Adrianza's return also gives the Twins needed late-game versatility around the diamond, and his .272/.349/.416 batting line this season also means that his bat actually serves as a strong complement to his solid defense.

Outfielders (3): Jake Cave, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario

The Twins should line up with Rosario, Kepler and Gonzalez in the outfield for most games, though the Twins could also consider moving Gonzalez to first base and using Cave in right field against righties -- depending on the status of Cron's thumb. Cave's left-handed power bat heated up in the second half to the tune of a .964 OPS, and the second-year outfielder could provide a boost considering the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium. Though he showed a disciplined bat and outfield versatility in limited regular-season action, Wade Jr. was not included as a fifth outfielder due to the health of both Arraez and Adrianza.

Designated hitter (1): Nelson Cruz

The man hit 41 homers at age 39. He is a marvel, still posting some of the best exit velocity and hard-hit numbers in all of baseball, and he will rightfully garner some scattered votes for the AL Most Valuable Player Award. A healthy Cruz is a lock to start every postseason game at designated hitter. Cruz has 16 homers and a 1.016 OPS in 41 career playoff games.

Starting pitchers (3): José Berríos, Randy Dobnak, Jake Odorizzi

Berríos will take the mound for his first career postseason start in Game 1, but Baldelli said that his plans for the subsequent games could depend on what happens in Friday night's game. All-Star right-hander Odorizzi is a fly ball-oriented pitcher, which could be a disadvantage at the smaller Yankee Stadium, but he has been one of the Twins' best arms at keeping the ball in the park this season.

It's tough to predict the usage outside of Berríos' and Odorizzi's predicted starts at some point in the series. As the heavily ground ball-oriented Dobnak was stellar with two runs allowed in 16 1/3 frames in three more traditional starts to finish the regular season, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see him start a postseason game, though his versatility could also come into play as an opener or as a bullpen arm if needed. It wouldn't be a surprise if Gibson and Smeltzer also somehow figured into the starting picture, particularly at the head of a bullpen game.

Relief pitchers (9): Tyler Duffey, Kyle Gibson, Brusdar Graterol, Zack Littell, Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, Devin Smeltzer, Cody Stashak

The Twins included Smeltzer, Stashak and Gibson in a young, mostly homegrown group that is almost unrecognizable from the relief corps that came north to Minneapolis out of Spring Training, but has emerged as a firm strength of the roster in the second half. Twins relievers are third in the Majors with a cumulative 7.3 WAR (per FanGraphs) in 2019, and their 4.8 WAR and 3.56 FIP in the second half represent the best marks in the Major Leagues.

Duffey, May and Romo are likely to pitch in a higher share of leverage situations towards the middle and end of games in order to bridge the gap to Rogers, the closer, who has notched 30 saves this season. As a whole, expect Baldelli and his staff to be quite fluid with their pitching usage, especially with converted starters like Gibson and Smeltzer bringing versatility to the fold. Those two could give the Twins shorter stints out of the bullpen when needed but could also be stretched out to 30-40 pitches in cases.