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When the Twins announced their 26-man Opening Day roster at the conclusion of Spring Training, it was probably fair to say that Willi Castro was the last man onto the team, considering he was the only one who needed to be added to the 40-man roster.

He only got that shot because both Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff started the season on the injured list, and he was never expected to be one of the more prominent players on this roster despite his strong performance in Spring Training. But it’s now the end of May, and Castro has continued to make a strong impression with his ability to fill in the peripheries of the roster and do all the little things.

“I knew he was a good athlete, [and] he’s an even better athlete than I thought he was when he showed up here for Spring Training,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “A good athlete, like explosiveness and things like that. I knew he was a good runner, but he runs even better than I thought. His instincts are good. He plays good, aggressive baseball.”

Though the 26-year-old Castro is hitting only .222/.291/.375 in 34 games, consider how his value has manifested to this team just within the past week. On Friday, he hit a go-ahead homer and played second base, left field and second base again on defense. Two days before that, in the series finale against the Dodgers, he started at third base, moved to center field and finished the game at second base.

Castro has appeared at every position except first base and catcher, and that level of extreme flexibility is a big factor in allowing the Twins to pinch-hit, pinch-run and platoon as aggressively as they could possibly want.

The Twins are fine playing him at shortstop (they did that against the Dodgers, too), and now, Castro is going to be the backup center fielder behind Michael Taylor due to the injury to Nick Gordon -- and that’s something the Twins have grown comfortable with Castro doing because of how his athleticism has opened eyes on the coaching staff.

“I really enjoy that,” Castro said. “I think, as a player, it opens more doors for me. I love that.”

And, significantly, Castro is currently the Twins’ premier small ball threat on offense, bringing a change of pace to a lineup that has routinely ranked near the bottom of the league in bunts and stolen bases since Baldelli took over before the 2019 season.

Castro’s five stolen bases rank second on the team to Taylor, and he’s a savvy baserunner, too. For instance: In that finale against the Dodgers, he timed the cadence of left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson and took off for third, forcing the southpaw to flip around on the mound and deliver an awkward and rarely performed pickoff throw that sailed away from the third baseman, allowing Castro to score the go-ahead run.

“Sometimes, forcing things and making people make plays can benefit you,” Baldelli said. “I like the way Willi Castro plays the game overall. I really do.”

“I think that's part of my abilities,” Castro said. “I just need to go out there and get some bases, be aggressive on the bases, get some good jumps and that's it. That's my game.”

Castro also dropped a successful safety squeeze bunt to cap a three-run rally in the first inning of Saturday’s victory over the Angels, something Baldelli acknowledged he only does when he has the right personnel and skillset available to him at the plate.

The Twins might not have expected it quite to this level, but Castro brings a lot of those skills -- and in terms of doing the little things on the margins, he’s making a big impact.

“He’s a good, aggressive, well-rounded baseball player,” Baldelli said. “I keep saying it: He offers things I didn’t even know he had to offer. His attitude, the way he shows up every day, his work ethic, these are things that truly allow him to improve and be the player that he is.

“He’s a very important player to what’s going on here.”