Category: Dailies
Game 3: Twins at Red Sox
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
The Twins are set to close out a three-game set with their Fort Myers crosstown rivals, the Red Sox, at City of Palms Park this afternoon. It’s a split squad day for Boston so their manager Terry Francona is in Port Charlotte with the other half of the club to face the Rays.
And for those keeping track, the Mayor’s Cup race is now tied 1-1 with five contests (incl. today) remaining.
Twins (1-1)
Ben Revere, CF
Orlando Hudson, 2B
J.J. Hardy, SS
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, RF
Delmon Young, LF
Jacque Jones, DH
Brendan Harris, 3B
Wilson Ramos, C
Pitching: LHP Francisco Liriano
Others scheduled to pitch: Jeff Manship, Joe Nathan, Glen Perkins, Jesse Crain, Jose Mijares, Kyle Waldrop
Red Sox (1-1)
Mike Cameron, CF
Bill Hall, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
David Ortiz, DH
Jeremy Hermida, LF
Luis Exposito, C
Aaron Bates, 1B
Angel Sanchez, SS
Gil Velazquez, 2B
Pitching: RHP John Lackey
Others scheduled to pitch: Michael Bowden, Manny Delcarmen, Brian Shouse, Joe Nelson, Junichi Tazawa
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Game 2: All eyes on Joe Mauer
When Joe Mauer stepped to the plate in the first inning of Friday’s spring home opener at Hammond Stadium, he drew the biggest ovation from the crowd of any Twins player.
Perhaps that’s because Twins fans want to remind the catcher just how much he’s loved in Minnesota.
All eyes have been focused this spring on the catcher’s contract status and that was intensified on Thursday with the news that Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro, was at Twins camp in Fort Myers, Fla.
Shapiro is expected to remain in Fort Myers this weekend. The two sides are still negotiating a contract extension for the reigning AL MVP, although neither will comment publicly on it, so more face-to-face talks are likely to take place while he’s in town. Still, Shapiro’s presence in camp doesn’t necessarily mean that a deal is close. So far there have been no indications from either side that anything is imminent.
There have been plenty of questions directed to Mauer this spring about his contract, although the catcher has politely chosen not to discuss specifics about talks taking place. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said that Mauer, who prefers to stay out of the spotlight, has been holding up well despite all of the attention.
“He’s fine. Joe’s so quiet, you don’t even know. …
He’s just Joe,” Gardenhire said. “He goes about his business. He’s preparing for the
season, and all the other things take care of themselves. The only time
he talks about it is when somebody asks him.”
Here are a few other notes from today:
— Loek Van Mil, the 7-foot-1 pitcher from the Netherlands,
is going to have another MRI done on his right shoulder. Van Mil, who has been bothered by shoulder tendinitis, threw one pitch in a bullpen session today before shutting it down.
–Nick Punto is expected to make his spring debut on Sunday in one of the Twins’ split squad games. Punto, who underwent minor surgery on his right wrist at the end of January, has taken one session of live batting practice so far this spring. The club was going to try to get him another one but Gardenhire said there were not enough pitchers due to the fact there is a split squad this weekend.
–Carl Pavano was pleased with the way he threw in Friday’s contest, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing one hit, walking two and striking out one. He said that he’s been working on a mechanical adjustment with pitching coach Rick Anderson to get himself better extended out toward home plate in his delivery and he said he feels it’s starting to help already.
–Shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos is expected to get back to seeing action on the field after the team’s off day on Wednesday, Gardenhire said.
Game 2: Twins vs. Red Sox
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
The second of three straight games between the Fort Myers crosstown rivals will take place at Hammond Stadium this afternoon. It’s the home opener for the Twins and fans lucky enough to be in attendance will receive a free grapefruit as they exit today’s game.
As for the contest, many of the Twins new faces will be on display as Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy and Jim Thome all make their debuts for the club.
