Josh Winder ’19 Makes Twins Opening Day 28-Man Roster

Josh Winder ’19, a former standout baseball player for VMI, has earned a spot on the Minnesota Twins’ opening day 28-man roster, the team announced April 7. Winder, a 2019 graduate, becomes just the fourth VMI alumnus to make the majors, following Ryan Glynn ’96, Cory Spangenberg ’13, and Reed Garrett ’15.

Winder is expected to be used out of the Minnesota bullpen initially but is also a candidate to join the starting rotation at some point.

Winder, a right-handed pitcher, had a spectacular start to the 2021 season. He began the year at the Minnesota Twins AA affiliate Wichita and, in 10 starts for the Wind Surge, went 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA, 65 strikeouts, and just 10 walks over 54.2 innings. Winder was promoted to Class AAA St. Paul in late June and pitched in the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, as part of MLB’s All-Star Weekend. He is the Twins’ seventh-ranked prospect by MLB.com and sixth by Baseball America, both released before the 2022 season.

Winder became the third-highest draft pick in school history when he was selected in the seventh round by the Twins in 2018. Winder finished his career at VMI with the top K/9 mark in school history, second in BB/9, tied for third in wins, second in strikeouts, and fourth in both games started and innings pitched. He earned Second Team All-SoCon honors in his final two seasons.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at vmikeydets.com.