The Twins spent this spring evaluating players such as Jose Miranda, Edouard Julien and Austin Martin as they looked to fill out the roster. The first two made the team out of camp. The latter did not, beginning his season in Triple-A, where he has spent most of it recovering from two hamstring injuries.

But all along, the Twins knew they would need more than just the 26 players they left Fort Myers, Fla. with, and a look at their current roster proves just that. Injuries and underperformance have opened opportunities for other players, some of whom weren’t even in the organization this spring.

“One of the first things that (manager Rocco Baldelli) says every spring training to everyone in the clubhouse is ‘Hey, at some point we’re going to need a lot of you guys. Don’t think because you didn’t start the season on the 26-man roster, you’re not going to help contribute,’ ” starter Pablo López said. “Lo and behold, a couple of weeks later, we have guys in the lineup that were not part of Opening Day, but were part of that philosophy, that mentality that we’ve been building that everyone in here competes, everyone in here can contribute.”

Ryan Fitzgerald, who made his major league debut over the weekend after parts of seven seasons in the minor leagues, was optioned back to Triple-A on Thursday, a day after scoring a game-winning run against Cleveland. That move paves the way for shortstop Carlos Correa to return from the seven-day concussion injured list this weekend against Kansas City.

Here’s a look at three of the newest Twins who remain on the roster, how they got here and how they fit in:

Kody Clemens

Clemens, the most impactful of the new additions, arrived in late April, acquired in a trade after rookie Luke Keaschall broke his forearm. He had been designated by assignment just days earlier by the Philadelphia Phillies after getting little playing time through the first few weeks of the season (seven plate appearances).

He’s a left-handed hitter like Julien but offers better defense and more positional versatility. And he certainly has made the most of his playing time.

Playing more consistently, he said, has helped him get into a good rhythm. And, already, he’s had some big moments, walking off Cleveland on Wednesday and hitting a home run at his father’s old stomping grounds, Fenway Park, with both of his parents — MLB legend Roger and wife Debbie — in attendance.

Clemens, who has played primarily second base for the Twins with some first and corner outfield thrown in, is hitting .318 with a 1.070 OPS and three home runs in 17 games since coming to Minnesota.

“In the past, you show up, you’re going to pinch hit,” Clemens said. “If I don’t produce, then I’m not going to play for five days. Knowing I’m getting consistent at-bats is nice. Knowing that if I do strikeout the first at-bat, I’m going to get another at-bat. The pressure is off.”

Jonah Bride

Like Clemens, Bride was acquired in a trade for cash in April. He had been designated for assignment by the Miami Marlins after beginning his season 4 for 40 (.100). A year earlier, Bride, who debuted in 2022 with the Oakland Athletics, hit 11 home runs in 71 games and posted a 123 OPS+, a number 23 percent better than the league average hitter.

Bride got off to a quick start in Minnesota, crediting the team’s hitting coaches with encouraging him to lower his hands, which led to some early results.

He had three hits in Wednesday’s 6-5 win over the Cleveland Guardians and is 13 for 43 (.302) since the trade.
Bride, a right-handed hitter, has played a mix of first base and third base (along with a few innings at second) in limited action for the Twins.

The Twins expected Miranda to see time at the corner infield spots but his slow start led to his demotion and the Twins added Bride to the mix just a few days later.

Carson McCusker

The 6’8” outfielder, whom the Twins signed out of independent ball in June 2023, has been turning heads and finally got the call over the weekend when Byron Buxton joined Correa on the concussion injured list.

McCusker, who turned 27 on Thursday, was hitting .350 with a 1.062 OPS in Triple-A this season with 10 home runs in 38 games at the time of his promotion — his first two the majors. He’s had just two at-bats so far, going 0 for 2.

While there may not be much of an opportunity for him right now, particularly with Buxton and Matt Wallner nearing returns, McCusker provides a potentially intriguing power threat for the Twins.

“It’s honestly kind of a lot to take in,” he said over the weekend. “It’s definitely a blessing. It’s kind of crazy looking back where I was to where I am now that I was able to get here and do it.”

With just more than a week before it starts, Americans should prepare for an “above average” hurricane season as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts between 13 and 19 named storms.

Of those storms, the federal weather agency forecasts that six to 10 will be hurricanes — with three to five of them major ones. NOAA’s Atlantic hurricane outlook was released during a news conference Thursday, 10 days before the June 1 start of the season.

Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, and other NOAA experts urged the public to get ready for storms sooner than later.

“Everyone should be prepared as if they are going to be hit,” Graham said. “Every Category 5 hurricane [winds at least 157 mph] to ever hit this country was a tropical storm three days prior. You got to have a plan early.”

A “normal” hurricane season has 14 named storms with seven hurricanes and three major ones, according to NOAA. A major hurricane is a Category 3 or higher with sustained wind speeds of at least 111 mph.

Last year, the weather agency predicted the 2024 season had an 85% chance of being above normal and forecasted its “highest ever” range of between 17 and 25 named storms. NOAA forecasts a 60% chance this season will be above normal, 30% chance of near normal and 10% chance of below normal.

