spring training thread

[weimy froob]

34 days until pitchers and catchers report!? something like that. time to start looking forward to outdoor baseball again.

[weimy froob]

let's use the previous date as the data point. 33 days and the excitement meter goes up a notch. buxton with a new contract and ready to attack.

woo-hoo.

[weimy froob]

time to chip away another day. 32 and counting.

[Miley Cyrus]

I'll be there in 34 days. Maybe.

[weimy froob]

I'll be there in 34 days. Maybe.

i went down there twice-always a good time. but don't forget about putting the suntan lotion on your arms while you're in the stands.

and we knocked another day off of the countdown. 31 days now.

[Miley Cyrus]

I'll be there in 34 days. Maybe.

i went down there twice-always a good time. but don't forget about putting the suntan lotion on your arms while you're in the stands.

and we knocked another day off of the countdown. 31 days now.

My reading comprehension lapsed as I was thinking of the start of the regular season. May still go down to Fort Myers depending on scheduling.

[weimy froob]

just a month away. baseball fever. catch it.

[weimy froob]

less than a month now and the countdown continues. with jose working out on the beach you know that the pitchers and catchers know what's on their calendars-and reacting appropriately. florida in february. it's a nice gig if you can get it.

[weimy froob]

4 weeks until pitchers and catchers report and counting!

[Hornets]

Can't wait!

[weimy froob]

a week of the countdown thread in action. we're getting there.

[Miley Cyrus]

8 days til the start of Twinsfest

[weimy froob]

8 days til the start of Twinsfest

Spoiler:

26 days and counting till people can work on their tans.

[bubu dubu.]

With the state of the sports here, I'm just fiending for a fresh season elsewhere. Not that I'm expecting the Twins to be great, just looking forward to something new, and the grind of MLB.

[weimy froob]

With the state of the sports here, I'm just fiending for a fresh season elsewhere. Not that I'm expecting the Twins to be great, just looking forward to something new, and the grind of MLB.

yep. a week from twinsfest and another day closer to the florida sunshine for pitchers and catchers. i'm excited for 2019 MLB.

[Thrillkill]

I'm excited. More small steps from the youth. A big step from either Sano or Buxton (please both) or you cut bait. Health from the staff. An actual DH. A first baseman who can hit north of 7 homers.

Can't wait.

[weimy froob]

just a couple hours away from 22 days and counting. twinsfest just around the corner. there's just a whiff of springtime in our winter air for discerning noses. i hope you've got some oil on that glove.

[j-one]

I went down to Fl last spring training - good time, nice facility and weather. We also made it to the O's and Red Sox fields too and would recommend both.

[weimy froob]

twinsfest this weekend.

Spoiler:

get a seat under that awning and bring the suntan lotion if you're heading down to florida this year. i know this from painful experience.

[Miley Cyrus]

TwinsFest schedule is out! You can get the legendary Cole DeVries and Darin Mastroianni's autographs Saturday!

[weimy froob]

TwinsFest schedule is out! You can get the legendary Cole DeVries and Darin Mastroianni's autographs Saturday!

TwinsFest 2019

TwinsFest, presented by Kwik Trip, will feature numerous new interactive activities and behind-the-scenes fan experiences that celebrate Twins baseball and Target Field.

Tickets are on sale now.

Adult ticket: $20
Child (12 and under) ticket: $10
The Brunch with T.C. Package on Sunday, Jan. 27, includes a souvenir photo with T.C. and a fabulous brunch menu.

Adult Brunch with T.C. Package: $40
Child (12 and under) Brunch with T.C. Package: $20

https://www.mlb.com/twins/community/twinsfest

[weimy froob]

twinsfest begins today so let's think about being another day closer to spring training and that florida sun. we're in the teens now-19 days to go.

[Miley Cyrus]

This cold snap kinda makes me want to see even lower temps for the opening series this year than last, just for peoples' reactions.

[bubu dubu.]

Buxton apparently added 21 lbs of muscle. Not sure about tweaking a body that much as an athlete, but I guess whatever he was doing last season wasnt working.

[Qman65]

34 days until pitchers and catchers report!? something like that. time to start looking forward to outdoor baseball again.

Can we get Sano gastric bypass surgery that should've happened at the all star break last year?

[weimy froob]

16 days and counting. here's a reusse article to keep the fever going.

TWINS
Enticing Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol throws 100 mph
Has there been a prominent big-leaguer from Brusdar Graterol's hometown in Venezuela? His answer: "Not yet. Maybe soon.''
JANUARY 28, 2019 — 1:17PM



Brusdar Graterol

PATRICK REUSSE

FORT MYERS, FLA. – Brusdar Graterol comes from Calabozo, an inland city of 130,000 in Venezuela. Asked when he became devoted to baseball, the Twins’ 20-year-old pitching prospect gave an incredulous look and said:

“Always. My first memories include baseball. My family loves baseball. And softball. My grandmother and mother played softball. My grandfather, Leovardo Castillo … baseball means so much to him.

