Pitchers and Catchers Report in 30 Days!

[Tommy_Hawk]

I see Froob Chat's favorite Twin gave up a Grand Slam. Dude's already in mid-season form.

[feekdogg]

Mahle looks like shit today.

[weimy froob]

Live at 5 p.m.: Buxton makes spring debut as Twins take on Rays.

[weimy froob]

Byron Buxton will start season in DH role for Twins after a smashing spring training debut
Byron Buxton doubled as a designated hitter in his first at-bat, and while his presence excites Rocco Baldelli, the manager says Buxton be the DH "the vast majority of the time" early in the season.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-t ... 600260833/

[Small Hands]

Byron Buxton will start season in DH role for Twins after a smashing spring training debut
Byron Buxton doubled as a designated hitter in his first at-bat, and while his presence excites Rocco Baldelli, the manager says Buxton be the DH "the vast majority of the time" early in the season.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-t ... 600260833/

This is where we’ve come with Buxton.

[ForCaleb]

He’s going to get hurt regardless.

Michael Taylor is now our starting CF. Great glove, below average bat. Meh

[feekdogg]

He’s going to get hurt regardless.

Michael Taylor is now our starting CF. Great glove, below average bat. Meh

Trading for him, along with trading Arraez and not trying to fill DH in free agency signaled this was coming.

I'm convinced this isn't just a Buxton problem. His health is just as much on the Twins as it is on him. I honestly don't understand what goes on behind the scenes over there. Polanco and Kiriloff are both starting the season on the shelf. Polanco finished last year on the IL. He never had any surgery/therapy to try and correct his knee issues. Kiriloff had some sort of last-chance surgery and still isn't right. Is there a lack of communication between staff and players? Is the medical staff (even if it's a new guy/guys just incompetent? Something over there clearly isn't right.

[ForCaleb]

He’s going to get hurt regardless.

Michael Taylor is now our starting CF. Great glove, below average bat. Meh

Trading for him, along with trading Arraez and not trying to fill DH in free agency signaled this was coming.

I'm convinced this isn't just a Buxton problem. His health is just as much on the Twins as it is on him. I honestly don't understand what goes on behind the scenes over there. Polanco and Kiriloff are both starting the season on the shelf. Polanco finished last year on the IL. He never had any surgery/therapy to try and correct his knee issues. Kiriloff had some sort of last-chance surgery and still isn't right. Is there a lack of communication between staff and players? Is the medical staff (even if it's a new guy/guys just incompetent? Something over there clearly isn't right.

The other day Gleeman hinted that Polanco's knees are just shot. I get the feeling this is going to linger on all season to the point he may never come back as a starting player. Kiriloff's wrist surgery sounded like they scraped half the bone off his wrist so he may never be the same.

Who knows what Maeda and Mahle are going to be like.

I don't know what the medical staff's turnover was like but this year looks like an injury-riddled shit show.

[Small Hands]

He’s going to get hurt regardless.

Michael Taylor is now our starting CF. Great glove, below average bat. Meh

Trading for him, along with trading Arraez and not trying to fill DH in free agency signaled this was coming.

I'm convinced this isn't just a Buxton problem. His health is just as much on the Twins as it is on him. I honestly don't understand what goes on behind the scenes over there. Polanco and Kiriloff are both starting the season on the shelf. Polanco finished last year on the IL. He never had any surgery/therapy to try and correct his knee issues. Kiriloff had some sort of last-chance surgery and still isn't right. Is there a lack of communication between staff and players? Is the medical staff (even if it's a new guy/guys just incompetent? Something over there clearly isn't right.

The other day Gleeman hinted that Polanco's knees are just shot. I get the feeling this is going to linger on all season to the point he may never come back as a starting player. Kiriloff's wrist surgery sounded like they scraped half the bone off his wrist so he may never be the same.

Who knows what Maeda and Mahle are going to be like.

I don't know what the medical staff's turnover was like but this year looks like an injury-riddled shit show.

Pohlads don’t care about their players. They hired a hack medical staff.

[feekdogg]

Trading for him, along with trading Arraez and not trying to fill DH in free agency signaled this was coming.

