Behind the Fence: Twins' first days of camp 2/26-2/27/16

[Bob Sacamento]

This weekend marked the first day of full squad workouts and they did not disappoint.  Friday started off with positional players playing catch on Field Four.  Kennys Vargas looks like he lost quite a few pounds, and was talking it up with fans and a few old friends at the park.  The two uber prospects, Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton were playing catch and long tossing side by side, Buxton's throwing motion looks so smooth and effortless, can't say the same for Sano.  Still Sano throws better than Adam Brett Walker, who I heard from a coach has been fighting the "yips" for a couple weeks already.

 

After the warmup tossing, the players took batting practice.  The first group consisted of Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Byung Ho Park, and Ryan Sweeney.  While the second group was comprised of Buxton, Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Carlos Quentin.  Quentin and Sweeney both pulled a few pitches deep.  Dozier hit the warning track and fence a couple times and was quickly teased for having "warning track power" by his fellow players.  Plouffe was ripping off ropes left and right.  Park was using the entire field which was mildly impressive since he had been looking to pull heavy the past two weeks.  Buxton looked tentative at  the plate and of course had the most fan detractors about his swing; heard everything from his poor use of backleg, coil of the hands, he's all wrists...it was one of his first days so he gets a pass.

 

The group then broke out and started working on their base running; from home to first, home to second, first to third, second to home, and third to home.  Leading the baserunning drills was Brian Dozier who is inequivocally the team leader - it's not even close.  Dozier was first in line, while Vargas was last and his teammates let him hear it everytime he was running the bases.  Max Kepler was with the group but was sitting out for the day just watching.

 

With most of the hitters done for the day, I traversed across the complex to the Stadium where the catchers were working on their blocking skills.  John Hicks was pretty impressive and looks to be a strong defensive backup option for the club.  Joining Hicks was Centuro who showed off his lateral movements behind the plate.  Last but definitely not least was JR Murphy who worked one on one with Coach Vavra on blocking bounced pitches to the plate with just his body. 

 

The last action of the day was Byron Buxton and Mastro working on their bunting skills.  Mastro has a strong ability to deaden the ball to the third base which is ideal for a sac bunt situation on the other hand his ability to bunt for a hit wasn't as pretty.  Buxton laid down a few pretty good bunts and he definitely looks to have the aptitude to work a few in for base hits especially with his speed.

 

Friday provided a great framework for Saturday which was the first full squad official workout for the club.  The players were greeted by fanfare as they took to the fields to warmup.  The players were not wearing their typical jerseys but instead were wearing "heart of 29" in honor of Rod Carew who made it to camp and was quite vocal with a few of the players in the batting cage.  The Hall of Famer was joined by fellow Hall of Famer Tony Olivo, and recent retiree Torii Hunter.  If you listen to Hunter, everything is great in camp, this player looks in great shape, this guy looks the best in his career; he's a walking posterboard of positivity.

 

After a few warmup with the pitchers on Field Five half the group split to work on defensive drills with half of the infielders.  Front and center of the pitching core was Phil Hughes followed by Trevor May and Glen Perkins, working on slow rollers hit to each side, some situational base coverages, all the same stuff you'd see in little league/high school/college. 

 

While the pitchers were working on their defensive craft, Tom Kelly was working the rest of the infielders on Tom Kelly Field, Plouffe and company at third, Nunez with others at short, Dozier and his bunch at second with Park, Mauer and Vargas taking turns at 1B.  Early on, Park and Mauer were talking about base coverage and positioning via translator.

 

Underneath the stadium, Sano (in the cage), Buxton, Arcia, Quentin, Kepler, Rosario, and the rest of the outfielders were taking batting practice in the cage under the guidance of Tony Olivo, Rod Carew, Tom Brunansky, and Butch Davis.

 

Also underneath Hammond in the bullpen, Tommy Milone and Ervin Santana were warming up to then face some live batting practice.  The second pairing was Ricky Nolasco (who looks to have shed some lbs too) and Jose Berrios in the bullpen.  Ricky faced off against Kepler, Sweeney and Park and was rather erratic with his control as Park didn't lift the bat off his shoulder.  Jose Berrios faced off the tandum of Sano, Buxton, and Rosario, has an amazingly live arm and despite his size creates great torque and force from his lower half.  The last pitcher I watched in live BP was Nick Burdi, kid throws smoke even when he's not trying.  Coach Lepel told him to only throw at 50% effort, lets just say his half effort is more than most pitchers' full. 

 

The day finished off with Joe Mauer working one on one with hitting coach Tom Brunansky.  One could overhear a fan say "What is Tom going to teach Joe about hitting a baseball?"  Sometimes it's just not that simple.  I did pick up where Tom was praising Joe for his loose wrists but was trying to gett Joe to slightly move his head with his swing when opening up and pulling the ball.  The former catcher picked up quickly and continued to work on it the rest of his cage session.

 

 

[Major League Ready]

Thanks for the report.  Much appreciated!