FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Twins will need to rely heavily on the youth movement in their pitching staff this season if they are to surge out of the cellar of the American League Central and take full advantage of having Carlos Correa in their clubhouse. Could two of those touted young arms make an impact sooner than most expected?

Jhoan Duran and Josh Winder, the Nos. 6 and No. 7 prospects in the organization per MLB Pipeline, remain right in the thick of things during these waning days of Spring Training, and the Twins have maintained throughout camp that they could be impact members of the Major League pitching staff early this season.

How soon could that be? Opening Day soon?

That's very possible.

Though the path to Opening Day appeared to narrow for Winder when the Twins signed Chris Archer to a one-year deal on Monday, manager Rocco Baldelli indicated on Wednesday that he'd be open to using the 25-year-old as a length option in his Opening Day relief corps, something that had already been established as a possibility with Duran.

"We’re not going to go six-man [rotation]," Baldelli said. "So if it’s in the big leagues, it’s going to be as some kind of bullpen option. But we can get creative in April and we will have a lot of pitchers on our staff and we will have starters that are not completely built up. There’s ways to use a guy like Josh Winder in the big leagues, even if he’s not starting."

Entering camp, Winder might have appeared the likelier of the two to crack the Opening Day roster, considering his success across Double-A and Triple-A last season, the Twins' glaring need in the starting rotation and the right elbow issues that limited Duran to only 16 innings last season.

Winder has been part of the rotation all spring, unlike Duran, who has exclusively pitched out of the bullpen despite having started for his entire Minor League career -- and that's likely Duran's key to making the team. Still, Baldelli said that wouldn't stop the Twins from moving Winder out of his current routine, especially since starters won't be fully stretched out by Friday, leaving plenty of innings up for grabs.

"Yes, I would be comfortable doing that," Baldelli said. "I do think that you take certain considerations if you can allow a guy to prepare for it, you can kind of mock some things out. You can get them to start thinking about it. You can visualize it. You can also try to get them a clean inning if possible. But these games are Major League baseball games and you can’t always make it ideal. But there are ways we think we can prepare him if that were the decision."

Even without a ton of experience in Triple-A, Duran's stuff is electric enough to play in the Majors -- and the Twins have seen that this spring, as he has allowed one hit in five innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk. He's clearly destined for a bullpen role this year, having pitched in relief in all of his outings this spring, and that likely meshes better with his limited workload from '21.

"I worked really hard in the offseason to be able to come back healthy and hopefully have an entire healthy season this year, and I’m feeling good," Duran said.

Until Sunday, Winder appeared the likeliest among the Twins' in-house candidates to fill that fifth starter slot, with his three strong innings to open Wednesday's 9-4 win against the Pirates bringing him to one run allowed in five spring innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk as well. He knows he might have debuted with the Twins last fall had he not been sidelined in July with right shoulder issues.

He's been making sure to tune out all of that noise.

"I can't really worry about all the other stuff I can't control," Winder said. "There's always going to be noise. There's always going to be people talking about what I'm doing. As long as I can kind of stay focused on myself and improving whatever holes I have in my game, I'm going to be putting myself in the best spot to succeed."

The relief opportunities mesh better with the Twins' need in the bullpen, which will have a particularly unique composition this April considering the likelihood of expanded 28-man rosters and the relative lack of buildup for starters, which will necessitate relievers who can throw multiple innings -- as many as five of them.

Duran had already postured himself for such a spot, even as his power fastball (consistently over 100 mph this spring) and unique "splinker" pitch could eventually play up in short-leverage stints.

"He can easily go multiple innings for us," Baldelli said. "I think he can fit in a number of roles. It depends on how he goes out there and pitches. I can see different scenarios where he’s with us in the big leagues at the beginning of the year, or near the beginning of the year. But again, we’re not there yet."

When the dust settles, Winder might very well join him.