I'm convinced this isn't just a Buxton problem. His health is just as much on the Twins as it is on him. I honestly don't understand what goes on behind the scenes over there. Polanco and Kiriloff are both starting the season on the shelf. Polanco finished last year on the IL. He never had any surgery/therapy to try and correct his knee issues. Kiriloff had some sort of last-chance surgery and still isn't right. Is there a lack of communication between staff and players? Is the medical staff (even if it's a new guy/guys just incompetent? Something over there clearly isn't right.

The other day Gleeman hinted that Polanco's knees are just shot. I get the feeling this is going to linger on all season to the point he may never come back as a starting player. Kiriloff's wrist surgery sounded like they scraped half the bone off his wrist so he may never be the same.

Who knows what Maeda and Mahle are going to be like.

I don't know what the medical staff's turnover was like but this year looks like an injury-riddled shit show.

Pohlads don’t care about their players. They hired a hack medical staff.

I don't think that's part of it. MLB contracts are guaranteed. They're on the hook to pay Polanco, Buxton, etc. whether they play 1 game or 150 games. Why wouldn't you make every concession possible to get the biggest return on your investment?

[weimy froob]

Twins name Pablo Lopez as Opening Day starting pitcher to face Royals
The Twins rotation likely will be Lopez, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Twins traded for Pablo Lopez during the offseason to bolster their rotation.

On Friday, the former Miami Marlins standout was named the starter for Opening Day in Kansas City by manager Rocco Baldelli.

"It felt really cool," Lopez said Friday. "Obviously, being part of a rotation, being able to go every five days and just do my job and help the team is already an honor. For Rocco to tell me he wanted me to have the ball the very first game on Opening Day obviously meant the world to me."

Lopez, a five-year veteran righthander who posted a 3.75 ERA and struck out 174 batters in 32 starts for the Marlins last season, was acquired in January when the Twins sent American League batting champion Luis Arraez to Miami.

The Twins play the Marlins in the second series of the season, so the two will get a chance to face each other.

"It would just be fun. It's funny I would still pitch in Miami before I pitch at Target Field," said Lopez, 27.

The Twins rotation likely will be Lopez, Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle. Ryan was last year's Opening Day starter for the Twins and Maeda got the nod in 2021. Mahle (last season) and Gray (2020) have both been Opening Day starters for the Reds.

[feekdogg]

I don't know. I don't think it matters a ton, but you've got a couple of vets who have paid their dues (Gray and Maeda) and a hopeful rising star who is probably your best path to a real front line starter and you hand it to a guy who has just been OK as a Twin.

[ForCaleb]

It should have been Gray but not trying to read between the lines here

[Tommy_Hawk]

Yeah, I could care less who the symbolic opening day starter is. I recall Vance Worley starting opening day, once upon a time. Scott Diamond was once the opening day starter as well.

I just hope the bullpen is decent this year. They're going to have more innings than the Starters.

[Hornets]

Getting anxious for opening day!!

[weimy froob]

Jorge Polanco took ground balls at second base on both Friday and Saturday, and took batting practice as well. The Twins infielder, his progress slowed earlier this month when some soreness returned to his left knee, will play in a minor league game on Tuesday, his first game action of the spring. Polanco will open the season on the injured list and remain in Florida, though the Twins expect him to be activated sometime in mid-April.

[Ask Not]

Why is it this late into spring training and starters are still only going 3 innings? Fuck Falvine and their minion manager.

[Sidewinder2k2]

Why is it this late into spring training and starters are still only going 3 innings? Fuck Falvine and their minion manager.

I agree. This was Sonny's last warm up start before opening day. It would be one thing if he were shaky, but he was perfect but for one hit batsman. Even the oft-injured Chris Sale went 5.

[weimy froob]

Twins send Bailey Ober, Danny Coulombe, Aaron Sanchez, Kyle Garlick to minors
The four will likely start the season with the St. Paul Saints as the Twins finalized their pitching staff.

FORT MYERS, FLA. – At least Bailey Ober doesn't have to wonder if he would still be on the Twins roster if he hadn't given up his first runs of the spring Saturday. Danny Coulombe didn't give up a run all spring, and he didn't make the team, either.

