Tagged: Twins
Twins vs. Orioles 3/11
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
After a couple days off, I’m back on the beat. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?
That was a joke of course. As for an update on that front, I spoke with Joe Nathan who was decked out in his workout gear today and had a busy day scheduled in the gym as well as the training room. For now, Nathan is trying to strengthen the muscles around the elbow and keep himself busy as he waits to gather all the information to decide whether he’ll try to pitch this season or not.
Nathan said he’d like to have a decision by next week and right now they’ll wait for some second opinions from Dr. James Andrews as well as Dr. David Altchek, the former Mets physician.
So for now, they wait.
Orioles (2-6)
Nolan Reimold, DH
Robert Andino, 2B
Nick Markakis, RF
Luke Scott, LF
Garrett Atkins, 1B
Josh Bell, 3B
Jeff Salazar, CF
Chad Moeller, C
Pedro Florimon, SS
Pitching: RHP Kevin Millwood
Others scheduled to pitch: Koji Uehara, Jim Johnson, Alberto Castillo
Twins (4-3)
Denard Span, CF
Orlando Hudson, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason Kubel, DH
Delmon Young, LF
J.J. Hardy, SS
Nick Punto, 3B
Pitching: RHP Scott Baker
Others scheduled to pitch: Francisco Liriano, Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, Mike Maroth, Brian Duensing, Rob Delaney
A reminder you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
Monday’s tidbits: More chicken and batting order changes?
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire walked into the visiting clubhouse at Ed Smith Stadium after Monday’s 5-0 victory and had one complaint.
“These long-term contracts are killing us,” Gardenhire said. “Most teams get three pieces of chicken, we get two. We better hurry up [and eat] before Mauer signs or we’ll get one piece.”
Gardenhire’s joke was in regards to the team’s postgame meal for the bus ride home which was a box of chicken for each player. It garnered a good laugh out of the clubhouse where Nick Blackburn sat, having just signed a four-year, $14 million contract on Sunday.
The skipper was serious in his chicken complaint but he couldn’t help but laugh as well. He said that he even told one of the clubhouse guys to order twice as much since there was one less piece of chicken in each box.
— Before the game, Gardenhire talked about the possibility of moving Michael Cuddyer into the fifth spot in the lineup at times this season to break up the three lefties — Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel or Mauer, Morneau and Jim Thome.
Cuddyer hit 32 home runs last year and played a big role in the offense over the final three weeks of the season when Morneau was out due to his back injury. And Gardenhire wouldn’t mind the possibility of using him in that fifth spot to force other teams to think about leaving a left-hander in the game.
“I don’t mind putting a righty in [the fifth spot] and then having Kubel in there afterwards,” Gardenhire said. “Really that’s the best scenario because if they throw a lefty in there, they either have to leave him in to face Cuddyer to try to get to Kubel or take your chances or whatever. But I don’t worry about lefties vs. those guys either.”
— Also a quick note that I’ll be off tomorrow. Jonathan Mayo, one of our talented writers, will be filling in for me so be sure to check the site for updates on Nathan and the rest of the club.
As promised to Mr. Mayo, I’m going to let my blog readers know about a great book if they are interested in finding out more information on Twins prospects. Blogger Seth Stohs of www.sethspeaks.net has written his second annual Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. There is a link on his website if you are interested in ordering. It’s got over 150 profiles on
prospects in the system, so it’s a great guide for sorting out all the
young players here in Ft.
Myers. Oh and the foreword is written by yours truly. But please don’t let that discourage you from getting the book.
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Twins at Orioles 3/8
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
Sorry for the lack of lineups yesterday, it was a little busy day with Twins news. But I’m in Sarasota for the Twins’ contest against the Orioles today.
As for an update on Joe Nathan, he’s in Minnesota to get his tests done today on his sore right elbow. There will be no news on the results of those exams until tomorrow. Nathan will fly back from Minnesota tonight and the doctors will compare his MRI and CT scan with those he had done in September. So we’ll know more about a plan of action after that takes place.
In other injury news, Glen Perkins has been battling a stiff back, manager Ron Gardenhire said. But Perkins supposedly felt better today when he got to the park. Pat Neshek is also dealing with a sore hamstring. Neither injury sounded like a big deal.
Denard Span said he’s been dealing with a little bit of soreness in his throwing arm, so he’s taking a break from throwing when he’s not playing in games. He said this morning that it’s just a normal part of spring, getting his arm back into shape and it getting a little sore from all the drills.