Red Sox (1-0)
Mike Cameron, CF
Bill Hall, RF
Victor Martinez, C
J.D. Drew, DH
Jed Lowrie, 2B
Lars Anderson, 1B
Ryan Kalish, LF
Yamaico Navarro, 3B
Jose Iglesias, SS
Pitching: LHP Jon Lester
Others scheduled to pitch: Tim Wakefield, Fernando Cabrera, Dustin Richardson, Ramon Ramirez, Robert Manuel, Randor Bierd
Twins (0-1)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jim Thome, DH
Delmon Young, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Danny Valencia, 3B
Pitching: RHP Carl Pavano
Others scheduled to pitch: Matt Guerrier, Clay Condrey, Jon Rauch, Rob Delaney, Alex Burnett, Anthony Slama
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Bring on the Games: Grapefruit League Opener
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
Here are the lineups for tonight’s Grapefruit League Opener for the Twins vs. the Red Sox at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. It’s also the start of the Mayor’s Cup competition between the two clubs with seven matchups between them this spring (three of which will take place this weekend).
Twins
Denard Span, CF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Jason Kubel, DH
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Jacque Jones, LF
Brendan Harris, 3B
Brock Peterson, 1B
Drew Butera, C
Matt Tolbert, SS
Pitching: RHP Nick Blackburn
Others scheduled to pitch: Kevin Slowey, Pat Neshek, Mike Maroth, Deolis Guerra, Jose Lugo, Kyle Waldrop
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Jeremy Hermida, RF
Josh Reddick, CF
Dusty Brown, C
Pitching: RHP Josh Beckett
Others scheduled to pitch: Jonathan Papelbon, Hideki Okajima, Daniel Bard, Ramon Ramirez, Brian Shouse, Scott Atchison
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Cage time: Tuesday’s tidbits and notes
Rainstorms throughout the Fort Myers area this morning forced the Twins workouts inside the indoor batting cages this morning. Both pitchers and hitters got their work done in the cages, although it wasn’t without a little havoc. Manager Ron Gardenhire said the club had to pin up the netting in one of the cages because 6-foot-11 Jon Rauch was too tall and his arm was hitting the netting during his delivery.
Still despite the cramped space and less than ideal conditions, the Twins were able to get enough done on Tuesday.
“We got plenty of work, just inside, not on the grass,” Gardenhire said. “ Guys got out there, ran around, whatever, all
that stuff. But we had to do most of our work inside, the fields got
pretty ugly, which is never a bad thing. You get your work in,
sometimes give them a little break on their legs, a little less
throwing on a day like this is fine. Just don’t want too many of them.
We just moved today’s program back to tomorrow. Perfect.”
Here are a few more news nuggets from Tuesday:
— All of the injury concerns seem to be doing OK. Brian Duensing and Jose Mijares were both able to throw after getting hit during live batting practice in recent days.
— Gardenhire passed along his lineup for Thursday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Red Sox at City of Palms Park
It’s as follows: Denard Span CF, Alexi Casilla 2B, Jason Kubel DH, Michael Cuddyer RF, Jacque Jones LF, Brendan Harris 3B, Brock Peterson 1B, Drew Butera C, Matt Tolbert SS
Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will play in Friday’s home opener at Hammond Stadium. Orlando Hudson and J.J. Hardy will likely make their Twins spring debuts in that contest as well.
— Gardenhire is also scheduled to receive his Chuck Tanner Manager of the Year Award during Sunday’s split squad game in Bradenton against the Pirates. The award was given out this offseason but Gardenhire was unable to attend due to traveling across the country with his mother.
One person who gave Gardenhire grief for not attending was Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who was roasted at the event in Pittsburgh. Leyland also had a bit of advice to pass along to Gardenhire recently.
Having heard Gardy’s comment about Joe Mauer’s contract in that the Twins were deciding whether to give the catcher Minneapolis or St. Paul, Leyland said he had the answer.
“Give him both,” the Tigers skipper said.
Perfect weather for a Photo Day
The Twins workout got off to a later start than usual this morning due to the team’s annual Photo Day. Although it’s been chilly and windy for many of the workout days, the Twins got a break on Monday with a warmer, sunny day. A fitting time for the weather to improve considering how many pictures had to be taken.
Here are some notes from the day:
— Jose Morales had the cast removed from his surgically repaired right wrist on Monday. He’s now set to start working on getting the strength and flexibility back in his wrist. It will be two weeks before the switch-hitter will be allowed to swing from the right side and four weeks before he will swing from the left side. So it looks like Morales will still be pushing to be ready in time for Opening Day.
— Manager Ron Gardenhire passed along Boston’s pitching lineup for the three games the two clubs will play against each other this week. So here are the matchups:
Thursday: Nick Blackburn/Kevin Slowey vs. Josh Beckett
Friday: Carl Pavano vs. Jon Lester
Saturday: Francisco Liriano vs. John Lackey
Also I wanted to pass along a funny exchange with Jose Mijares, who was struck by a line drive off Jason Kubel’s bat while throwing live batting practice on Sunday.