Ober, Coulombe and Aaron Sanchez were all reassigned to minor league camp Sunday, leaving 13 healthy pitchers on the roster — essentially, the team's Opening Day pitching staff. Cole Sands, a starter throughout his minor league career, is one of them, taking on a bullpen assignment that will give Baldelli a multi-inning option in relief of the five-man starting staff.

"We knew we were going to need a guy that can do more than [one-inning appearances], and he's going to be one of those guys for us," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He went out there and won the spot."

The Twins also reassigned outfielder Kyle Garlick to their minor league camp. Garlick, who has hit 14 home runs in 102 games for Minnesota over the past two seasons, has batted only .207 with no walks and 12 strikeouts this spring.

It's a huge disappointment for Ober, who hadn't given up a hit this spring until Saturday's 9-4 loss to Atlanta, but it's one he said he was prepared for. The 27-year-old righthander lost his rotation spot when the Twins traded for Opening Day starter Pablo Lopez, giving Baldelli five established, veteran starters for the rotation.

Coulombe, too, was a revelation this spring, returning from a labrum tear in his hip to pitch nine scoreless innings in relief. But the lefthander was also a victim of numbers; the bullpen already includes a pair of lefthanders, Caleb Thielbar and Jovani Moran.

Sanchez, an eight-year veteran and former All-Star while with Toronto in 2016, was much less effective this spring, allowing 15 runs in 8⅔ innings. The righthander made three starts for the Twins last season, and likely will pitch at Class AAA St. Paul until he's needed again.

The reassignments leave the Twins with this pitching staff: Lopez, Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Joe Ryan and Tyler Mahle in the rotation, all righthanders, and Sands, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Emilio Pagan, Jorge Alcala and Jorge Lopez joining lefthanders Thielbar and Moran.

Pitchers Chris Paddack (elbow surgery), Josh Winder (shoulder) and Ronny Henriquez (elbow) will open the season on the injured list.

[weimy froob]

just got an update. pitchers and catchers report in 16 days.

[weimy froob]

Kirilloff, Miranda progressing
A pair of infielders who both had offseason surgery reported to TwinsFest with positive prognoses to speak of.

Alex Kirilloff underwent a bursectomy in October — a less invasive procedure than the Twins once feared he might need — and said he started to swing earlier this month and has now progressed through the early stages of that and is ramping up.

“I’m excited with that now,” he said. “There’s some room to kind of polish some things up and be ready to go for the live at-bats in February and hopefully be ready for the time we start playing spring training games. It’s going really well so far.”

Jose Miranda, likewise, had an October procedure on his shoulder. Miranda started feeling pain in his shoulder during spring training and it plagued him throughout the 2023 season, which essentially was a lost one for the now-25-year-old.

The Twins sent Miranda to Birmingham, Ala., for surgery in September. His doctor told him he thought there might be a chance to avoid a procedure, so Miranda settled in for a few weeks and worked with a physical therapist. The pain persisted, though, and Miranda eventually underwent what he called a cleanup procedure on Oct. 4. He has been hitting and throwing as he ramps his activity level back up.

“It’s a process but there are some days it feels good, some days it feels so so, so yeah, just trying to get ready and be there for spring training, Miranda said.

As the pair get themselves ready for spring training, shortstop Carlos Correa has been receiving videos of both of his younger teammates hitting. Correa likes “to be informed” so hitting coach David Popkins has been sending over clips of the infielders, and the veteran has liked what he’s seen.

“They look really good, man,” Correa said.

[ForCaleb]

Good news Weimy.

[softball guy]

Feels like both Kirilloff and Miranda are close to the end of their rope here with the Twins...kind of a put up or shut up kind of season for these two. If they don't come out hot, especially Miranda (IMO) he might get included in a trade package near the dealine...

[feekdogg]

Feels like both Kirilloff and Miranda are close to the end of their rope here with the Twins...kind of a put up or shut up kind of season for these two. If they don't come out hot, especially Miranda (IMO) he might get included in a trade package near the dealine...

Read somewhere that the only guy who had similar wrist issues as Kiriloff and actually had a successful career after was Kirk Gibson.

[salamander]

Fuck the Pohlads, fuck the Twins.