“When I was young, he told me to play all the positions, to enjoy them all, to find out where I was the best.’’

That turned out to be pitching. Graterol was invited to Venezuela’s version of showcases for prospects. As the international signing period approached in July 2014, there was encouragement on the home front to be prepared.

“My mother, she would tell me in the morning, ‘Get out of bed; go run,’” Graterol said. “Every morning. ‘Run.’”

Teenage prospects in the Dominican have become the life blood of major league baseball; there’s still talent in Venezuela, but to a lesser degree with the political and economic upheaval that has reached another crisis point in that country.

No matter the geography, it’s still mostly projection when prospects are signed at age 16. Graterol was 6 feet, 170 pounds and threw 87 miles per hour when Jose Leon, the Twins’ supervisor of scouting in Venezuela, signed him for a $150,000 bonus in the 2014-15 international signing period.

Four years later, he is 6-foot-1, weighs 220 (or more) and throws 100 miles per hour when he has the urge. That often came on the first pitch in the 11 starts Graterol made after he was promoted to the high-Class A Fort Myers Miracle last summer.

“He got in a habit of starting the game by throwing 101, inside,’’ said Marshall Kelner, the play-by-play announcer for the Miracle. “That would get everybody’s attention.’’

The chaos in Venezuela has led to baseball organizations sending Venezuelan prospects to facilities in the Dominican to start pro careers. The Dominican Summer League is where Graterol first pitched as a 16-year-old.

He made four starts. He pitched 11 innings. And then he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and would go undergo Tommy John surgery in the Twin Cities.

Four games?

Graterol held up four fingers, shook his head and said: “I was down in the dumps. I wondered if my career was over before it started.’’

This interview was conducted through an interpreter, although it was apparent immediately that Graterol is something of a character — a big personality with much humor.

He was brought from the Dominican to the Twins’ complex in Fort Myers after the elbow injury. Basically, he became a resident of the dormitory that’s a couple hundred yards away from the Twins’ workout and rehab facilities here.

Graterol went through the customary Tommy John rehab in 2016, not pitching that season, living in the dorm, and putting on 40 pounds. How did he gain the weight?

“Food,’’ he said, pointing across the way to the dorm. “There’s good food over there and it’s free.’’

Victor Gonzalez, the interpreter for the interview and also manager of the team’s Florida operations, said: “And working out. Brusdar works as hard as anybody every day — in the weight room, in everything he does.’’

Graterol hasn’t been home to see his family in two years, and they haven’t been to the States to see him. He communicates with his mother and others on FaceTime.

Does Mom cry about not seeing her son for two years?

“She cries, but because she is proud of me, for working so hard and for what I can be as a pitcher,’’ Graterol said.

Has there been a prominent big-leaguer from Brusdar’s hometown? Answer: “Not yet. Maybe soon.’’

The Twins have spent the last three weeks bringing in young pitchers for instructional sessions — on the changeup, breaking pitches, velocity, whatever it is the pitching brain trust has determined a prospect can add to give him the best chance to become a solid big-leaguer.

It’s not one thing fits all, but an analysis of individual pitchers. The add-on sought for Graterol is a more-effective changeup. And Brusdar thinks he has found it, due to his work with Cibney Bello, a fellow Venezuelan entering his third season as a pitching coach in the Twins’ system.

“The changeup is going to be really good for me,’’ Graterol said. “A starter wants three good pitches. And I’m a starter.’’

He’s now 20 and the elbow surgery has left with him with the low total of 142 career innings — with 169 strikeouts and a workable 42 walks. He admits that triple digits on the radar gun and strikeouts are the thrills that he seeks on the mound.

Considering the prior torn ligament, has it been suggested by the Twins that he ease it back a bit — maybe to the mid-90s, to go with an excellent slider and now the changeup?

Graterol smiled wide and said: “The Twins have not told me that. The hitters, the opposition, they are the ones that want me to throw softer.’’

Spoiler:

reusse's already in florida. smart man.

[BBG]

How do you feel about the current pitching rotation/bullpen?

[ForCaleb]

The rotation looks below average.

The bullpen looks average.

We don’t know what we’re gonna get out of Pineda. Perez is trash.

[Miley Cyrus]

22 days until the 1st ST game in Sarasota!

[weimy froob]

22 days until the 1st ST game in Sarasota!

half that time until pitchers and catchers report. 11 days and counting.