I walked over to Mijares’ locker in the clubhouse today and before I could even get there, Mijares pointed to his arm and gave me a big thumbs up. The left-hander then said that his arm is a little sore but he’ll be OK. He plans to throw live batting practice on Tuesday.
Mijares didn’t use a screen to pitch behind on Sunday. But when I asked him if he’ll use one on Tuesday, his answer was emphatic.
“Yeah, a BIG one,” he said.
O Canada: Monday morning camp tidbits
It was hard to miss the two Canada hats and the Canadian Olympic scarf hanging from the lockers of Justin Morneau and Rene Tosoni inside the Hammond Stadium clubhouse this morning.
When Morneau walked into the clubhouse after getting his photos taken for “Photo Day,” the New Westminster, British Columbia native wore a mile-wide smile on his face and even walked with a little strut following Canada’s 3-2 OT win over the U.S. in the Olympic gold medal game yesterday.
Morneau watched the game with his fellow Canadian, Tosoni, but they also let infielder Brendan Harris in on their Canadian-only viewing party because Morneau said that Harris is actually a hockey fan.
The first baseman said that he got quite a few text messages from his Twins teammates when the U.S. tied the game at 2 with 24.4 seconds remaining in regulation. But it only seemed to make Canada’s victory even sweeter for the Twins first baseman, who texted some of the members of the gold medal winning team after the game — Chris Pronger, Patrick Marleau, Brenden Morrow and Brent Seabrook.
“I thanked them for making my life a lot easier,” Morneau said with a laugh.
Today is photo day, so the workouts started a little later than usual.
Also, here are a few nuggets from yesterday that I didn’t get to blog.
— Left-hander Francisco Liriano impressed during his first round of live batting practice. His slider was sharp, as was his fastball at times. Danny Valencia, who cracked his bat on the first swing off Liriano, called one fastball down and away “unhittable.” Manager Ron Gardenhire was not on the same field as Liriano yesterday but said that all reports were that the pitcher was “pretty filthy.”
— Gardenhire did get a chance to see a few of the new pitchers on his field, including Clay Condrey and non-roster invitee Mike Maroth.Having watched Maroth for many years as he pitched against the Twins with Detroit, Gardenhire said he saw many of the same good things from the left-hander.
“The ball was really moving all over the place,” Gardenhire said of Maroth. “He’s working on a few different things with the grip and
location. In and out a little bit better. The ball was really good. It
was really nice. First day out there and I haven’t seen him throw ‘pens
or anything…the same guy I remember. The ball moving all over the
place. Pretty good.”
–Gardenhire also reiterated that Michael Cuddyer will be the backup at first base and likely will see time there when Justin Morneau gets a day off. While Jacque Jones said he’d be willing to take grounders at first as he tries to make the club, even if it’s a long shot at best, Gardenhire didn’t seem so enthused by that idea.
“I don’t worry about Jacque in left, center or right,” Gardenhire
said. “I would worry about Jacque at first base. I haven’t seen that
part and I don’t really believe that’s part of his repertoire. Just
guessing. On the flip side, there is no doubt that he would take ground
balls at first base and be willing to do that.”
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Rain, rain go away
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
The Twins first full squad workout was today but some rain showers forced it to be halted a tad early.
Not before many of us writers got a little wet while standing behind the batting cage to watch some live batting practice. Carl Pavano and Scott Baker threw to an impressive group of hitters –Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Jim Thome and Michael Cuddyer.
We were still standing out in the elements when the second group of hitters came up to bat, including Brendan Harris, Denard Span and Rene Tosoni. But we didn’t last for that entire hitting session as the rain began to fall harder.
When Harris teased the reporters for being “growing soft” as we retreated to the dugout to get away from the rain, LaVelle Neal of the Star Tribune had an appropriate response. “We’re not paid to be in the rain,” he said.
— Despite the rain, there were no injuries to report in camp other than shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos, who has some arm soreness and has been shut down from throwing for a couple days..
— While Tony Oliva has been around for a couple day, many of the other special instructors arrived before Saturday’s first full squad workout. Paul Molitor, Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew were all on hand for rainy day. Killebrew had to miss TwinsFest last month after having his gallblader removed but he said he’s starting to feel much better.