[weimy froob]

After offseason uncertainty, infielder Kyle Farmer ‘ecstatic’ to be back with Twins

In the minutes after the Twins were eliminated from the postseason last October, infielder Kyle Farmer expressed his desire to remain in Minnesota, all while knowing the decision was out of his control.

As an arbitration-eligible player, he said he didn’t think the Twins would tender him a contract in November. And though they did, he knew it didn’t mean he was necessarily coming back to Minnesota for a second season.

“When they did, I was ecstatic because I love it here. It’s awesome,” Farmer said. “But then I didn’t know if I was going to get traded after that. I figured it was either me or (Jorge) Polanco getting traded to make room in the infield.”

He was right.

The Twins traded Polanco to the Seattle Mariners at the end of January, clearing room in a crowded infield. It was at that point that Farmer realized he would be reporting to Fort Myers, Fla., as planned, for spring training.

“Every year is uncertain to me. I could get traded at any point,” said Farmer, who was traded to the Twins at the non-tender deadline in 2022. “Until I get to spring training … I never feel safe. I never feel comfortable.”

Though he’s used to that uncertainty, it’s not easy not knowing where he was going to be living come baseball season, especially with a young and growing family — Kyle and Courtney Farmer’s second son, Boden, was born in early January.

So, how’d he deal with it?

“A lot of Casa Azul tequila and a lot of support from my wife, because she’s going through it with me,” Farmer said.

With Polanco now in Seattle, it’s certainly easier to see how Farmer will get his playing time. The 33-year-old veteran, a leader in the Twins’ clubhouse and mentor to youngsters Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner, played a mix of second base, shortstop and third base last year, hitting .256 with a .725 OPS and 11 home runs in 120 games.

He’ll be Carlos Correa’s backup at shortstop, can slide over to third when Royce Lewis needs a day off and can platoon at second base with Julien, a left-handed hitter.

“Before (Polanco) got traded, I was thinking to myself, ‘When in the world am I going to play?’ ” Farmer said. “… I was like, ‘I may get 100 at-bats this year. Who knows?’ But now it changes that drastically.”

[Hornets]

After offseason uncertainty, infielder Kyle Farmer ‘ecstatic’ to be back with Twins

In the minutes after the Twins were eliminated from the postseason last October, infielder Kyle Farmer expressed his desire to remain in Minnesota, all while knowing the decision was out of his control.

As an arbitration-eligible player, he said he didn’t think the Twins would tender him a contract in November. And though they did, he knew it didn’t mean he was necessarily coming back to Minnesota for a second season.

“When they did, I was ecstatic because I love it here. It’s awesome,” Farmer said. “But then I didn’t know if I was going to get traded after that. I figured it was either me or (Jorge) Polanco getting traded to make room in the infield.”

He was right.

The Twins traded Polanco to the Seattle Mariners at the end of January, clearing room in a crowded infield. It was at that point that Farmer realized he would be reporting to Fort Myers, Fla., as planned, for spring training.

“Every year is uncertain to me. I could get traded at any point,” said Farmer, who was traded to the Twins at the non-tender deadline in 2022. “Until I get to spring training … I never feel safe. I never feel comfortable.”

Though he’s used to that uncertainty, it’s not easy not knowing where he was going to be living come baseball season, especially with a young and growing family — Kyle and Courtney Farmer’s second son, Boden, was born in early January.

So, how’d he deal with it?

“A lot of Casa Azul tequila and a lot of support from my wife, because she’s going through it with me,” Farmer said.

With Polanco now in Seattle, it’s certainly easier to see how Farmer will get his playing time. The 33-year-old veteran, a leader in the Twins’ clubhouse and mentor to youngsters Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner, played a mix of second base, shortstop and third base last year, hitting .256 with a .725 OPS and 11 home runs in 120 games.

He’ll be Carlos Correa’s backup at shortstop, can slide over to third when Royce Lewis needs a day off and can platoon at second base with Julien, a left-handed hitter.

“Before (Polanco) got traded, I was thinking to myself, ‘When in the world am I going to play?’ ” Farmer said. “… I was like, ‘I may get 100 at-bats this year. Who knows?’ But now it changes that drastically.”

Posting the entire article?

[weimy froob]

yep.

[Hornets]

yep.

Just seemed a lot....

[weimy froob]