Twins (2-3)
Ben Revere, CF
Nick Punto, 3B
Michael Cuddyer, RF
Jason Kubel, DH
Brendan Harris, SS
Jacque Jones, LF
Luke Hughes, 2B
Chris Parmelee, 1B
Drew Butera, C
Pitching: RHP Kevin Slowey
Others scheduled to pitch: Nick Blackburn, Jose Mijares, Jeff Manship, Clay Condrey, Anthony Slama
Orioles (1-4)
Felix Pie, LF
Adam Jones, CF
Miguel Tejada, 3B
Luke Scott, 1B
Matt Wieters, DH
Lou Montanez, RF
Cesar Izturis, SS
Craig Tatum, C
Robert Andino, 2B
Pitching: LHP Brian Matusz
Others scheduled to pitch: Jim Johnson, Koji Uehara, Armando Gabino, Frank Mata, Ross Wolf
A reminder you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
Twins sign RHP Nick Blackburn to four-year deal
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
FORT MYERS, Fla. –The Twins announced Sunday that they have signed right-hander Nick Blackburn to a four-year, $14 million contract which includes an $8 million option for the 2014 season.
Blackburn was 11-11 with a 4.03 ERA in 33 starts for the Twins last season. He led the team in innings pitched (205 2/3) and was second on the team in wins.
A 29th round pick of the Twins in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Blackburn has a career record of 22-24 with 202 strikeouts in 72 appearances (66 starts).
The Twins have also signed the remaining unsigned players on their 40-man roster to one-year deals.
Nathan headed to Twin Cities for MRI on elbow
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
FORT MYERS, Fla. -Twins closer Joe Nathan is headed to the Twin Cities for an MRI on his surgically repaired right elbow.
Nathan, 35, left Saturday’s game against the Red Sox for precautionary reasons after feeling tightness and soreness in that right elbow.
When he arrived in the Twins clubhouse on Sunday morning, Nathan said his elbow was feeling stiff and sore. After getting his elbow re-evaluated by team doctors, Nathan said the decision was made to have further pictures taken of the elbow.
The team and Nathan want to make sure the tightness in his elbow was not due to anything more than pain from breaking up scar tissue following the surgery he had on Oct. 20 to remove bone spurs and loose bodies from the elbow.
“Everything is looking good as it not being super serious,” Nathan said. “As far as tears or anything, it doesn’t look like it’s anything like that. That’s a positive and I’m going up there with positive thoughts. But we definitely want to be precautionary and make sure that we have all the information we could gather to at least give us peace of mind and know that hopefully nothing is going on.”
Nathan said he’ll take a couple days off from throwing. But he wouldn’t know the exact plan of treatment until they get more information from the MRI, which they’ll compare to a previous one he had prior to surgery.
“I think we always expect speed bumps when you are coming back from surgery,” Nathan said. “It’s nice that if there is a time to have it happen, it happened on my first game and not my last game down here. Now we’re staring at the season starting and me missing time during the season. Just going to hope it’s as minor as it can be and it hopefully it doesn’t go into the regular season.”
More notes and nuggets from Game 3 of spring
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn’t pleased with how his pitching staff threw the ball in their third spring game, a 9-3 loss to the Red Sox. But the bigger concern to come out of Saturday’s contest was the health of closer Joe Nathan.
Nathan had to leave the game after recording just one out in the third inning due to tightness and soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow. For a team that doesn’t have a clear choice for the closer spot if Nathan isn’t available, it’s not a comforting sight to see him have to leave a game.
After exiting the contest, Nathan went back to the Twins Spring Training complex across town to have his elbow examined by the team doctors. The club will know more from the results of that, but the belief (and hope) of the team is that this could be normal soreness as Nathan works his way back from the surgery.
So we’ll have to see on Sunday what the news is about Nathan. He’ll likely be shut down for at least a few days. Since it’s Spring Training, the club will be cautious with their four-time All-Star closer.
Here are a few other nuggets from the day:
–Jesse Crain was scheduled to pitch in Saturday’s contest but he was scratched due to a case of the flu. It’s possible he could end up throwing in one of the split squad games on Sunday.
–Loek Van Mil had another MRI on his right shoulder but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he hadn’t heard the results of that yet.
— I had a nice visit with Dmitri Young, who was at the game on Saturday with his 12-year-old son, Owen, to watch Delmon. Dmitri said he is officially done playing and was happy to get to take in a ballgame as a fan as Owen was a batboy for the Twins.
But rather than stay in the stands, Dmtiri tried out a different angle to watch the game. He sat between Star Tribune writer, Joe Christensen, and me up in the press box. It was entertaining to listen to Dmitri’s thoughts on the game although Joe had to kindly inform him early on that there is no cheering in the pressbox. Dmitri was in great spirits and after what was tough year for the entire Young family following the passing of the boys’ mother, Bonnie Young, it was heart warming to see them all enjoying the day together.
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
A reminder you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
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
A reminder you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
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
A reminder you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
Kelly's Corner 