— Another heartwarming moment on Saturday was seeing Minor League hitting coach Ricardo Ingram walking around the clubhouse. Ingram had to take a leave of absence from Triple-A Rochester last year to undergo treatments at Duke University for a cancerous brain tumor. He’s been cleared to work this season and his role will be as a roving hitting instructor for Rochester and Double-A New Britain. Everyone seemed excited to see Ingram. He was greeted with hugs from many players and coaches and he spent a long time talking with Jacque Jones.
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Bring on the Hitters
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
Today marked the final day that only the Twins pitchers and catchers worked out. On Saturday the club will hold its first full squad workout and that means the annual team meeting will take place. It’s the time when manager Ron Gardenhire gives his speech to the team for the 2010 season.
Gardy was asked on Friday if the message was going to be pretty simple considering that expectations are high for his club in 2010.
“It’s the same every year. Our goal is to be consistent and try to win our division,” Gardenhire said. “If everything works out OK we should do just fine. Talking about it doesn’t get it done. It’s all about the work on the field and the games. Sure we have high expectations. Absolutely. I think I do and I think everybody should. We like our baseball team. We will see how it goes.
“The meeting tomorrow is about getting the work done. We have never rested on our laurels. We have never said that we are OK. We will continue to work our tails off and try to outwork everybody else.”
— As I wrote in a story for the website, Justin Morneau arrived to camp today. Surprisingly, though, there were no USA decorations in his locker when he showed up. I thought there would be since so many of his teammates seemed ready to trash talk about Team USA beating Canada in Olympic hockey last Sunday. The only gesture was that Brendan Harris put on a USA hockey hat and teased Morneau at his locker with it for a few minutes early in the morning.
So why no decorations?
“I think there probably was,” Morneau said. “Then they saw that Russia game and took them down.”
— The only position player who had not been spotted in the clubhouse by Friday afternoon was shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos. In addition to Morneau, outfielder Juan Portes also reported to camp on Friday.
— One sign that was spotted in a locker by day’s end was this “1st place Long and Mean: 55” by Joe Mauer’s stall. It was to celebrate that the catcher’s group won the charity golf tournament by shooting a 55 on the Long and Mean course at Fiddlesticks on Thursday afternoon. Mauer couldn’t resist putting it up.
“This is the first time I’ve won the thing,” Mauer said with a smile.
More tomorrow when pitchers start throwing live batting practice. It’s always a day of entertainment as the pitchers have a clear advantage over hitters early in camp.
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Day 4: Time for a little golf
Every year during Spring Training the Twins host a charity golf tournament to benefit the Lee Memorial Regional Cancer Center. This year’s event took place on Thursday at the Fiddlesticks Country Club in Fort Myers.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the event in each of the past four years and it’s a chance for me to not only get in a round of golf, but also to have some fun while raising money for a very good cause.
More than 30 Twins players and coaches hit the links on Thursday, including manager Ron Gardenhire, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, Carl Pavano, Nick Punto, and Matt Guerrier.
But the player who drew the most attention on the driving range before the tournament was Twins outfield prospect Aaron Hicks. The California native is a scratch golfer and was blasting drives past the end of the driving range — and mind you, they were straight shots that would land in the middle of the fairway. Other players such as Cuddyer gathered around to watch Hicks hit, and they were clearly impressed.
However it was Mauer’s foursome that took the top spot of the day, as they shot the lowest score of any group — 55.
Due to the golf tournament, Thursday’s workout was quick and the players were off the field a little earlier than usual.
That meant there wasn’t much news from the workout. Alexi Casilla was the one position player who reported to camp, leaving just three players — Justin Morneau, Estarlin De Los Santos and Juan Portes — missing. The buzz in camp is that Morneau is in Florida but just hasn’t attended a workout yet. For manager Ron Gardenhire, that’s actually a positive because it means that Morneau is listening to the advice that he needs to back off his excessive workload at Spring Training. The first baseman has often been one of the first position players to report and is at the complex nearly every morning by 7 a.m. to hit in the cages. Yet the team wants that to change a little this spring following Morneau’s back injury last year.
“He knows he’s got a long spring training and a long
season. It’s good that he’s taking his time,” Gardenhire said. “He’s
not supposed to report until Friday and work out Saturday, and that’s
good. Stay away, it’s less stress on his back.”
Kelly's Corner 