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Winder could win a spot in the Minnesota rotation to begin the season, Megan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Winder gave up two hits and a walk but had three strikeouts in two scoreless innings in his first spring training outing Wednesday.
Winder didn't pitch after July 21 in the minors last year because of a right shoulder impingement, but he looks fully healthy in spring training. It's possible, even likely, that the Twins sign an established veteran to fill out their starting rotation, but until then the fifth starter role is open. Winder looks like the leading candidate with Lewis Thorpe and Griffin Jax moving to the bullpen. However, the competition for the fifth starter role may not be settled until late in spring training and could be in flux early in the season. Winder dominated at Double-A (1.98 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 31.3 K%, 4.8 BB%) last year, but was less impressive in four starts at Triple-A (4.67 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 22.4 K%, 4.8 BB%) before being shut down.