That 2024 season ended up with 18 named storms and 11 hurricanes, including five major ones. That included three hurricanes — Debby, Helene and Milton — making landfall in Florida. The season tied the 2005 record for most hurricanes to hit the peninsula in a year.

In total, Helene and Milton were responsible for at least 250 deaths and more than $120 billion in damage within the United States. After Milton moved through Central Florida, an Orange County man died after apparently stepping on a downed power line while clearing debris in his yard. He is believed to be the only Orlando metropolitan area fatality of the storm, which killed at least 17 across the state. Helene was blamed for at least 18 deaths in Florida.

Last month, weather experts at Colorado State University forecast an above-average storm season this year with 17 named storms, of which nine will become hurricanes. There is a better than 50% chance a major hurricane will strike the United States.

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The CSU forecast — considered among the most accurate in predicting tropical activity — points to warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the eastern subtropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean as an indication of an active season.

Even though weather forecasts show a season likely not as busy as last year, experts said the public — especially those living near coastal areas of Florida and the United States — should remain vigilant. The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.

The news conference was held at Jefferson Parrish Emergency Operations Center in Gretna, La., just outside New Orleans, to grimly mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The powerful storm barreled into the southeast Louisiana coast as a Category 3 on Aug. 29, 2005 and was responsible for an estimated 1,883 fatalities around New Orleans and millions of people were left homeless in the city and along the Gulf Coast.

“Since this devastation we’ve made incredible strides” in forecasting and preparing for storms,” Graham said. “We’ve really gotten better.”

The loss of life and property damage was heightened by breaks in the levees that separate New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain. At least 80% of New Orleans was under flood waters on Aug. 31. With more than $160 billion in damages, Katrina is the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States, surpassing the record previously held by Hurricane Andrew from 1992.

By JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and the United States will hold talks Friday in Rome, their fifth round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

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The talks follow previously negotiations in both Rome and in Muscat, Oman.

President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign targeting the country. He has repeatedly suggested military action against Iran remained a possibility, while emphasizing he still believed a new deal could be reached by writing a letter to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to jump start these talks.

Khamenei has warned Iran would respond to any attack with an attack of its own.

Here’s what to know about the letter, Iran’s nuclear program and the tensions that have stalked relations between Tehran and Washington since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Why did Trump write the letter?

Trump dispatched the letter to Khamenei on March 5, then gave a television interview the next day in which he acknowledged sending it. He said: “I’ve written them a letter saying, ‘I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.’”

Since returning to the White House, the president has been pushing for talks while ratcheting up sanctions and suggesting a military strike by Israel or the U.S. could target Iranian nuclear sites.

A previous letter from Trump during his first term drew an angry retort from the supreme leader.

But Trump’s letters to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his first term led to face-to-face meetings, though no deals to limit Pyongyang’s atomic bombs and a missile program capable of reaching the continental U.S.

How did previous rounds go?

Oman, a sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has hosted the three rounds of talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. The two men have met face to face after indirect talks, a rare occurrence due to the decades of tensions between the countries.

It hasn’t been all smooth, however. Witkoff at one point made a television appearance in which he suggested 3.67% enrichment for Iran could be something the countries could agree on. But that’s exactly the terms set by the 2015 nuclear deal struck under U.S. President Barack Obama, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew America. Witkoff, Trump and other American officials in the time since have maintained Iran can have no enrichment under any deal, something to which Tehran insists it won’t agree.

Despite that, Iran and the U.S. have held expert-level talks. Experts described that as a positive sign, though much likely remains to be agreed before reaching a tentative deal.

Why does Iran’s nuclear program worry the West?

Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials increasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 60%, the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.

Under the original 2015 nuclear deal, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and to maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms (661 pounds). The last report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s program put its stockpile at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds) as it enriches a fraction of it to 60% purity.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”

Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has warned in a televised interview that his country has the capability to build nuclear weapons, but it is not pursuing it and has no problem with the IAEA’s inspections. However, he said if the U.S. or Israel were to attack Iran over the issue, the country would have no choice but to move toward nuclear weapon development.

“If you make a mistake regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, you will force Iran to take that path, because it must defend itself,” he said.

Why are relations so bad between Iran and the U.S.?

Iran was once one of the U.S.’s top allies in the Mideast under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who purchased American military weapons and allowed CIA technicians to run secret listening posts monitoring the neighboring Soviet Union. The CIA had fomented a 1953 coup that cemented the shah’s rule.

But in January 1979, the shah, fatally ill with cancer, fled Iran as mass demonstrations swelled against his rule. The Islamic Revolution followed, led by Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and created Iran’s theocratic government.

Later that year, university students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seeking the shah’s extradition and sparking the 444-day hostage crisis that saw diplomatic relations between Iran and the U.S. severed. The Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s saw the U.S. back Saddam Hussein. The “Tanker War” during that conflict saw the U.S. launch a one-day assault that crippled Iran at sea, while the U.S. later shot down an Iranian commercial airliner that the American military said it mistook for a warplane.

Iran and the U.S. have see-sawed between enmity and grudging diplomacy in the years since, with relations peaking when Tehran made the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. But Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, sparking tensions in the Mideast that persist today.

Associated Press writer Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/